Students Compete in High School Quiz Bowl Tournament

The annual battle of the brains brings students from across Northern Wisconsin

ASHLAND, Wis. – Students from across Northern Wisconsin battle it out every February, competing for a chance to win trophies and bragging rights in the annual High Quiz Bowl Tournament.

The four-on-four battle of the brains demands knowledge on an almost limitless set of topics.

“We only have fifteen seconds to answer every question and that could go from complex math to U.S. history to sports trivia. It could really be anything and you have to know it just like that,” explained Trinity Pesko of Phillips High School.

First, one team is asked a question. They can either answer it or pass it onto the other team. If a team gets a question right, they get five points. If they get it wrong, that’s minus five.

“Not only are you trying to get the answers as soon as you can, but you also have to make sure the other team’s not listening to what you’re doing so they can’t get anything from you,” explained Draven Ensor of Chequamegon High School.

The students work as a team to put their best answer forward.

“There’s so many things we know that if somebody else says the answer, oh yeah I knew that. But were you able to pull it out of your head in response to the way the question was asked?” asked quiz bowl moderator, Sharon Stewart.

The matches are high-stress and demanding, just like a sport.

“Every time a team gets a question correct, it’s just like they made a basket and oh crap, they’re up by ten, and now we’re down, and trying to make up that difference, and every time they miss a question or they pass it to us, well that’s our chance to grab the rebound and try to take control of the game,” described Pesko.

The team with the highest number of points after forty questions wins the match and advances. If a team loses two matches in the tournament, they’re out.

“Sometimes you think they’re going to know something that they have no idea what you’re going to talk about, and other times they know things that I had no idea about,” said Stewart.

The activity is something these quiz bowlers recommend every student try.

“Quiz bowl is such a great extra-cirricular because you can see the academic side of the school instead of just the sports and everything,” said Jenna Simurdiak of Phillips High School.

Plus, it can be a lot of fun.

“I guess I just like flexing my brain muscles,” said Ensor.

Maple won this year’s tournament. Chequamegon was in second place, and Superior took third.