“Ending their season in first place with an amazing 27 win and 1 loss record, Bad Axe is now in a good position to have a run at a state championship at MSU next month,” according to Thumb Area Quiz Bowl League Director, Bruce Irland. “Additionally, the team from Ubly is also set to do well at the Class C/D state Championship. Both teams are coached well and the members are committed to do their best. I have spent a lot of time with both teams in the championship room at the end of our fall and winter tournaments. We will all be cheering them on,” according to Irland. Ubly was the runner-up in the winter league with a overall record of 19 wins and 5 losses (mostly to Bad Axe-A).
CPS was the only team to defeat Bad Axe A in the winter league, taking them down by a score of 105-50 in match number two at Marlette. CPS now finishes the season in third place with 14 wins and 10 losses. Marlette High’s A team pulled a turn around in the second part of the season, ending up in fourth place with 16 wins and 12 losses. The Marlette A team had previously found themselves in 10th place at the end of January.
Bad Axe B, North Branch A, Brown City A and Peck A rounded out the TAQBL’s top eight teams for the season. All eight teams will now go on to compete at the end-of-season League Championship Tournament. “Anything can happen at the league championship tournament. Last fall it was Brown City A walking out with the trophy with a win over stronger teams from Sandusky and Bad Axe,” according to Irland.
This week’s “Tournament of Champions” will also take place on Thursday at the old Maple Valley School in Sandusky. All participants in the winter league took paper & pencil pre-tests in ten separate subject areas during the past three weeks and had to score high enough to qualify in one or more subjects. They then take to the buzzers at the Tournament of Champions and try to be the one to buzz in with the most correct answers to become the champion of the subject area in which they competed. Competitions are held among the league’s top qualifiers in math, social studies, language arts and science.
Those composite scores are then tabulated and the qualifiers for the competitions among the freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors are set up. Individual competitions are also being held in current events and five new areas this year; geography, plate tectonics, art history, composers and mythology. The top two contestants in each subject area receive a trophy.
After all subject area competitions are completed, scores are tabulated and a “Champion of Champions” who comes out on top is awarded a plaque and a $250 college scholarship from the league. The other top five competitors are awarded a medal. This year’s Tournament of Champions and Winter 2017 League Championship begins at 12:30 p.m. after the participants are treated to a pizza luncheon.
The event take place at Maple Valley School at 138 Maple Valley Street in Sandusky and is open to parents and the public. For more information, contact Director Bruce Irland at 810-404-1535.
