The world championships for the 2010 WrestleMania Reading Challenge were held on March 27 at the Burton Barr Library in Phoenix. The winners are:
- For grades 5-6: Gabe Murrell from Courtice, Ontario, who represented the Oshawa Public Library
- For grades 7-8: Liam Jose from Oshawa, Ontario, who represented the Oshawa Public Library
- For grades 9-12: La’Quan Deen from Homestead, PA, who represented the Carnegie Library of Homestead
They all won ring-side seats to WrestleMania XXVI as well as $2,000 for their libraries to use towards the purchase of materials for their tween and teen collections. Attending the event was award winning author Will Weaver, who served as judge, and four WWE Superstars.
2010 Finalists
Twenty-one regional winners in grades 5-12 from across the United States and Canada have won a chance to compete in the WrestleMania® Reading Challenge World Finals. The finals will be held at the Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 27. The WrestleMania Reading Challenge is sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and World Wrestling Entertainment® (WWE®), with support from Mattel, Inc. and DK Publishing.
Students will compete in a trivia contest to win the title of World Champion for their age division and ringside tickets to WrestleMania. The finalists will answer questions posed by WrestleMania Reading Challenge spokespersons WWE Superstars John Morrison, Kofi Kingston and WWE Divas Nikki and Brie Bella. Will Weaver, author of Super Stock Rookie and Saturday Night Dirt, will judge if the answers offered are correct.
Each regional winner won: a trip for two to Arizona; tickets to WrestleMania XXVI, which will be held at University of Phoenix Stadium on March 28; and $2,000 for their sponsoring library. More than 1,800 libraries participated in this year’s competition. Students read ten items over a ten-week period, then designed and submitted bookmarks with a slogan to encourage reading.
The 2010 regional winners are:
Grades 9-12
- Brian Keith Chest, Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.;
- Tiffany Chu, Greensboro, N.C.;
- La’Quan Deen, Homestead, Pa.;
- Brian Gastelum, San Diego, Calif.;
- Elmaz Mahmutovic, Sioux Falls, SD;
- Samantha Luck, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; and
- Emz Hunsley, Edmonton, Alberta.
Grades 7-8
- Katherine Bensburg, Mahopac, N.Y.;
- Daniel Davila, Avondale, Ariz.;
- Sofia Eury, Phoenix, Ariz.;
- Kyle Duane Hoskins, Louisville, Ky.;
- Liam Jose, Oshawa, Ontario;
- Nicholas Luz, Edmonton, Alberta; and
- Valarie Winkleman, Whiting, Ind.
Grades 5-6
- Andrew Hill, La Porte, Texas;
- Melissa Rafet Dennis, Phoenix, Ariz.;
- Gabriel Murrell, Courtice, Ontario;
- Cindy Leung, Edmonton, Alberta;
- Jordan Piekarski, Lansing, Ill.;
- Ricki Roberts, San Diego, Calif.; and
- Sailesh Srinivas, Hicksville, N.Y.