Last week at district quiz bowl, the Hastings High senior team took 1st place, while the Hastings High sophomore team took 2nd.
Earlier that day the sophomore team beat the senior team, sending them to the loser’s bracket. In spite of this loss the senior team persevered and managed to secure a position in the championship match.
In the championship match, the senior team had to compete against the sophomore team not once, but twice more in order for them to win 1st place. The seniors accomplished this feat and proudly proved themselves superior to the sophomore team.
“Winning was great, it was satisfying to finally get 1st place after four years of participating in quiz bowl. Even if we didn’t win it would still have been satisfying because either way the trophy would go to our school,” senior Alex Kemnitz said.
Usually the teams who finish in 1st and 2nd place at districts secure a spot for the state competition held in April, but this year is different.
“For some odd reason, state only allows one team from one school to go to state. You can’t send two teams from the same school, which makes me sad because to me it would be fair to have both of our teams go since they both earned it,” quiz bowl coach Faye Friesen said.
Friesen of course has a solution to this problem. She plans on combining the two teams into one “super” team.
“I’m going to bring every member of the two teams, I’ve already gotten permission from Mr. Opperman, and were going to create a super team. The 10 people who answer the most questions correctly during practice are going to be a part of this new and improved team, and substitutions will be made as seen fit,” Friesen said.
Practices, that normally consisted of Friesen just simply reading off questions to everyone in a circle, will have an overhaul in the weeks leading up to state.
“I do think that if we had a set of buzzers that would be helpful so I am going to see if somebody can lend us a set of 12 buzzers so we can then practice 12 people at a time,” Friesen said.
Sophomore Sam Johnson believes that all of the hard work really paid off.
“It felt very rewarding to put so much hard work into quiz bowl and to see the rewards and getting second place. Quiz bowl is a very competitive event and it really tests your academic knowledge over a wide category of topics,” Johnson said.
Johnson is no newcomer when it comes to quiz bowl. He has been actively participating in quiz bowl since the 4th grade and does not think it’s too late for someone to join.
“If you’re even considering joining the quiz bowl team next year, just talk to Ms. Friesen and maybe sit in on a couple practices. Who knows, maybe you’ll find out quiz bowl is for you,” Johnson said.
