By: Jacob Kessler
The Evergreen High School Quiz Team’s competition year has seen many firsts. The team began this year back in November where they qualified, for the 7th year in a row, to the Small Schools National Tournament in Chicago, Illinois after placing 3rd at the Hicksville NAQT invitational. There they took home two trophies, one for pool champion and the other for top small school.
In December, the team brought back the Fulton County tournament trophy to Evergreen for the 6th time when they placed first at the Fulton County Tournament.
In early April, the team then went on to win the Northern Buckeye Academic League by going 11-0 in regular league play and by winning the NBAL tournament over Defiance, with the final question deciding the match.
This is only the third time in school history the Evergreen High School Quiz team has placed 1st, both in league, and in the tournament.
Even more so than that, it was the first time it was done in back-to-back years. The team then competed against all of the top teams in the four-county area, defeating each of them, and moving on to regionals. Held in Sidney, Ohio on April 15th, the team competed and finished in third place.
Finally, with everything leading up to nationals, the team competed in the National Qualifying Tournament in Chicago, Illinois at the end of April.
That Saturday, Evergreen went 8-2 and defeated teams from New York, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Michigan.
Team member Jacob Goodson was announced as the 8th highest scorer in the nation after competing in rounds that Saturday.
The team also qualified to compete for Sunday’s double elimination playoff competition. Evergreen had the lead towards the half in both of their matches, but fell to teams from Batavia, Ohio and West Iron County, Michigan. In that competition, Evergreen placed 21st in the nation.
One last big event took place for the team following Chicago. Evergreen competed in the WNWO Channel 24 Academic Challenge after being eliminated from the BGSU brain game in the quarterfinals.
During the WNWO challenge, the team had their best performance in school history and defeated teams from Eastwood, Lake, Ottawa Hills, and Anthony Wayne in the preliminary rounds, and defeated Vermilion in the semifinals.
Evergreen, however, fell to Southview in the finals, with the runner-up finish being the best in school history for the WNWO challenge.
This year’s Evergreen High School Quiz Team members are: Seniors – Jacob Goodson, and Josie Blanchard; Juniors – Caleb Grasser, Rachael Hoffman, and Katie Hoffman; Sophomores – Jada Blanchard and Jordan Ruby; Freshmen – Sophia Goodson, Ethan Grasser and Lissa Roesti; Coach Bill Blanchong.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com