Courtesy of the BSM instagram

This year, the Knowledge Bowl team made BSM history by advancing to the state tournament.

The Benilde-St. Margaret’s Knowledge Bowl team is a fairly new club; they are truly making a name for themselves this year as they prepare to tackle the state tournament. Knowledge Bowl is a team-based game that consists of competitive trivia. The questions range through all sorts of topics, and each team member works to answer as many questions as possible within a given amount of time. This will be the first time in BSM history that the Knowledge Bowl team is competing in the state tournament, making this year memorable.

Team captain, senior Jonathan McMerty-Brummer, is a proud member of Knowledge Bowl. He has participated in the club since his freshman year and has a deep understanding of how the game is played. There are teams of four that compete in each round, attempting to answer questions as quickly as possible. McMerty-Brummer explains that two teams per room need to “buzz in” or submit answers as quickly as possible. “Whoever gets the most answers by the end of the round moves up in rooms (They move to another room to compete against a different team). There are three rooms per night, and whoever ends up at the top at the end of the night wins,” McMerty-Brummer said.

Each member of the team studies a different subject area in order to answer questions more efficiently. Each member of the team tackles a different category, making it easier for the team to answer a large variety of questions. McMerty-Brummer states everyone’s role within the team and which subject they study. “Everyone can answer questions equally, but generally we try to split up by subject area. So Luke’s typically our science guy, Jonah and Leo are history guys, Kronk is our music guy and our secondary math guy, and sports as well when it comes up, then I typically get the rest,” McMerty-Brummer said.

Senior Luke Sauer has really enjoyed being a part of the Knowledge Bowl team this season. He enjoys having a place where he can use his smarts while also having a fun time with friends, and he would highly recommend others to join the team. “Being on a team with your fellas is pretty fun, but then also getting a really nice question right is really fun. Plus, all of us have a bunch of useless knowledge, and having an outlet for something like that is pretty nice to have,” Sauer said.

McMerty-Brummer would encourage all students to join the Knowledge Bowl team next season. They are a fun-filled team that is excited to be making their mark within the BSM community. “Anything you learn in school will come up at some point or another. So if you like trivia [or] if you want something to do with your friends after school, come to Knowledge Bowl, it’s a fun time,” McMerty-Brummer said.