The blue-banded sea snake, also known as the Hydrophis cyanocinctus, breathes through a hole in their head. Though knowing that fact seems random and pointless, it could be valuable knowledge for someone looking to do well in a Quiz Bowl match.

The statewide competition has two teams compete to answer questions on various topics. There are currently nine students signed up for Quiz Bowl, including sophomore Reed Hoyt and his brother, senior Pierce Hoyt, who is the captain of the team.

“When my brother got into high school, he joined Quiz Bowl and had a blast with it. In eighth grade, I got asked to join the eight grade Quiz Bowl team for a guy’s senior project, and I enjoyed it there. So I wanted to join my brother in the high school Quiz Bowl,” Reed said.

Practices for Quiz Bowl matches used to take place during advisory, but now take place right before the match.

“It’s fun, it’s people that are fun, and you learn new things,” sophomore Max Engebretson said.

When a team is given a question, they have 15 seconds to answer. They also have the option to have the question repeated, increasing the amount of time they have to come up with an answer.

“It gives students the experience of learning how to answer quickly and putting their thoughts together quickly and working together as a team,” Quiz Bowl coach Norbert LeCaptain said.

Matches are split into two halves, with 10 questions per team per half. A correct answer will give a team five points, while an incorrect answer will take away five points.

A team can also pass a question without losing any points. A team has the potential to get 100 points if they don’t answer incorrectly or pass any questions.

“Quiz Bowl in general is helping me with random facts I might need to know, and it’s also just helping my mental health. I love the challenge and it makes me happy,” Reed said.

The extracurricular is enabled by the Cooperative Educational Service Agency. The agency assists districts with their individual needs in 12 different regions in Wisconsin.

Quiz Bowl matches happen right in LeCaptain’s classroom. A video conferencing app, BlueJeans, is used to connect with Quiz Bowl teams from other schools.

“Try it out. You never know. Every day is different,” Engebretson said. 

The questions asked in a match are random knowledge questions, so the outcome of a match is dependent on a team’s knowledge in all topics.

“That’s the fun part. It keeps your brain moving and thinking in different directions. We go from history to language to math. Everything in one little special bundle that is a bowl of quizzes,” Reed said.