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Pittsburgh-area teen stands alone with perfect (so far) women’s bracket

Otto Schellhamer, an eighth grader from the Pittsburgh area who has the only perfect bracket in ESPN's Tournament Challenge after the opening weekend of March Madness for men and women, poses in his backyard Wednesday in Plum, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Otto Schellhamer, an eighth grader from the Pittsburgh area who has the only perfect bracket in ESPN's Tournament Challenge after the opening weekend of March Madness for men and women, poses in his backyard Wednesday in Plum, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Otto Schellhamer, an eighth grader from the Pittsburgh area who has the only perfect bracket in ESPN's Tournament Challenge after the opening weekend of March Madness for men and women, poses in his backyard Wednesday in Plum, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

By DAVE SKRETTA / The Associated Press 5 min read

The only perfect bracket left after the opening weekend of this year’s NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments — from more than 40 million entries across all the major contests — was produced not by some sports expert or betting guru, but an eighth grader from suburban Pittsburgh.

His name is Otto Schellhammer. He is 14 years old.

And despite his perfect-so-far women’s bracket, he admits to knowing nothing about hoops.

“I know people say this a lot about March Madness,” Schellhammer told The Associated Press on Wednesday while sitting beside his mom, Amy, between school and lacrosse practice, “but it was 100% luck. I know basically nothing about any type of basketball. I play with my friends, but I don’t really watch it.”

Oh, he’ll be watching now.