CHS Quiz Bowl Team Participates in Nationals

Gio Bickel, Leo Baushke, Jack Jordan, Gavin Heinze, Henry Fredenberg. Photo by Eric Sing

The Chelsea High School (CHS) Quiz Bowl team concluded their season by competing against 320 teams in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia over Memorial Day weekend.  This marked the team’s eighth straight national qualification and fourth appearance at the event.

“Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students,” according to Dwight Kidder with the National Academic Quiz Tournaments. “Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports, and popular culture.  The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas.”

Chelsea finished 4-6 in the two-day tournament this year. Coach Eric Sing said the team competed well against some of the best programs in the country, noting that every team at the event qualified by finishing in the top 5% of a league or tournament. Seniors Jack Jordan, Leo Baushke, Gio Bickel and Henry Fredenber, along with freshman Gavin Heinze, worked well together throughout the weekend. Sing said it was rewarding to see the team’s hard work and dedication lead to a strong performance on the national stage.

For the second straight year, CHS fielded two varsity teams in the Southeast Michigan Tri-County Quiz Bowl League. Varsity A, made up of Jordan, Baushke, Bickel, Fredenberg and Heinze, finished second in the conference with an 8-2 record. Chelsea B, consisting of Leo Anderson, Sebby Valdina, Henry Parker, Sophia Getty, and Nora Dinh, tied for fourth. Varsity A also won the postseason league tournament for the fourth time.  Baushke and Anderson earned All-Conference honors.

The teams also competed in various regional tournaments throughout the season, accumulating a total of 56 wins across all competitions. They finished 3^rd at the UM Autumn Classic and won the Toledo Area Trash Tournament for the second time in three years.

“The kids really look forward to this tournament each year,” Sing said. “It gives them a break from the rigor of academic questions by focusing more on bar-trivia style content.”

The team placed eighth at the Class B State Championship at MSU in April. Chelsea has now finished in the top eight in each of the past eight seasons.

Baushke was named Varsity MVP for the second straight year. Bickle received the Locked In Award, and Henry Parker earned the Bulldog Award. Sing also recognized Baushke, Bickel, and Jordan for ranking second, fourth, and fifth, respectively, on CHS’s all-time scoring list.

CHS Junior Varsity also fielded two teams in the league. Chelsea A, made up of Caleb Grimm, Rowan French, Lyla Christie, CeCe O’Rourke, and Vivienne Gervais, won the league with a 9-1 record, clinching the title with a dramatic victory over Howell A in the final match of the season that came down to the last question. It was Chelsea JV’s fourth league championship in the past five years. Chelsea B, consisting of Dom Brodeur, Brendan Chase, Adi Bhagat, Rachel Powlowski, and Olivia Morrow, was made up entirely of first-year players. Grimm was named JV MVP.

“It wasn’t a great year record-wise, but they remained enthusiastic all season and were able to pick up a win on the final day of the season,” Sing said. “It was a unique situation where I was able to see the B team earn its first win and then walk across the hall to see the A team win the league.”