The question was read: “Who is the absolutely smallest hero of traditional English folklore?” The students involved in knowledge bowl easily knew that it was Tom Thumb which gave them another point ahead of the teachers.

The two groups then continued to battle it out in the fifth annual teacher-student knowledge bowl competition. The students eventually won big with a score of 39 to 27. This stopped the four-year teacher winning streak, and the teachers returned home empty-handed.

Senior Ryan Hafner, a knowledge bowler, put the feeling of the knowledge bowlers simply when he said, “I’m enthralled.” The team even won without having practiced for a long time. “We haven’t played knowledge bowl since two and a half months ago but we expected to win. Our team, we sync,” said Hafner.

Indeed, the knowledge bowlers really knew their knowledge. After each of the 90 questions, they would quickly and quietly converse and then put forth a usually correct answer. “I thought the seniors had a good chance of winning just because they are the strongest senior group we’ve had in a long time,” said Mr. Jason Wallestad, knowledge bowl coach.

This was different for the teachers who often did not buzz in quickly enough. “There was one optional practice session that I scheduled, but only Mr. Epler showed up. They probably should have showed up because they were a little rusty. In the beginning they didn’t buzz in fast enough so that’s why they didn’t win. They were just too slow,” said Mr. Wallestad.

At half-time, teacher knowledge bowler, Mr. Rob Epler, said, “We are optimistic. We are impressed by their skills yet not daunted.” Although the teachers did have a rough start, they greatly improved during the competition and even won the last round with a score of 15 to 14.

“In the beginning, they were totally destroyed, but they put forth an admirable effort near the end–but that wasn’t enough,” said senior Pat Conry, a student kowledge bowler.

In the end, the strength of teamwork and breadth of knowledge in the students caused them to have a great victory. “How did these kids get so smart? It must be their teachers,” said Mr. Epler.

Elin Lantz, staff writer