On January 28, IHS’s quizbowl team, the Brain Team, traveled to Rutgers University for HFT, their first tournament of 2017. After going undefeated in 10 rounds, Ithaca A defeated rivals High Tech A from New Jersey to win first place. It was the first time Ithaca A had beaten High Tech over three games in the season.
Then on February 11, Ithaca A posted an impressive win at BHSAT, Yale’s annual housewritten tournament. Ithaca A is unofficially the 8th-ranked team in the nation, but had to navigate through a field of Hunter A, the 2nd-ranked team, and Dorman A, the 6th-ranked team, to earn its victory.
Quizbowl is a four-on-four game played between two teams. Each game consists of 20 paragraph-long “tossup” questions and 20 bonus questions on a variety of academic subjects, read by a moderator. Each team competes to answer tossups before their opponents do, which awards them a free bonus question to answer by themselves. Players must be silent during tossups and use a buzzer to indicate that they would like to answer. The faster a player answers a tossup, the more points they can potentially receive. If the answer is incorrect, though, the entire team is locked out of answering the question. Team collaboration is allowed on bonus questions. The objective is to score more points than the opposing team, demonstrating deeper knowledge by buzzing in early and often.
Ithaca A had started off the season with a drought, coming in third in its first tournament at Princeton on September 24 and going 3–6 at a college tournament at the University of Pennsylvania on October 22, but has since won four tournaments in a row: ACF Fall at Yale on November 6, BrainBusters Fall at IHS on November 19, and now, HFT and BHSAT.
“When I started playing quizbowl I would have never thought we’d make it this far as a team. I’m been playing with these guys since sophomore year and these recent victories have solidified our position as a major nationals contender,” said Ithaca A captain Casey Wetherbee ’17.
Ithaca A consists of Andrey Shakhzadyan ’17, Casey Wetherbee, Luc Wetherbee ’17, and Daniel Xu ’17, with James Park ’17 sometimes subbing for Luc as an alternate. Every member of the A team is a senior, so it’s more important than ever for the team to keep up its momentum and continue the winning streak. Tournaments Ithaca A plans to attend include Columbia Spring on March 4, High School Challenge at TC3 over several days in mid-March, and BASQT on April 8. The team’s final season culminates in a pair of national tournaments—HSNCT in Atlanta on May 27 and PACE NSC in Chicago on June 10.
The Brain Team’s B team, Ithaca B, also attended HFT, finishing with a respectable 6–5 record. Members of Ithaca B have included Jeremy Sauer ’20, Isaiah Gutman ’19, Vaynu Kadiyali ’19, Julian Perry ’19, Francesca Chu ’18, Aidan Peck ’17, and team captain James Park. B-team members will have big shoes to fill upon the A team’s complete graduation, but they definitely have the potential to succeed.
“The B team’s growth has been spectacular over the past two years,” Park said. “Even with the departure of me and several others after this year, I’m confident that our quizbowl team will continue to improve and find success.” Kadiyali, a candidate to be future captain of Ithaca A, echoed Park’s sentiments. “The current A team has not only demonstrated to me the dedication and team chemistry needed to win in quizbowl, but they have patiently mentored underclassmen and helped us along our individual quizbowl careers,“ he said. “Seeing their growth and achievements over these past two years has given me an exemplary look into what it’ll take to win when the A team graduates, and though they have set an extremely high bar, we’ll try our hardest to remain a highly competitive team.”
More information about the Brain Team and quizbowl can be found on advisor Mr. Kirk’s website, mrkirkmath.com/ihs-brain-team.