Quiz bowl wins first tournament of school year
Team captain Cole Hartung poses at 2022 Nationals.
September 30, 2022
The quiz bowl team clinched a victory over Heights High School in the finals of the Texas Quiz Bowl Association High School Jamboree tournament, emerging undefeated as well as champions in the team’s first tournament of the year.
In addition to winning the tournament with a score of 10-0, junior Cole Hartung, team captain and second-place winner at the National History Bee, was the leading scorer in the tournament.
The team’s pathway to victory was not as clear-cut as it seems.
During the semi-finals of the tournament, with five questions remaining, Kinkaid was down by 120 points. To win the round, the team would need to answer all five questions correctly.
“All of us were nervous that we were going to lose our first round,” sophomore Timur Balametov said. “But then, all of sudden, everything just clicked. We got one question right, then the next, then the next. I remember suddenly realizing that we weren’t out of this yet.”
Kinkaid would end up beating Cinco Ranch and advancing to the finals.
Among the members of the Kinkaid quiz bowl team who participated in the tournament were seniors Will Pielop and Shem Brown, junior Cole Hartung, sophomores Ali Hamzeh and Timur Balametov and freshman Priyanka Nayar.
The quiz bowl team members hope to use their momentum to propel them further into success at their next tournaments. More broadly, the team members’ goal is to win the 2023 TQBA State Championship, where they won 12-0 in 2022.
“Quiz bowl is a fun activity,” Hartung said. “But we are still very competitive in our circuit and nationwide so come join us if you want to have fun and compete.”
