PIASA - With 80 teams from 21 states, the competition at the 2016 Small School National Championship Quiz Bowl Tournament was extremely tough. Fortunately for the Scholastic Bowl team from Southwestern High School, coached by Matt Hasquin, these small town kids have now been ranked nationally for their knowledge.
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Hosted the weekend of April 30 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, the school’s two teams ranked up throughout the span of the competition and earned their spot as fourth in the nation for small school quiz bowl teams.
"It's been something that the kids in our program have been working hard for over the last year," Hasquin said. "They placed in seventh last year and they worked really hard to make their way up the ranks."
The school’s A team, which consisted of Luke Tutterrow, Jacob Simmons, Kaeden Kessinger (Captain), Brandon Wyatt, Jonathan Tutterow and Carter Moore, earned a record of 14 wins and 5 losses throughout the competition, allowing them to take the fourth place spot. They ended their season with 111 wins and 28 losses.
Southwestern B is made up of Lana Tutterow, Nick Breitweiser, Collin Walter, Abby Mueller (Captain), Grace Starrlett and Kimberly Behrends. They were eliminated from the competition after losing to Fulton High School from Middleton, Michigan.
"For a small rural school in a nationwide competition, we really held our own," Hasquin said.
A team member Jacob Simmons, son of Jason and Shelly Simmons, was awarded the “Rising Star” award at the tournament. This allowed Simmons to become the number one sophomore quick bowl member in the nation.
"Jacob is a three-sport athlete," Hasquin said. "In his freshman year, he was ranked number one in his class but they only honor the top three classes. This is just a testament for his hard work in and out of the classroom.
Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter School of Marlborough, Massachusetts, took first place in the national competition. Southwestern faced the winning team in the competition. Although they experienced a loss against the team, they maintained a "respectable score" of 255 points and that alone was a good feeling.
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