November 16, 2011
“Quiz Bowl makes everything relevant,”says senior Zosha Winegar-Schultz. “I now read two newspapers a day and constantly follow current events.” According to Coach Wade Petersen, Zosha “came on strong as a ninth grader and has been an anchor
on the team ever since. Last year she was recognized as a top competitor in the state.” In a sport dominated by male players, Zosha is a member of what Coach Petersen (MPA ’87) calls, “our strongest team ever.”
A former high school player himself, Wade joined MPA’s founding Quiz Bowl team when he was a junior here in 1985. He later coached at Oak Hill School in Oregon. “This is my 5th year coaching at MPA, and the program has grown to almost 25 students in Grades 7-12. On October 29, we qualified for the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) national tournament for the 5th consecutive year.”
“I first became involved with Quiz Bowl in my Freshman year,” says Zosha. ” Mr. Peterson was teaching my World History class at the time and suggested I attend a practice. I fell in love with the speed of the sport, and how cut throat it is. Knowledge is my favorite weapon.”
Since joining the team, Zosha has participated in 32 tournaments, including Minnesota High School League and Nationals. The competitions range from 3-12 hours in length. “The hardest thing (in the beginning) was learning to trust my instincts. As a Quiz Bowler you develop an instinct where you stop thinking…your hands learns to hit the buzzer before your brain has actually identified the answer. Developing that reflex took a lot of time and practice.”
I asked her how Quiz Bowl has influenced her thinking. “The things you never paid attention to in the past are suddenly relevant because what if there’s a question on them? I have gotten really good at paying attention in class and reviewing those materials because I know they will come up in competition.”
She agrees with Coach Petersen’s assessment of this year’s teams, taking it a step further: “Brilliant. Watch out.” Which is not very good news for the faculty/administrative team that will face them in the annual Quiz Bowl Smackdown, immediately following the Pancake Breakfast on December 9. At least we’ll take our smacking down on a full stomach….Go Panthers!
Mike Downs, Head
