The possible became a piece of history-making reality as a team of five Litchfield High School students qualified for the state Knowledge Bowl competition last week.
“I think this is the first time we have qualified for the state tournament,” said Katie McGraw, LHS Knowledge Bowl coach for the past six years. “As a coach, I was incredibly proud of this team. The boys are looking forward to going to Cragun’s (Resort, Brainerd, site of the state competition April 11-12) and representing Litchfield.”
The team of Alex Carew, T.J. Christensen, Jacob Dietel, Garrison Jackman and Ben Olson earned second place in the Tier A Region 7 Knowledge Bowl March 12 a St. Cloud State University. Melrose won the regional competition with 107 points, while Litchfield amassed 91 points. The top two teams in each tier advance to state competition.
A state Knowledge Bowl berth has been a goal for the LHS team since last season, when the group narrowly missed qualifying, finishing one point out of second place. But in reality, McGraw said she’s seen the group’s potential for much longer than that — all the way back to middle school when they began practicing with McGraw.
Earlier this season, McGraw said the group of four seniors — Carew, Christensen, Dietel and Jackman — and junior Olson, had a special blend of academic talents that made them a formidable team.
In Knowledge Bowl, where competitors’ mental skills are tested in areas of math, social, science, language, geography and the arts, Litchfield’s top varsity team has its bases covered. Christensen is Litchfield’s math specialist, while Dietel leads in science, and Carew is the social studies expert. Jackman, his teammates and coach said, specializes in “weird knowledge.” Meanwhile, Olson, is strong in math and science, in addition to being “a good listener,” a key skill.
“They are very well-rounded young men,” McGraw said. “Not only are they intelligent, they are athletic and are also involved in the arts. They know how to work together and rely on each other’s strengths. This was truly a team effort, and we needed every one of them to make this happen.”
As McGraw alluded, Litchfield’s top team isn’t just a bunch of brainiacs — although they obviously have the smarts to compete at a top level in Knowledge Bowl. But perhaps somewhat surprisingly — or least presumption-busting — is their athletic and arts participation. All five played on Litchfield’s section runner-up football team in the fall. Three — Christensen, Dietel and Jackman — signed letters of intent to continue their athletic careers at college next year.
Regular season Knowledge Bowl meets consist of five rounds, an opening round where competitors take a written test. Scores on that test set the “rooms” of competition for the next four rounds, which are oral. Each room has three teams competing to answer a set of 45 questions. Teams are re-ranked and placed in new rooms according to ranking after each round.
The regional meet included one written round and five oral rounds, covering all content areas of learning typical in second educational programs. Questions test students’ recall, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
“The day was very exciting,” McGraw said of the regional, where Litchfield had a one-point lead after the third round and was ahead by six points after the fourth round. “We were so happy when we found out that in the fifth round we would be going to compete against the team closest to us in points (Melrose A). The only thing we needed to do was to stay event with them in the room. Last year, we were unable to go head-to-head with the team below us, because they were in a lower room, and that is how we lost by one point.”
Litchfield’s top team made sure there was no last-round fall this time. While finishing 16 points behind Tier A champion Melrose A, Litchfield finished 8.5 points ahead of Melrose B to claim the second state-qualifying spot from Region 7.
