Three Northern Michigan University Quiz Bowl squads traveled to Houghton Nov. 16 to compete with three Michigan Tech teams for the right to claim the Superior Cup, a traveling trophy that has been presented to the winner at each meeting of the two schools since 2015. NMU's A squad finished in first place with a 7-0 record, so the Superior Cup will remain in its trophy case in The Science Building.
"We knew going into this tournament that our friendly rivals at Tech would be tough to beat," noted NMU Quiz Bowl coach and faculty advisor Michael Joy. "They took the Superior Cup away from us a year ago, and we only just managed to wrest it back at our spring tournament. We certainly were not taking anything for granted."
“I was super excited to beat Tech,” said NMU Team President Libby Myren. “It was a really fun tournament and I think we represented ourselves well. Our team prepares for competition by practicing multiple times a week as a group. Two times a week, we play practice games against each other, which helps us get used to the tournament style and lets us hear a variety of question topics. This semester, our team started doing a third practice where we improve our knowledge on specific topics by practicing lists like world capitals and classical music. I feel like our team has gotten a lot stronger this year in many different areas because of these practices.”
Quiz Bowl is sometimes referred to as the "varsity sport of the mind." It is an academic competition in which members of two teams must quickly recall knowledge related to a wide variety of academic subjects, including literature, history, science, geography, music, art, philosophy and others.
"I find it enjoyable because I love to learn new things and it's impossible not to do that at practice," Myren said. "It is very rewarding to answer a question about something you just learned about in one of your classes or from researching the topic on your own. I am also a competitive person, so I enjoy winning games with my team."
Northern's A squad was led in scoring by graduate student Josh Pletcher, who scored 72 points per game.
"Josh Pletcher, in only his second year on the team, continues to impress with his broad range of knowledge and assertiveness on the buzzer," said Joy. "His teammates on the A squad--Jeannine Doyle, Libby Myren, and Liam Ulland-Joy--know all sorts of things about all sorts of subjects.”
The NMU A squad sealed the tournament championship with a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the sixth round.
A game consists of 20 "tossup" questions, each worth ten points; the team that answers each tossup by "buzzing in" with the correct answer is then able to answer "bonus" questions for still more points.
After 15 out of the 20 tossups in the game had been read, Michigan Tech's B squad was in the lead by a seemingly insurmountable 140-point margin.
"That comeback was one of the most impressive feats I've seen in all my years as a quiz bowl player and coach," noted Joy. "It took a nearly perfect performance just to force a tie. After the three tiebreaker tossups had been read, we managed to squeak by with a five-point victory."
The NMU B and C squads finished fifth and sixth at the tournament, with leading scorers Amelia Bone and Brennen Rigley taking individual honors.
"Halfway through our 16th season as a team, the future looks bright for NMU Quiz Bowl," said Joy. "Every player on the team- not just the A squad- contributes to the team's success. We've got a large group of enthusiastic, smart quiz bowl players, and we can't wait to show what we know!"
Myren said the teams' strong performance last weekend gives her confidence that the “Quiz Cats” will perform well at their next competition: the sectional championship on Feb. 8th in Minneapolis.