Winner's Circle, Mar. 8: Douglas S. Freeman, Davenport North, and Ben Davis Score Historic Triumphs

Winning isn’t everything, but it certainly is something. Here’s a look at who took overall Grand Championships this weekend, and what it means in historical context.

Disclaimer: Win totals are sourced from showchoir.com. Not every show choir competition is documented online, and as such, all win totals should be considered unofficial. To view a full spreadsheet of data, click here.

California

Hart: John Burroughs Powerhouse faced no competition in Advanced Mixed 1 and notched its third win of the year, just in time for the group to travel to Texas and represent the show choir community at the ACDA national conference. Powerhouse now has 66 recorded wins, 11 of which have come at Hart throughout the years.

Georgia

Tift County: In a Peach State Invitational field with only one true large group, Rome Grand Finale seized the chance to defend its home state from Alabama’s Opelika and Oxford and Florida’s Tarpon Springs. Grand Finale took vocals and overall effect to win. It is the program’s third overall win, second in the state of Georgia (Lakeside 2023), and first at Peach State.

Illinois

Mt. Zion: Grenada Visions was in first place after prelims and took Best Choreography over a slew of contenders. Visions capped its season with three wins, the most they’ve ever had. In fact, it’s a quarter of their all-time total of 12. The win in Illinois was Grenada’s first in the Land of Lincoln, and it’s the third different state they have won in.

Quincy: Wheaton North Flight competed in-state for only the second time this season and took its third win of the season, splitting captions with third-place El Paso-Gridley. Flight now has eight wins since the pandemic and 20 overall, the same number as Bloomington Kennedy and Prairie.

Indiana

Avon: Brownsburg Spotlight Singers & Company did what it does best each season – win at Avon. They scored a decisive two-caption win over Plainfield, marking Brownsburg’s third straight win at AVI and seventh in the last nine years. Seven of Brownsburg’s 12 wins as a program have come at Avon.

Bishop Luers: Lafayette Jefferson First Edition won its fourth vocals caption of the year and its third competition of the year. It’s First Edition’s 32nd recorded win, tying them with Glenwood, its 23rd in Indiana, pushing past Findlay and Lawrence Central, and its sixth at Luers, first since the end of a four-peat in 1993.

Churubusco: Homestead Class Royale was the only true large group in the field, claiming a sweep win over Jay County and Columbia City. Homestead now has four wins at Churubusco, coming in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2025. Class Royale now has at least one win in each of the past six seasons.

New Palestine: Ben Davis Premiers prevailed over Lawrence Central and Kokomo to win the first edition of the Clash of the Choirs. Premiers have now won two contests this year, the first time since 2018 they have multiple triumphs in a year.

Iowa

Cedar Rapids Xavier: Excelsior Double Time, a Linn-Mar feeder, took Best Vocals and Best Band and won in a rare middle-school only competition that also includes a finals round. It was the second straight win for Double Time at this competition and fourth overall, tied with Regis for most overall Grand Championships ever among middle school choirs. It's bittersweet, however, as Xavier will welcome high school choirs next year for Xtravaganza on Jan. 1o.

Dallas Center-Grimes: Valley Choralation only entered Take Two after North Polk Comet Sensation was snowed out. That circumstance led to Choralation taking its second win of the year, placing over Indianola Side One. Valley’s wins in back-to-back weeks this year (Choralation won Marion last weekend) are its first since winning Western Dubuque and Cedar Rapids Jefferson on February 24 and March 3, 2018.

Emmetsburg: Sioux Falls Roosevelt stood alone in the 4A division in prelims and cleared 3A choirs Spirit Lake, Wahoo and Sioux Center to take the win. The triumph was the second straight for Roosevelt at Emmetsburg and its 14th overall, bringing Executive Suite on par with groups like Hart, Medina, and Shepherd Hill.

Fort Madison: Davenport North Northside Establishment returned to Fort Madison for the first time since 2017 and avenged a midseason loss to Southeast Polk, taking its 11th win at Stars in the Spotlight. This is the first time since 2000 that Northside Establishment has won multiple competitions in a season.

Lewis Central: Millard West took a tight split-caption win over Gretna Revolution. WIG now counts 27 recorded wins, same as the venerable Buffalo Grove, and has won at least three competitions for three straight seasons. This was their second win at Lewis Central – the first came all the way back in 2014.

Sioux City East: Mitchell Friend de Coup continued its tear this season, winning in Sioux City for the second straight week. FDC now has three wins at Sing All About It, tied for the most all-time with Papillion-La Vista South. Mitchell currently sits at 43 recorded wins, good for sole possession of 25th on the all-time list.

West Delaware: After not attending the Red Carpet Gala in 2024, Western Dubuque returned to the site of their three straight event wins from 2019 to 2023. 5th Avenue faced a surprise upstart bid for the win from Davenport West West Connection, but in the end, in a battle of Wests at a West competition, it was Western Dubuque who won. They have four wins all-time, all at West Delaware.

Massachusetts

Leominster: Daniel Hand VIBE defeated Andover to win the inaugural Flamingo Show Choir Festival. VIBE now numbers 30 recorded wins in Massachusetts and has won nine different competitions.

Mississippi

Biloxi: Clinton Attache lost two captions in prelims – choreography to Petal and show design to Tupelo – but pulled off a vintage finals performance to accomplish its third clean sweep this season in as many competitions. Clinton has now won the Gulf Coast Classic in three of the four years it’s been held.

Missouri

Raymore-Peculiar: Blue Valley Chamber Singers rebounded from a fourth-place outing last week to sweep the inaugural Battle for the Belt over both Carthage groups. Blue Valley now has two wins this year and five wins overall, four of which have come in Missouri.

Webb City: St. Thomas Aquinas became the second Kansas group to win in Missouri this weekend, as Swingin’ Saints took home the win at Showcase over both Joplin groups. Aquinas only had one win ever before this weekend, coming at the Northwest Missouri State Show Choir Festival in 2020.

Nebraska

Omaha North: Gretna East closed a remarkable second season of competition by claiming its third win, splitting the captions with Omaha South. Equinox is the second choir in the last two years to have no wins heading into the season and three wins at the end of it – Blue Valley Chamber Singers from Kansas City achieved that same feat last season.

Ohio

Marysville: Fairfield closed its season with its third win of the year, taking vocals and choreo ahead of Waubonsie Valley and Chesterton. Fairfield’s three wins this season are the most they’ve had since 2019, and they now count five wins at Marysville, most of anyone.

Texas

Southlake Carroll: Broken Arrow continued its cross-country season this year by sweeping the inaugural Showdown. Tiger Rhythm beat all of Texas’ top contenders, including Keller, LD Bell, and Fossil Ridge, to make it happen. Southlake Carroll is the ninth different competition Broken Arrow has won, totaling 18 wins.

Virginia

Cosby: Douglas S. Freeman Harmony in Motion was the first performance of the day in prelims, but they qualified for finals and swept all three major captions at the Titan Tournament of Choirs. It was the first overall Grand Championship for DSF, a school that only fields a womens choir and rarely attends competitions with an overall finals round.

Wisconsin

Janesville Craig: Sparta Upstage Adrenaline won for the first time ever at Spotlight Spectacular last year and one-upped that this year, taking a clean sweep over New London, Mundelein, and Manteno. The win is Sparta’s second overall. Upstage Adrenaline is the second repeat winner at Janesville Craig, putting their name alongside Totino-Grace.