Cistercian Preparatory School competes in quiz bowl

ATLANTA, Georgia—Cistercian Preparatory School joined 318 of the top high school quiz bowl teams at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis for the 2024 High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT) on the weekend of Saturday, May 25, to determine who was the best.

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

Cistercian Preparatory School sent two teams to the 2024 HSNCT. The A team consisted of Drew Durgin, Ryan Fang, Rafael Ramirez, and Bennett Tschoepe. The B team consisted of Byron Duhé, Neel Perumandla, Fernando Peña, and Ethan Poon. The teams were coached by Grant Mindle.

Cistercian entered two of the 27 Texas teams competing at the national championship.

Cistercian A began the preliminary rounds with a three-game winning streak: they defeated Campbell County from Alexandria, KY; Bellarmine College Prep from San Jose, CA; and Adlai E. Stevenson B from Lincolnshire, IL. They finished the preliminary rounds with a 5-5 record. Cistercian B finished the preliminary rounds with a 4-6 record.

There were some tense moments. The A team suffered a heartbreakingly narrow loss to Darien B from Connecticut, 305-300, during round 19. The B team defeated Shelby County from Columbiana, AL, by the narrow margin of 110-90 during round 13 and Livingston C from New Jersey 190-170 during round 15.

Cistercian A's shot at the playoffs ended when they lost to Darien B from Connecticut in round 19.

Cistercian B spent four games on the brink of elimination. They defeated Shelby County from Columbiana, AL; Adair County from Columbia, KY; and Livingston C from New Jersey before falling to Blacksburg from Virginia, ending their shot at the playoffs.

The A team finished in 125th place.

The tournament champion was the A team from Barrington High School of Barrington, IL.

The 2024 High School National Championship Tournament's field featured 320 teams from 38 states, the District of Columbia, and China.