On Saturday, January 18, 2025, the Jesuit Dallas Quiz Bowl Team competed in their first competition of the year, delivering an impressive performance that energized the team and fueled their determination for future competitions. Facing off against public and private schools from across the Dallas region, the team put their knowledge to the test, covering topics ranging from history and literature to science and pop culture. With weeks of preparation behind them, the team showcased both teamwork and intellectual prowess, setting the stage for a promising year ahead.
How Does Quiz Bowl Work?
Quiz Bowl is a fast-paced academic competition that tests students’ knowledge across a wide range of subjects, including history, literature, science, fine arts, mathematics, and pop culture. Teams compete head-to-head in a buzzer-based format, where speed and accuracy are key to success.
Each match consists of a series of toss-up questions, which any player can attempt to answer by buzzing in before the question is fully read. If a player answers correctly, their team earns 10 points and gets the opportunity to collaborate on a bonus question, which is often more complex and allows for discussion among teammates. However, incorrect interruptions on toss-up questions result in penalties of -5 points, adding a strategic element to the game.
Also, buzzing in early on toss-up questions can give teams a significant competitive edge. This strategy, known as “powering,” a question, is rewarded with additional points, typically 15 instead of the usual 10.
Competition Layout
For the competition, the division that Jesuit Dallas participated in consisted of 10 teams of four people, who played a round robin style of competition (nine rounds). The top four teams, after having competed in the regular competition, would then make their way to the championship division and play seeded single-elimination playoffs. Rankings would be based on win-loss records and ties would be broken based on points per bonus heard. Teams ranked 5-8 would also play in a seeded four-team single elimination bracket and again would be seeded based on record with ties broken by points per bonus. Teams seeded 9th and 10th would play a single additional round.
The Jesuit Dallas Quiz Bowl Team
This year, the Jesuit Quiz Bowl Team consisted of one team of five people who substituted constantly, due to the max contestants on one team being four people. Substitutions were allowed at the beginning and middle of each round.
The Jesuit competitors were Nicholas Bartel (’27), Wills Blosser (’26), Raza Hassan (’28), Adam Peckham (’26), and Jordan Lam (’26).
Competition Preparation
Success in Quiz Bowl requires more than just quick reflexes; it takes dedicated preparation, strategic studying, and teamwork. Since questions cover a vast range of topics, teams must practice and study whenever they can.
For the Jesuit team, practice is often held during community time once or twice a week, simulating a real competition where players review past Quiz Bowl questions to recognize common clues and recurring topics. By familiarizing themselves with the phrasing and structure of questions, players can anticipate answers and buzz in more quickly.
Competition Overview with Interview
Quiz Bowl members came up with questions for Adam Peckham ’26 to ask Nicholas Bartel (’27) in order to gain insight on the challenges, highlights, and key takeaways from participating in the competition.
The Interview
Hello, Nick. I want to start out by asking how you became interested in quiz bowl.Â
“Well, I first discovered Quiz Bowl when I was in middle school at St. Rita since the school had a club, and some of my friends were in it. At first, I wasn’t really that interested; I just joined because my friends were doing it, and it seemed like a fun way to spend time after school. I didn’t think I’d be particularly good at it or that I’d care much about competitions.”
“But after my first few practices, I got hooked. There was something exciting about buzzing in and getting a question right, especially when I answered before anyone else. I also realized that even if I didn’t know everything, there were patterns to the questions, and I could learn how to recognize them. The more I played, the more I wanted to improve. By the time I got to Jesuit, I was fully invested. I started studying specific subjects, working on my speed, and competing in more tournaments.”
What was it like preparing for the competition?
“At first, preparing for the competition felt a little overwhelming because there’s just so much to know. But once I got into a rhythm, it became really fun. Our practices at Jesuit were a mix of buzzer drills, team scrimmages, and studying past questions. I focused a lot on my strong subjects, like history and current events, but I also tried to pick up knowledge in areas I was not as familiar with.”
What was the atmosphere like when you first arrived at the competition? How did you feel?
“When I first arrived, I saw a ton of students from schools all around the area, and there was this exciting energy in the air. Everyone was wearing their team shirts, carrying notebooks, and talking strategy. It was clear that people had been preparing hard for this. It was a little intimidating at first, seeing all these confident, experienced players, but once our team got together and started warming up, I started to feel more excited than nervous. I reminded myself that we had put in a lot of work and that we were ready to compete.”
How did the competition start? How well did you think you performed?Â
“Well, it did not go entirely all that well at first. We started by competing against one of the many St. Mark’s teams, and well, they were pretty tough. We were tied most of the round, but then we started slowly getting behind, and in the end we barely lost. It was a disappointing defeat, but we quickly regained our confidence, and persevered. We proceeded to then win against a Cistercian team the next round, which really bolstered our spirits. As time went on, I got more into the flow of it. And, not to brag, I was answering the majority of the questions for our team.”
How did the day progress?
“After around six rounds, I believe we were 3-3, which to be honest was not too good or too bad. But, we had some work to do. During lunch, we actually crammed a bit, just firing off questions non-stop. We also motivated each other to do our best, and mentally prepared for the next set of rounds. These rounds were not a walk in the park though, and we did have quite the commotion in one particular round where our team made not one, but two challenges. One of the challenges was over the pronunciation of “Xi-Jinping,” which was, to be fair, not a big deal but the moderator felt it was valid. This one was quickly overturned. However, our real challenge was regarding an opposing contestant saying an answer that did not quite align with the answer, and also may have been changed due to the contestant saying it softly then having to repeat it for more clarity. Sadly, though, these challenges did not go well, and we actually lost this round because of it. This was the toughest loss of the day for sure. And, unfortunately, most of the afternoon rounds were very close, and most of them we lost.”
How did the Playoffs go?Â
“After we finished all nine rounds of the round robin portion of the competition, we advanced to the Playoffs, having secured sixth place overall. This positioned us to face off against the seventh place team, St. Mark’s, a team we had actually competed against in our very first round of the day. That coincidence added an extra layer of intensity to the matchup, and it quickly became clear that this would be one of our most competitive and hard-fought rounds. From the very beginning, the score stayed tight, with the lead switching back and forth nearly every two questions. Each team seemed to answer just as many questions right as the other, and every buzz felt like it could tip the balance.”
“By this point, however, it was already around 4:30 p.m., and after hours of mental exertion, the fatigue was starting to set in. Competing in nine back-to-back matches with only brief breaks in between had taken a toll on our focus and energy. While we tried to stay sharp, we could feel ourselves slowing down—our reflexes weren’t as fast, and our decision-making during toss-ups and bonuses started to lag. As the match progressed, St. Mark’s began to edge ahead, capitalizing on a few key moments where we just couldn’t find the right answer in time or missed out on bonuses we might’ve gotten earlier in the day. Despite our best efforts to rally in the final stretch, we ultimately fell short and lost the match.”
“While the loss was disappointing, finishing in sixth place overall was still an achievement to be proud of, especially considering that this was Jesuit’s first Quiz Bowl tournament appearance since before 2020.”
What were some of the highlights of the competition for you?
“There were a couple of moments that really stood out. One of them was when we were going up against one of the top-seeded teams, the Cistercian team Number 1. We were definitely the underdogs, but we kept it close the whole match, and I managed to power a toss-up question on a historical event I had studied just a few days before. That was a huge confidence boost. Another highlight was just how well our team worked together during the bonus questions, [how] we had good communication, and [that] it felt great when we pieced together a tough answer as a team. We also just completely wrecked a team, having a near 300 to 80 score, which felt pretty nice.”
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during the tournament?
“One of the toughest things was definitely managing focus across so many rounds. With nine rounds in the round robin, plus Playoffs, it’s a long day, and you have to stay mentally sharp the whole time. It’s easy to get discouraged if you miss a few questions or lose a close match, but staying positive and bouncing back is key.”
What do you think your team learned from this experience?
“I think we learned a lot about how to support each other under pressure and how to pace ourselves throughout the day. We also realized that we’re stronger when we trust each other’s strengths and communicate well, especially during bonus questions. This competition gave us a good benchmark of where we are and what we need to improve on. I know we will go into the next tournament even better prepared.”
What’s next for the Jesuit Quiz Bowl Team?
“We are definitely looking forward to more tournaments this semester. This first one gave us a lot of momentum, and we’re going to keep building on it. We have already talked about fine-tuning our study strategies, focusing more on our weak spots, and doing more focused drills in practice. I think we have a lot of potential, and if we keep up the energy and dedication, we will keep improving. Hopefully, we can qualify for a national tournament down the road.”
Key Takeaways
The competition offered several important lessons and highlights for the Jesuit Dallas Quiz Bowl Team. Their strong debut against a wide range of competitive teams demonstrated not only their academic abilities but also the strength of their preparation and teamwork. Their practices that emphasized buzzer drills, reviewing past questions, and focusing on individual subject strengths clearly paid off, as the team performed with confidence and cohesion throughout the event. The experience also revealed areas for growth. These included maintaining focus over long stretches of competition and preparing for teams with deep specialization in certain subjects. Despite these challenges, the team showed resilience and a strong growth mindset, setting the stage for future improvement.
Nicholas Bartel 27′ was the second overall best contestant in the whole competition, having an incredibly high answer count.
The tournament marked a strong start to the year for the Jesuit Dallas Quiz Bowl Team. Through strategic preparation, collaborative effort, and individual passion for learning, the team showed that they are not just participants, they are contenders. With their eyes set on future tournaments and continued growth, the season ahead looks bright.
Stay tuned to The Roundup for more updates from the Jesuit Quiz Bowl Team as they continue their academic journey, one buzz at a time.
And as always,
GO RANGERS!
