Area teams compete in quiz tournament

Irving—Four local middle schools traveled to compete in a 160-team national competition, National Academic Quiz Tournaments' Middle School National Championship Tournament, hosted in Rosemont, IL, on May 9. 

The teams that participated are Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving, Greenhill School in Addison, St. Mark's School of Texas, and St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas. 

Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. 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. Participation in quiz bowl reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new interests. 

Cistercian's team consisted of Ewan Dilley, Markham Hay, Enrique Mosothoane, and Knox Shurley, coached by Grant Mindle. 

Cistercian finished the preliminary rounds with a 5-3 record, which qualified them for the playoffs. 

Cistercian spent three playoff games on the brink of elimination. They defeated St. Rita and Quest Academy A from Palatine, IL, before falling to Hunter A from New York, NY. 

Cistercian finished in thirteenth place. 

Greenhill School sent two teams to the 2025 MSNCT. The A team consisted of Cam Dawson, Colin Houpt, Evan Huang, and Adam Tawil. The B team consisted of Ella Bogdanow, Blake Clark, Miles Hulme, and Aarav Mehta. The teams were coached by Lee Hark, James Herman, Tim Lohr, and Jason Zuffranieri. 

Greenhill A began the preliminary rounds with a three-game winning streak, defeating Paul Knox from North Augusta, SC; Frazer from Gainesville, FL; and Ocean Grove from Placerville, CA. Greenhill A finished the preliminary rounds with a 5-3 record. Greenhill B finished the preliminary rounds with a 4-4 record. 

Greenhill A was on the brink of elimination when they defeated Meyzeek B from Louisville, KY, in round 11. Greenhill A's shot at the title ended when they lost to Meadows A from Las Vegas, NV, in round 15. 

Greenhill B was on the brink of elimination when they defeated Meadows C from Las Vegas, NV. Unfortunately, they lost to Academy at Lincoln from Greensboro, NC. 

The Greenhill A team finished in 33rd place.  

St. Mark's School of Texas sent three teams to the tournament. The A team was captained by Brennan Bosita, who was joined by Marcus Lichliter, William Tu, and James Weselka.  

The B team was captained by Tanner Wolfson, who was joined by Nathan Aurora, Aaron Choi, and Nicholas Sun.  

The C team was captained by Ishaan Siddamshetty, who was joined by Alekh Desai, Ritam Setu, and David Xiao. The teams were coached by Paul Mlakar, assisted by Greg Crook, Katherine Magruder, Shane May, and Bruce Westrate. 

St. Mark's A finished the preliminary rounds with a 6-2 record. St. Mark's B finished the preliminary rounds with a 5-3 record. St. Mark's C finished the preliminary rounds with a 4-4 record. 

St. Mark's A defeated Burleigh Manor A from Ellicott City, MD; Martin Magnet from Raleigh, NC; and T. H. Rogers before falling to Meyzeek A from Louisville, KY. 

St. Mark's B team's shot at the title ended when they lost to Avery Trace from Cookeville, TN, in round 14. 

St. Mark's C defeated Cooper C from McLean, VA in round 10. Unfortunately, they lost to Beckendorff A. 

The A team finished in fifth place. The B team finished in 49th place.  

St. Rita's team was captained by Kamran Nawaz, who was joined by Charlie Dinh, Adam Dupont, Jake Jackson, Joe Ludlow, Foster McArthur, Matt Waldie, Campbell Williamson, and Jimmy Wills. Agnès Denvir and Jodi Sheffield coached the team. 

St. Rita finished the preliminary rounds with a 5-3 record. 

St. Rita defeated Burleigh Manor B from Ellicott City, MD, and Heritage B from Livingston, NJ. St. Rita's shot at the title ended when they lost to Cistercian in round 15. 

Kamran Nawaz was honored as an All-Star for correctly answering 78 tossup questions,36 of them for "power," so early as to earn extra points, in the preliminary rounds. 

St. Rita Catholic School finished in 33rd place.  

The A team from Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill, NC, was the tournament champion.  

The 2025 Middle School National Championship Tournament featured teams from 27 states and South Korea. 

SOURCE Cistercian Preparatory School