It was a regular battle of the champions at Moore Elementary School Friday afternoon.

As part of last month’s black history activities, the third-, fourth- and fifth-graders participated in a Black History Quiz Bowl, but the outcome was somewhat different than they expected, said Pam Nutt, the school’s media specialist.

“The fourth-graders beat the fifth-graders,” Nutt said. “Then the third-graders beat the fourth-graders.”

It was at that point that third-grade team captain Amari Akins threw down the gauntlet and challenged fifth-grade team captain Jarrett Grier to a one-on-one competition.

The “Jeopardy!”-style competition was held in Moore Elementary’s media center and each contestant had a cheering squad of teachers and classmates.

The questions, which were of local, state and national interest, came fast and furious. But, they were barely on the screen before Amari or Jarrett beeped in and answered them correctly. In most instances, it came down to who hit the buzzer first.

Through it all Jarrett kept his cool and, in the end, was victorious with a final score of 3,800 to 2,900.

“He challenged me, but I knew that I knew more black history facts,” the fifth-grader said.

Jarrett even had an extra cheerleader on hand, his mother, Christine Grier.

“He studied hard,” Grier said. “We drilled over and over and over and over. And he came out victorious. I’m so happy for him.”

“I’ve never seen anyone study so hard,” Nutt added.

Both were winners, Moore Elementary paraprofessional Joe Ward said.

“This was something different they wanted to do,” Ward said. “Jarrett and Amari studied really hard every morning at 7:30 a.m. in the gym and after school. So, they both did a great job. Both knew the answers, but Jarrett came out on top.”