Four local students named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) – Several students from one area high school have placed themselves in a very prestigious category.

Last year, well over one million high school juniors, from about 21,000 high schools, entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program.

A nationwide group of semifinalists, which represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, was determined through an intense testing process.

Four seniors from the Linsly school have reached that elite level.

They are Rocco D’Aquila of Barnesville, Carolina Higginbottom of Washington, PA, Dylan Lucas of St. Clairsville and Olivia Rosenthal of Wheeling.

“The only thing that we were waiting for was to see if we met the bar for the the semifinalists, so whenever we did find out, we were all very excited.”

Rocco D’Aquila – Semifinalist, 2025 National Merit Scholarship

We had a really strong support system for this test and and just with academics in general. If we ever needed help, teachers are always willing to help out and we support each other too. I’ve studied with other people before. I was not going into this alone.”

Caroline Higginbottom – Semifinalist, 2025 National Merit Scholarship

“It’s certainly an honor, especially when you look at the big scope across the country, not just your state or within your category, to be nationally recognized definitely helps to validate a lot of the work we put in here.”

Dylan Lucas – Semifinalist, 2025 National Merit Scholarship

“The teachers incorporated some of their material like PSAT studying. So that helped get me prepared along with the outside studying. I’m really glad I got to be a part of it because it gives you a lot of opportunity that you night not normally have.”

Olivia Rosenthal – Semifinalist, 2025 National Merit Scholarship

What’s even more impressive is that students from the Linsly School are in the Boarding School Selection Index when it comes to the testing. That means that their test scores are compared to boarding schools from around the nation, which involve students from all over the world.

Best of luck to all four students in their goal of becoming finalists!

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