L to R: Tyler Kunde, Nizhonia Schmidt, Lucas Kunde, & Tyson Tubbs
Submitted By Jenny Knutsen
On Saturday March 29th, the Easton Valley Quiz Bowl team competed in the Iowa Quiz Bowl Championships. This competition pulls out the best of the best in the state of Iowa. Three divisions drive this tournament: JV (8 teams), Small School (20 teams), and Open Division (10 teams). Easton Valley competed in the Small School Division.
In our division there were four pools of five teams. At the end of pool play, EV had a record of 2 and 2. This was good enough to take 3rd in our pool. In pool play the River Hawks only losses came from Rivermont Collegiate (who finished 3rd overall in the competition) and Maple Valley – Anthon Oto (our loss to Maple Valley came down to four, overtime questions in sudden death). Our two wins were to Boyer Valley and Des Moines Christian.
After pool play, the River Hawks went to tournament play. We first drew Lawton-Bronson and lost by one final toss-up and bonus question in a very close, nerve racking match. Then we drew Newman Catholic. The River Hawks finished the last match of the day with a win, defeating the Comets. The River Hawks overall record for the day 3 and 3 for all matches that were included in competition scoring. Tyson was our high scorer for the day with 200 points including two powers (all questions are worth 10 points unless you buzz in extra early making the question worth 15 points), Lucas contributed 195 points with one power, Tyler had 180 points, and Nizhonia had 30, however it’s worth noting that bonus questions, which are conferred with teammates after answering a toss-up question correctly are not counted in a player’s overall score, and Nizhonia always adds much needed input into these questions. She is also our team’s motivational leader, always telling the team that we can do this!
In the Small School Division Bishop-Heelan was the overall winner, with Woodbine coming in second. As stated above Rivermont Collegiate took third and Logan-Magnolia took home 4th place honors. In the Open Division (large school) Iowa City took top place with Marshalltown coming in second. Waukee Northwest (the hosting school) came in third and Western Dubuque was fourth.
Once again, I couldn’t have been more proud of this team! They mesh and compliment each other so well as a team. To see them work together is pure magic and once in a while a little comical to the crowd as they talk out loud their thought process on bonus questions.
The River Hawks have also just cracked the Groger Rank list (a publication that comes out with a ranking of quiz bowl teams in the country that fall in the top 400 before nationals)! This is huge as the River Hawks team is composed of all sophomores that have been competing in varsity tournaments the last two years against mostly juniors and seniors. The River Hawks are one of only four teams from the state of Iowa recognized in the ranking!
Their next competition? The BIG one, Nationals in Chicago on April 25-27. Why is this the BIG one? You have to qualify in a previous tournament(s) and then be invited to participate at Nationals. That is what makes this tournament so special. The Iowa Quiz Bowl Championships are the best of the best in the state of Iowa, Nationals are the best of the best around the U.S. Stay tuned for updates. Go River Hawks!
