Micah Birt made sure he wasn’t going to leave this year’s Mario Kart Madness Tournament empty-handed again.

The 13-year-old from High Hill came out on top in the second annual tournament after winning the teen division of the tournament, which was held at the Montgomery City Public Library Community Room.

“I had a lot of fun,” Micah said. “Honestly, I was expecting to win it a bit easier, but it was really hard, especially the last match.”

A year ago, Micah came up one place short of a trophy as he finished fourth. This year, Micah received a small first-place star trophy for his efforts.

“I wasn’t able to get anything last year, so it was good to get something this year,” Micah said.

Micah was one of many young people from the Montgomery County area who competed in the Mario Kart tournament. It was split into two divisions – children and teens. There were nine children and 11 teens who participated in the tournament, which had a bracketed format that is similar to the NCAA basketball tournament that is held every March.

Micah thanked tournament coordinator Molly Taylor and the MCPL staff for bringing a video game tournament to the library.
“

I think the library is really great for bringing the local community together to play video games,” Micah said.

Children from first through fifth grade competed in the morning session. Aeros Daus, an 11-year-old, won the children division after beating Samantha Bukovac in the finals. When Aeros crossed the finish line in the championship match, he raised up both hands in celebration.

Kaitlyn Schroer, who was a last-minute entry, came in third after beating Prudence Miller in the third-place match.

Micah, who is homeschooled, has been successful at Mario Kart since he started playing it a year ago.

“I play this game competitively,” Micah said. “I’m ranked 6,000th in the world or so right now.”

At the tournament, Micah defeated a pair of brothers to win his first MCPL Mario Kart title. First, he knocked off Ty Norris in the semifinals. Then, he beat last year’s champion Jace Norris in the championship match.

“I was looking forward to it because I wanted redemption from last year,” Micah said.

Jonah Castillo finished third after beating Ty Norris in the third-place match.