On December 1st, the Prior Lake Knowledge Bowl/Quiz Bowl Team competed in the annual Cosmic Bowl at Chaska High School in the varsity division, with both teams placing 14th and 15th place out of 41 other teams from 19 different schools.
Throughout the season, the team competes in Knowledge Bowl and Quiz Bowl, two different yet similar competitions. Cosmic Bowl is a knowledge bowl competition.
In KB, one gets to discuss with the team before answering each question. In QB, participants can only discuss during lightning rounds (answering ten questions in one minute halfway through the round) and bonuses (three questions worth ten points each if one gets a question right.)
“I like the fun and being on a team,” said Kylie Mong, one of the senior captains of the bowl teams. “You get to apply what you learned in class to something else.”
Knowledge bowl competitions begin with a written round, which is essentially a collaborative scantron test between 30-60 questions that you can’t study for. The scores of the written round determine the rankings of the teams competing in the oral rounds.
There are three teams in each room for the oral rounds. The questions are often short and teams must buzz quickly to answer first as a team. There are no score penalties for buzzing or answering incorrectly, but it prevents the team from attempting to answer the question again.
The A team, called RIP Sister Hugo, is composed of seniors Mong, Sam Geng, Selena Thach, and Sean Wirtz, who got 26/30 on the written round, placing them in 4th place before the oral rounds. The team is named after an influential nun in Sean’s grandpa’s life.
The team was sent to B room and got 8 points, competing against St. Thomas Academy and Holy Family Catholic High School. The scores were released and they received 9 points in the second round. For the final round, they scored 8 points again.
The B Team, who are called Spectacle Squad, is composed of senior James Easterlund, senior Ethan Pfingsten, senior Rose Snodgrass, and freshman Saxon Mein. The team named themselves after the glasses they all wear.
They dominated the final round, answering 18/45 questions correctly while competing against two other teams.
The 1st place award went to Edina Die Young with a total of 83.5 points. The second and third places went to Sartell Founding Fathers and Northfield Truly Humble.
The Prior Lake teams are coached by Mr. Olsen, a biology and chemistry teacher. He has been a part of the program at the school for 13 years.
In recent years, the program has shrunk. Olsen elaborates on this, “We had 10 teams in 2017-18,” he said. “With thirty-nine players, two coaches, and a volunteer parent.”
Olsen went into detail about the history of the program at Prior Lake, stretching back over 30 years, stating that former math teacher Katy Halberg was the original coach.
Olsen said that he began coaching as a volunteer in 2010. He took the head coach position in 2014.
He also shared that while academic competitions existed in Minnesota when he was in high school, there were none where he went. He first came into contact with the program after he started teaching in Prior Lake.
Olsen stated that when he taught Honors 9 Science, he was able to recruit students to join that way. Now, the program sends less than 10 people to each competition.
This was the first Knowledge Bowl meet of the season. The first Quiz Bowl meet was held at Burnsville High School on Thursday.
If you are interested in joining, contact coach Brian Olsen or captains Kylie Mong and James Easterlund.
You don’t have to be unbelievably smart to join. If you are okay at even just one subject, you will be a valuable asset to the Prior Lake teams.
