Knowledge Bowl team to defend state title
By any measure, the five members of Buffalo High School’s top Knowledge Bowl team have already had stellar careers in the academic competition.
They are the defending state champions, having earned the title as juniors. They became the youngest team to ever place at state as sophomores. They are one of the few – perhaps the only – team of individuals to qualify for the state competition three years in a row.
This week they will attempt to become the first team in Minnesota to win the state title twice. They will compete against 23 other teams in the large-school Class AAA competition at Cragun’s Resort in Brainerd Thursday and Friday, April 13-14.
“There is a lot of luck involved in Knowledge Bowl, so we’re not saying we will win, but we’re definitely shooting for it and we’re preparing to do our best at state,” said senior Avery Thompson, who is joined on the team by fellow seniors Amelia Butler, Matthew Scherber, Milo Zimmerman and Ryder Zvorak. “We’re also trying not to put too much pressure on ourselves with the title on our back this year. We obviously want to win, but we know it’s not the end of the world if that doesn’t happen.”
BHS fielded seven Knowledge Bowl teams this year, including four at the varsity level and three JV squads.
“This group is a team that all the other teams within our program look up to, and they are well deserving of that,” said head coach Brandon Aldrich. “They were impressive when they were freshmen and sophomores, and they’ve just gotten better throughout the four years that they’ve been in this program. It has blown me away how much information they can retain, or if it’s a math question how fast they can do it. It’s also impressive just how good of people they are, and how they are leaders for the other teams.”
Keys to success
Each member of the team started Knowledge Bowl in fifth or sixth grade, and though Butler took a few seasons off the group has mostly been together for years. Their individual connections started even earlier.
“We’ve all been in pretty much the same classes together since second grade because of the Quest Program (for gifted students),” said Thompson. “Because we all know each other so well we can communicate seamlessly as a team, and that definitely helps.”
“There’s almost a certain degree of telepathy that goes into it,” agreed Scherber. “I can make eye contact with people on my team and know that we’re thinking the exact same thing without ever saying a word.”
While Knowledge Bowl covers a wide spectrum of topics, each team member also has some particular areas of strength that the group can draw on. Scherber is the go-to when questions arise in geography, history, culture and the arts. Zvorak excels in math and science. Butler assists in the arts and science, and is strong in music and medicine. Zimmerman is the literature expert, and he and Thompson combine knowledge about mythology and music. Thompson is the “jack of all trades” who also excels in math and history.
“Even what we know about each other’s knowledge is so in tune with each other,” said Thompson. “I feel like we have that much of an advantage over the rest of the teams because of that.”
The attraction
Relationships with teammates was a primary attraction of Knowledge Bowl for each member of the group.
“I like the competition of it, as well as being able to come back with the same small team,” said Zvorak. “We’ve just stuck together for so long, the bonds we’ve been able to form have made it like the only option is to stick with it. And it’s a lot of fun.”
The rest of the team recruited Butler back for their junior and senior years.
“I really like to learn, but I’m not here as much for the competition as I am for these people that I’ve known basically my whole life,” she said.
A natural question might be why any student would willingly take on additional academic challenges beyond their regular classes, particularly given how busy high school activity schedules can be.
“This isn’t our only thing. Some of us are musicians. Some of us are athletes. We’re involved in after-school activities. We devote a lot of time to it and we love it, but we are not just nerds,” said Butler with a laugh.
So, aside from friendship, what is the draw?
“Just natural curiosity – I think all of us have that within us,” said Scherber. “We all just want to know how things work, why things are the way they are. Knowledge Bowl gives us a chance to explore that in a more formalized context. I think a really big part of being good at Knowledge Bowl is just being aware of the world around you.”
Thompson agreed.
“You don’t have to be the smartest kid in your class to be in Knowledge Bowl or to be really good at it,” she said. “You just need to be curious.”
How it works
In a Knowledge Bowl meet teams first take a 60-question multiple choice test on a wide swath of subjects – “essentially the questions are anything you could find in an encyclopedia, in addition to math” – said Scherber. Teams are then divided into a number of tiers based on the test results, and four to five oral test rounds follow in which team members have to buzz in first for a chance to answer questions.
There were eight regular season meets on Saturday mornings over the winter months, followed by sub-regional and regional competitions before the state meet. At the state level there are three classes based on school size, and 24 teams from each class – out of approximately 1,000 total teams in Minnesota – qualify for state.
Knowledge Bowl members began practicing in late November, taking sample tests and reviewing potential answers.
“Knowledge Bowl questions don’t follow rhyme or reason,” said Butler. “They can be about something in the 1800s, or ask what a word means or what a book is about or who a quote is from. So studying is just consuming as much knowledge as you can fit in your brain.”
“We’re expected to draw on an infinitely large set of information, so we’re always trying to expand how much we can grasp,” said Scherber.
Practice does pay off, however.
“Over time, practicing so many questions, you start to run into questions that you might have heard parts of before, or that cover the same information,” said Zvorak. “It’s rare, but there have been times in meets where we’ll hear three or four words in a question and to the audience it might seem impossible that we know the answer, but it’s because we’ve heard a similar question before that we are able to get the answer right.”
Back to state
Team members have done their best to balance expectations with enjoyment in their final year, even with the notoriety of a state championship on their resume.
“You have to enjoy it. If you get so focused on winning that you can’t have fun you’re done for. You get stressed out,” said Butler, explaining that the team did regular dress-up themes for competitions to help keep the mood light. “Stuff like that helps us not be so worried about winning all the time just because we’re the defending champs.”
That said, they are eager for another chance to prove themselves at the highest level.
“It’s rewarding to get back to state, but it’s also a little daunting, especially with the title behind us,” said Zvorak. “Having to show up and do that again is scary, but with the preparation we’ve put in this season, no matter the outcome, I’ll still be happy with it.”
“I’m just happy we’re taking it to the end,” said Butler. “We started, we competed, and we’re going to compete one more time. We’re going to see it through. Whatever happens, that will be the end, and I’m proud of us for getting there.”
“We’ve had a great season, so no matter what happens they can’t take that away from us,” said Scherber. “We’re going to have a lot of fun at state, so I think we’re all excited for it.”
