MS Quiz Bowl team wins tournament

By Richard Rosenthal and Christine Park, Quiz Bowl Advisors

On Saturday, November 16, the Middle School Quiz Bowl team took home the first, second, and third place trophies at White Station High School's Fall Middle School Invitational, which attracted teams as far away as Mississippi. It is the second tournament in a row that USN Middle Schoolers won. They swept the tournament even though illnesses meant they generally had only three players on a team.

In the preliminary rounds, Asher Huffman '29, Harper Hughey '29, and Lucas Lupu '31 went six and zero, defeating their opponents by an average of 473 to 98. Elliot George '29, Matthew Golann '29, Owen Schwartz '29, and Vihaan Sinha '29 won five preliminary matches by an average score of 467 to 74. Their only loss came to Asher, Harper, and Lucas. As a result, the teams were the first and second seeds in the playoffs.

Based on strong preliminary play, Oliver Burnette '29, Clio Cherry-Pulay '29, and Rose Doyle '30 earned the fifth seed. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset fourth seed St. Louis Catholic School 180 to 160 when Oliver powered the penultimate question. All three USN schools advanced to the semifinal as the other two teams cruised to victory, 540 to 10 and 420 to 10.

With three USN teams in the semifinals, it was inevitable that a USN team would face another USN team. In one semifinal, Asher, Harper, and Lucas knocked off Clio, Oliver, and Rose. Elliot, Matthew, and Owen defeated a strong team from White Station Middle School 340 to 195 in the other match.

Thus, the championship match pitted two USN teams against each other. Matthew got three of the first five questions. And with Elliot and Oren adding to their score, they had the early lead. But in the second half, Asher, Harper, and Lucas answered six of the nine questions and won 355 to 220.

In the consolation finals, Clio, Oliver, and Rose found themselves in another tight match against White Station A. After 18 questions, White Station led 165 to 150. This time, it was Clio who got the penultimate question. The trio got all three bonus questions correct to take the lead. White Station answered the final question but fell 10 points short.

Because the tournament was outside of Memphis, they left for the tournament on Friday, November 15. The overnight trip was a great opportunity for team bonding. It also was good practice for overnight trips to Chicago to compete in the National Championships.

The Quiz Bowl team would like to thank parent Maria Rivera for leading Asher, Harper, and Lucas. Students also would like to express their gratitude to Head of Middle School Shavon Davis Louis for providing them lunch.