Centennial’s quiz bowl team qualified for a new experience this spring. The Broncos had the chance to compete in a national tournament in April in Chicago.
In a quiz bowl match, a reader reads a toss-up question and the team buzzes in with the answer. Points are given for correct answers and sometimes subtracted for wrong answers. The team with the correct answer can add points by getting the bonus question right.
The team qualified at a meet at Raymond Central where it finished second.
Sophomore Luke Steele said qualifying for nationals was exciting.
“We came back through the losers’ bracket,” he said.
Centennial’s team members said the national tournament format was a little different – for example, questions were delivered faster. Instead of one bonus question to go with the toss-up, there were three. Sponsor Amanda Struckman said the tournament used professional readers who talked fast.
“Nebraska has its own format,” Tyson Hornbacher said. “The question structure was different.”
At the national tournament, the day started with a meeting for the rules and schedule. The morning competition rounds determined placement for the tournament in the afternoon.
Sophomore Jarret White said it was hard to adapt to the different style of questions. His strengths are geography and sports.
“The other teams are smart. They practice for it,” he said. “It is the only thing they do.”
Chase Pankoke, also a sophomore, said it took a couple rounds to settle in.
“At the end, I was still a little fuzzy,” he said with a smile.
He said the tournament required “a lot of thinking.” He said he doesn’t really have an overall strong area but knows a little bit in every field.
Ella Baack, a junior, said she also knows a little bit in every category but is stronger in geography, history and math.
“We were not as fast at buzzing,” she said.
“The national format was too fast paced,” Steele said. His strengths are geography, history and random questions.
Baack said the team did get one question right at the tournament, however.
Madisyn Shufeldt, a junior, started quiz bowl a couple years ago because Baack asked her to and said it’s been a lot of fun. Her strengths are grammar and literature, she said.
She said the questions were not formatted as questions, which was confusing.
“I prefer Nebraska’s format,” she said.
The quiz bowl team members are all underclassmen and have, in many cases, been doing quiz bowl since junior high.
Hornbacher, a sophomore, said the team practices every other week, going through potential questions.
At the national meet, he said, questions focused on reading material. Hornbacher said his forte is more math and science, but he’s good at reading, too.
The national tournament was in Chicago, a new location for everyone. When they weren’t competing, the team did a lot of sightseeing, including a boat tour on the Chicago River.
Pankoke said he liked the walk through Chicago. Steele said the architectural tour was also interesting.
Struckman said the group was a good one to travel with. They drove nine hours to Chicago, competed and drove home. As the quiz bowl sponsor, she said the team will do more practice questions so they’re ready for the national format.
“The schools we went against were much bigger. That is their sport,” she said.
White started quiz bowl in seventh grade because he thought it seemed like something fun to do.
“We were good in junior high,” Pankoke added.
Baack said she liked quiz bowl, which she started in fifth grade.
“I was able to show off my smarts,” she said with a grin.
Steele said he joined quiz bowl because he wanted to go to the state fair. It was fun, so he continued.
“I hope we have another chance at nationals,” he said.
