A bit late to worry about standing out, after the whole entrance exam escapade. But like others have said, this is the kind of story where the author tries to make the MC look cool in every chapter, consistency or the larger story be damned.
The author even has a justification for the some students not knowing, because they were in the at least 50 that passed without the test (150 people are in the year and 100 people took second test, but the standard for passing is unclear, so we can't just say the 50 duel winners passed. The MC won his fight conclusively, but was nearly failed for no reason. This moron lost but got in.).
Instead, he still has the same moron who got beat by a guy without a sword into retrograde amnesia.