Quiz Bowl wins second 5A state title
The team beat Lansing in the final round to win the 5A state championship
February 17, 2015
The Quiz Bowl team won the 5A state championship after defeating Lansing 60-50 at Bishop Carroll High School on Saturday, Feb. 14. This is the second state title Quiz Bowl has won, after winning 4A state in 2009.
Seniors Jack Earlenbaugh and Katherine White, juniors Rohit Biswas, Patrick Gambill and Ryan Schwaab and sophomore Tom McClain all competed on the state team.
While Earlenbaugh thought the team would place, he did not anticipate winning.
“From the beginning of the day, I was expecting something like third place, probably second place,” Earlenbaugh said. “I was not expecting first — not by a long shot — mainly because of past results, past years.”
Going into semifinals, the Jaguars were 4-3 and seeded third. Earlenbaugh said No. 4 seed Lansing’s win in semifinals over No. 1 seed Bishop Carroll had shocked him even before his own semifinal round.
“When we got into the round, I was ecstatic because Lansing had beaten Bishop Carroll, and that was incredible,” Earlenbaugh said.
The team then beat No. 2 seed Kapaun Mt. Carmel 90-40 and advanced to the finals against Lansing. For Biswas, competing against Lansing in finals meant a lot.
“Us and Lansing have been very good friend-rivals because, facing them at KVL, they took second place, at regionals they took second place, and then now [they took second place],” Biswas said. “Every single time it’s been a finals round between us and Lansing, and it’s always been first place on the line. It’s just great having that feeling again because you have rivals that you like and that’s probably one of the best things about Quiz Bowl.”
Aside from winning 4A state in 2009, Quiz Bowl previously placed second in 2010 and third in 2003, 2006 and 2008. The team has also won five regional championships, most recently in 2015. According to head coach Mary Beth Mattingly, even though the team has competed at state many times, winning is still a big accomplishment.
“It’s fantastic because, of the 15 years that I’ve been coaching, we’ve made it to state I think all but one year, but we’ve got first place at state only one other year,” Mattingly said.
After Mill Valley News wrote a story about her Quiz Bowl accomplishments in the 15 years since the school’s opening, Mattingly thought it would be nice to have a more recent state win.
“When somebody was coming in and taking a picture at school … and we took the old 2009 state trophy up because they just wanted a picture, I said, ‘We’ve got to bring back our own this time, guys,’” Mattingly said. “And it really is the state trophy.”
Biswas sees the state win as a testament to the team’s ability in comparison to the 2009 state champion Quiz Bowl team.
“It’s kind of nice because the team that won our other state trophy for Quiz Bowl had … insanely smart people and it’s just nice to know that we’re on the same caliber,” Biswas said. “Mill Valley hasn’t decreased or anything.”
Being a part of the school’s second state-winning Quiz Bowl team was nearly indescribable for Earlenbaugh.
“It’s just a great ending to a great senior year of Quiz Bowl,” Earlenbaugh said. “I feel like the 1985 Royals winning the World Series right now, honestly.”
Below is a Storify of Mill Valley News’ live tweets from the tournament.
