There’s no problem like a math problem, especially for Tyler Kruger, a Powell Middle School eighth grader who placed first in his age group at the Wolsborn-Drazovich Wyoming State Mathematics Contest on April 9 with a near perfect score of 725. He joked that it should have been 75, as one of the test’s answers was incorrect.

This may have been Kruger’s first time competing and winning Wyoming’s state competition, but he did place on the state level while living in Texas and he’s been a member of MathCounts at Powell Middle School where he has also found success.

But this competition is a little different. Rather than taking place in one location, students competed around the region, including at Northwest College where several other schools participated alongside Powell. Every test has a 20-minute time limit to complete it.

“For me it was a lot easier, I just knew how to solve the questions a lot easier,” Kruger said. 

Alongside Kruger, three other Powell Middle students also performed well at state. Seventh grader Morgan Rodriguez finished 10th in his group and eighth graders Landon Peterson and Hunter Taylor placed third and 11th, respectively.

Kruger, Peterson and Taylor have all excelled in MathCounts this year, with Peterson qualifying on the national level.

The competition had four regular rounds and one team round which the Powell students won, Taylor said.

“I think I did pretty well, but I probably could have done a bit better, and there were a couple of questions where I didn’t do as well as I hoped,” Taylor said.

Kruger and Taylor will not be able to compete in MathCounts as high schoolers, but they’re leaving the door open to compete in next year’s state contest as freshmen.