Knowledge Bowl Competes at State
March 17, 2017
The Knowledge Bowl team made it back this year to the state competition at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. The team took 9 people, an A team, a B team, and alternates. The A team consisted of Max Hexom (12), Cassidy Arndt (12), Molly Arndt (10), and Gunnar Marquardt (10). The B team had David Misyura (10), Glenn Stevens (10), D.J. Char (10), and Mackenna Yount (9). There was one alternate who will compete next year at state: Nathan Hudson (9).
For the competition, there were two written rounds and seven oral rounds. During the written rounds, the A team worked together to answer questions that were part of a packet. This was the only part of the competition where the students were able to collaborate with each other. A common strategy for the written round is to tear apart the packet and give each page to one person. Each person assigned to that page will answer all the questions they know, and then they rotate so each person gets every page. At the end, they all work together to solve the problems none of them know.
Unlike written rounds, students cannot speak to each other during oral rounds. One team will buzz in using a buzzing system, and one member from the team will guess until someone gets the answer right. Some people use hand gestures to silently communicate with their team.
During the first written round, the A team got 36/60 points, more than both of the other teams in their room. They then advanced to their first oral round. They competed against Palisade and Rampart. They ended the round with 15 for Palisade, 14 for Rampart, and 8 for Manitou.
Things picked up for the team during the second oral round, where they faced Rocky Ford and Middle Path. Manitou won the round with 10 points. They also won the third round against Steamboat Springs and Pikes Peak Christian. Steamboat won 9 points, PPC won 2 points, and Manitou won 15.
During the last two rounds of the day Manitou got 6 points in both. The 4th round was against Sargent and Lamar, and the 5th rounds was against Liberty and Sangre de Cristo. That concluded the first day of competing.
The team started off the second day with another written round. The A team scored 37/60, yet again beating both of the other teams in their room. After that, there were only two more oral rounds left of the competition. In the 6th round Manitou went against Vista Peak and Sangre. Vista Peak earned 9 points, Sangre 12, and Manitou 6. In the final round of the state meet, Manitou faced Steamboat and Vista Peak. Steamboat won 13 points, Vista earned 11, and Manitou ended the day with 7.
In the final results of the 2017 State Knowledge Bowl competition, Manitou placed 44th, with 131 points.
The captains this year include the seniors Hexom and Cassidy Arndt. Over the course of the whole season, Hexom scored a total of 297 points, bordering on 300. Cassidy scored a total of 165.
The other Arndt sister, Molly, is also a very crucial part of the team. Molly had the second highest amount of points, at 190, almost breaking 200. Molly hopes to become captain next year.
Another student hoping to hold a high position on the team next year is Marquardt. He finished the season this year with a total of 144 points. His specialty in the team is mathematics.
The Knowledge Bowl team’s plans for the rest of the year is to host a staff competition with teachers, and recruit middle schoolers for the club next year.
