In another year of close finishes and exciting bowl games, Randy Prystash stood alone.

Prystash is the winner of this year’s Beat the Geek contest after being the only player to pick 17 out of 20 games correctly. Prystash had a perfect entry form going until the Outback Bowl when he picked Michigan to beat South Carolina. The only other games Prystash missed on were the Peach Bowl (Central Florida beat Auburn) and the Rose Bowl (Georgia beat Oklahoma). Prystash correctly picked Alabama to win the national championship.

The Geek went 13-7 this year, doing a little better than in recent years. The Geek picked 10 games correctly last year and 11 games correctly two seasons ago.

This year’s contest proved to be another close one. While Prystash was the only person to pick 17 games correctly, six other players picked 16 games correctly and it came down to the tiebreaker–the number of points scored in the national title game–to determine several of the prize winners. The number of points in the title game was 49, so the tiebreaker proved to be very important this season.

Thank you to all those who participated this year and thank you to Walmart, Arby’s, Alpena Buick GMC, Alpena Embroidery & Trophies and Cliff Anschuetz Chevrolet for donating prizes.

Those who picked 16 games correctly and their tie breaker guesses in parenthesis are: Tyler Kollien (54), Kim Park (42), Pat Jacques (62), Tanner Orban (63), Ken Lighthall (65) and Rob Van Schoten (66).

Those who picked 15 games correctly were: Dayna LaBell, Courtney Wickland, Dan Frampton, Chris Male, Melody Zelazny, Pam Rensberry, Tom Pelleran, CaroLynne Schaedig, Joe Kaiser, William Diem, Tom Wilson, Jon Zawacki, Donna Boman, Beth Dodd, Jenna VanDusen, Kim Coley and Gary Rex.

Those who picked 14 games correctly were: Amy Stepaniak, Vicki Birmingham, John Boyce, Jim Park, Norm Alexander Jr, Alvin Lilley, Tim Carr, Gary Etzler, John McHarg, Val Golding, Bernie Harrins, Sharon Nowak, Keith C. Adams, Randy Hamp, Paul Ludwig, Cory Lamp, Tom Lamp, Cindy Lamp, Kaden Middleditch, Kevin Middleditch, Brett Werblow, Suzanne Kelly and Allison Poli.

Those who tied the Geek with 13 correct picks were: Ben Joslin, Patrick Smylie, Sandra Flythe, Sharon LaHaie, Julia McMurray, Montiel Birmingham, Jordan Steiner, Jerry Keen, Robert Winowiecki, Tom Daoust, Dawn Gentry, Natalie Burns, Jim Bowen Jr, Judy Bowen, Jeff Voelker, Cindy Bright, Brent Loritz, Jeff Ryan, Samantha Dziesinski, David J. Smith, Tim Grulke, Owen Kaiser, Paul Dubbs, Roger Baumgardner, Mike Baumgardner, Troy Masketts, Mike Carr, Lori Van Schoten, Christy Van Schoten, Melissa Van Schoten, Rob Golding, Matthew Beaubien, Janet Winfield, Ashley Adams, LeeAnn Ludwig, Reilly Atkinson, Jim Golden, Dylan Golden, Tristan Pilarski, Josh Idalski, Cathleen Idalski, Dennis Werblow, Diane Ganske, Cheryl Werblow, John Kleinow, Mary E. Leavesley, Janet Mott, Josh Kuznicki, Craig Gagnon, Mike Tanner, Ken Pokorzynski, Kevin Ghidoni, Wendy Ghidoni, Mike Horrins, Jeanne Nowaczewski, Joan Marshall and Jan Grehan.