Members of the Prairie View High School scholars bowl team include, seated from left, members of the regional and state team Collin Pope, Mason Mitzner, Cole Holler, KImball Uphoff, Creed Caldwell; standing, Alaina Hamons, Carmin Morilla, Nathaniel Herring, Mary Ryan, Kierston McCarty, Jacob Law, Quinton Rothwell, and Quinton Browning. (Roger Sims/Linn County Journal)
Prairie View High School’s scholars bowl team placed third at the Class 3A Scholars Bowl State Championship tournament in Wichita on Feb. 10 after winning the regional competition the week before.
Seniors Collin Pope, Cole Holler, Creed Caldwell were joined by Mason Mitzner and Kimball Uphoff to make the best showing in the academic contest in two decades. The five boys represented PVHS at both the regional and state competition.
The win at the regional tournament was the first time the PVHS team has won the regional since 1994. The team was also Pioneer League champion this year, and this was the third straight time the team qualified for state in three years.
According to scholars bowl coach Tracy Konda, the team took first place in seven of the 10 meets during the season and took third place once. The members of the team competing varied during the regular season, however, because of commitments to other activities.
During the tournaments, teams with a minimum of three players and a maximum of five answer questions from several academic areas including literature, science, geography, fine arts, sports, history, current events, world language and pop culture. With each team member holding buzzer buttons, the team must answer questions posed by the moderator within 15 seconds; team members can confer before the answer is given.
Konda said that much of the team’s success over the past few years has been a result of what he calls “the Three Cs.”
“Seniors Collin Pope, Creed Caldwell, and Cole Holler are going to leave some big shoes to fill for next year,” Konda said. “They have been really fun to watch and work together so well.
“Thankfully, I have some underclassmen who have watched their success this season and now are ready to step up and fill those shoes.”
The first place team at the state meet was host school Wichita Collegiate. Second place went to Gypsum-Southeast of Saline.
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