The ASMSA Quiz Bowl team won the Arkansas Governor’s Quiz Bowl Association Class 7A state tournament, defeating Bryant High School in the final match on April 26.
It is the second state Quiz Bowl title the school has ever won, following a victory in 2012 in which ASMSA defeated Conway High School for the Class 7A state title. This year was the first time since 2013 that an ASMSA team has played for the state title.
Junior Ridgely Bond was named the state tournament’s MVP. He and junior Jacob Lewis also qualified for the All-State team, making them eligible to participate in an All-Stars tournament after the season was completed. The final round of the state tournament was held in the studio at Arkansas PBS in Conway so that it could be broadcast live statewide.
ASMSA jumped out early over the first two quarters for a 100-30 lead after the first quarter and 150-75 after the second. Bryant closed the gap with a perfect lightning round in the third quarter to 240 to 205 in favor of ASMSA, but a strong fourth quarter allowed ASMSA to secure the title game for a 340-245 victory.
Caleb Grisham, a mathematics Instructor of Excellence who serves as the team’s coach, said he was nervous when Bryant earned a perfect score during their lightning round, answering all 10 questions. Bryant took the lead for a short time, 195-150, as they were afforded the right to choose their lightning round topic first because they were trailing after the second round. They chose a topic called “Who’s in charge now,” in which the team was provided the name of a head of state or government leader and they had to respond with the corresponding country.
ASMSA’s lightning round was titled “Vampires,” in which they answered questions about the legends, myths and literature references about vampires. ASMSA answered nine of the 10 questions, and Bryant picked up the bounce back question to close out the third quarter scoring at 240-205.
“I was a little nervous when Bryant ran their lightning round category with a perfect score and took a lead, compounded by the uncertainty of what our lightning round category was to entail,” Grisham said. “Nevertheless, we made it to the fourth quarter with a lead. As I was keeping score in the fourth quarter, I was also tabulating the number of questions remaining in the game. I will always remember the moment when we went ahead by more questions than were remaining in the game.
“I wasn’t sure if the players on the stage were aware of it, but I leaned over to ASMSA chemistry instructor Burt Hollandsworth and whispered, ‘That’s the game; they just won the state title.’ It was a surreal moment.”
Bond was keeping track of the same information while on stage and realized the team had secured the title before the game ended. He said that he was relieved that the team’s hard work during the season had paid off. That hard work included winning the Class 7A West Regional Tournament by defeating host Fort Smith Southside by one question and defeating Little Rock Central in the state tournament after losing to Tigers in two previous tournaments earlier in the season.
Other team members on stage said they were unaware of their win until the end of the match. “I only realized we had actually won once it was declared a victory,” said senior Jackson Whittaker, who served as the team’s captain. “I was more in shock once the decision was announced.”
“It was a culmination of what we had all worked for all year, and it was like a weight being lifted off our shoulders and being replaced with joy that lifted them up,” Lewis said. “Competing against bigger schools such as Little Rock Central and Fort Smith Southside was intimidating, but in the end, we managed to pull through.”
The victory over Fort Smith Southside at the regional tournament stood out the most to Lewis. “This moment changed how the entire state saw ASMSA and made people start questioning if we could really win it all. It also proved to us that we had a real shot at winning in the finals as well,” he said.
Both Whittaker and junior Violet Dailey, who was on the team last year as a sophomore, said the team winning first place at the Friends of Quiz Bowl Invitational Tournament that was held in December at Little Rock Southwest High School stood out the most to them. The team had a dominant performance, going undefeated to claim the first-place trophy.
“Winning the Friends of Quiz Bowl tournament stands out to me the most because it was our first win. I feel like it made us strive so much more to win at regionals and state,” Dailey said.
Besides the Friends of Quiz Bowl tourney, the team finished second at the NAQT Invitational that was held at Harding University in October where their only loss was in the final game and third place out of 28 high school teams at Little Rock Central’s Tiger Cup Invitational in November.
Aside from winning the state title, Grisham said his team’s multiple matches with Little Rock Central stood out to him from this season. “They have been dominant in the last couple of years, so we entered the year with immense respect for what they could do in a Quiz Bowl game,” he said. “We played them three times, and every game was close and had dramatic finishes. I was happy for our team that we were able to pull out the victory at the state tournament, which earned a spot in the final game.”
Throughout the season, Bond and Lewis often competed for top individual honors at the tournaments. Players are awarded points for each tossup question they answer with players recognized for their individual efforts. Bond was second in individual scoring with Lewis right behind in third at the NAQT Invitational. Bond was named the MVP of the Tiger Cup Invitational. Lewis was the second highest scorer at the Class 7A West Regional Tournament followed by Bond in third.
Having two strong players surrounded by a well-rounded team was important as well, Grisham said.
“In my experience, the best teams have a player with deep knowledge of fine arts (for example art and artists, composers and their works) and history. Luckily our two strongest players were complemented by a group of players who were strong in science, religion and mythology, mathematics and popular culture. This was a well-rounded team with the right combination of strengths and specialties to make us competitive in any game we played,” Grisham said.
Whittaker agreed with his coach, saying “The team this year has been truly amazing, both in Quiz Bowl ability and as team personalities.”
“It’s great to play on such a multitalented team,” Bond said. “At ASMSA, I get to play alongside many extremely talented fellow players.”
Lewis said he has been playing Quiz Bowl for around five years. This was a special team for him. “This has been an incredible season personally,” he said. “Being able to connect with the rest of my team has been wonderful, and being able to relax when certain topics come up has been a blessing.”
At the All-Stars tournament, Lewis placed fourth. Participants play as individuals instead of on teams, making for a different kind of challenge. Lewis said the competition is a way to measure how much he has grown and learned in Quiz Bowl.
“The competition itself is always super fun as well, and honestly, this year’s competition was the most fun it’s ever been. I was friends with many of my competitors before I even walked into the competition, and I met so many more people I will continue to talk to today,” he said.
At the same time, Lewis takes a measured approach to analyzing his fourth-place finish. Bond as well as some of the other top players weren’t able to make it to the tournament, he said.
“Overall, I placed fourth, technically making me the fourth best in the state. However, I know that many people could not attend, such as Ridgely, meaning that I still have a long way to go. This competition is not only a way of having fun or proving to myself that I am, in fact, learning but also a way of showing to myself how much further I can go,” Lewis said.
This was Grisham’s ninth year serving as the school’s Quiz Bowl coach. ASMSA has qualified for the state tournament under Grisham’s leadership each year other than 2020 when no state tournament was held because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He may have a good chance of adding to that streak next year as only two of the players who attended the finals were seniors — Whittaker and senior Leah Fouste, who played two rounds of the final match. Bond, Lewis and Dailey, Katelynn Cavin (who played in the last quarter of the final) and Errol Nagy were juniors. Jacob Clingan and Zoey Terry were sophomore team members. Clingan was a member of the state tourney’s starting five. Other players participated on the team throughout the season as well.
“I would like to thank all of the ASMSA Quiz Bowl players over the last nine years who worked hard and had success but came up short; a piece of this championship belongs to them. Their love for Quiz Bowl and drive to succeed has continued to inspire me as the team’s coach,” Grisham said.
Team members praised Grisham as well, calling out his support and ability to connect with them.
“Mr. Grisham is an extraordinary coach! He has been extremely helpful and supportive the whole way through, and his pep-talks do work. I could not ask for a better coach,” Bond said.
Lewis echoed those sentiments. “Mr. Grisham has been a phenomenal coach all year and genuinely interacts with us like his students and not just some kids he’s reading questions for. Practices are fun and enjoyable because he communicates with us and helps us where he can on these subjects but also because he always gives us pep talks and ensures we’ll be playing at the top of our game come tournaments.”