Jim Thorpe team goes to national quiz tournament

Place your fingers on the buzzers, because it’s time for the National Academic Quiz Tournament’s High School National Tournament.

Jim Thorpe Area High School’s Scholastic Scrimmage team will be participating in the tournament for the first time this weekend, capping off a year of exceptional Quiz Bowl performances.

“We played at the WLVT PBS 39 studios at the Steel Stacks in Bethlehem, and we made it to the semifinals and placed third overall against power schools like Parkland, Emmaus and Allentown Central Catholic,” team captain Trevor Keefer said.

Keefer and his teammates Nick Rosahac, Christian Gould and Alex Hauck also took first place at the Carbon County Academic Tournament, and tied for second place at Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit’s Regional Academic Competition.

On Friday, the team will travel to the NAQT tournament in Atlanta, Georgia. Scrimmage matches and the ACRONYM popular culture competition will occupy their time on the first night, preparing the team for the big show on Saturday and Sunday morning. The playoff games will round out the weekend on Sunday afternoon and evening.

“You have two teams with four players on each team. The moderator will tell you about a paragraph worth of information before they actually get to a specific question. You could get four broad or specific tidbits of information relating to the question before they ask. The team that buzzes in first and gets it right will get three bonuses, each worth 10 points,” Keefer said.

While performing at the national tournament might make other competitors nervous, Jim Thorpe’s team invested themselves completely in their preparation.

“Trevor made us practice a lot. He and Nick, they play football, so every Friday before the football game, we were here practicing,” team adviser and English teacher Shelley Moyer said.

Gould said that the team came together at the very least once a week, and often during their homeroom periods.

“Sometimes, we stay after with quiz books and quiz packets filled with questions that we go over, and over and over, time and again, until it’s second nature,” he said.

Trivia isn’t the only part of practice, however. Keefer and Gould agreed that buzzer practice is essential to victory, and that it requires a sense of confidence to ensure that you hit the button in time.

Keefer said working with the trivia team helped develop his leadership skills and confidence. To even get to the point where the team could make it to the finals, Keefer had to make the rounds and solicit donations to fund the trip. With his refined skills, he managed to collect nearly $5,000 for their expenses.

The team’s dedication to the world of trivia is unrivaled, as most members have been involved in the competition circuit for years.

“We were all on the Academic Challenge team together back in eighth grade. We won that and made it to Washington, D.C. I came to a few practices in sophomore year, really got into it in junior year, and then I made the team in senior year,” Rosahac said.

Their love of the game extends to other areas of life as well.

“We are all avid ‘Jeopardy!’ watchers,” Keefer said. “Nick and I have also gone to local firehouse trivia nights.”

With the big show coming up over the weekend, Keefer and his fellow Scholastic Scrimmage competitors are feeling the pressure, but they are ready to go.

“You’ve got to go into it confident,” Keefer said. “It’s a daunting task to face head-on, but we’re confident.”