The award-winning State Knowledge Bowl team! (L-R) Coach April Wahlstrom, Sean MacDonell, Audrey Summers, Ben Seaton, Mara MacDonell, Sarah Larsen, Joey Chmelik and Teacher Dorie Carlson at Cragun’s Resort where the state finals were held.
An exciting season for the Cook County Knowledge Bowl team wrapped up at the state meet on April 12 -13 at Cragun’s Resort in Brainerd.
On April 12, the Knowledge Bowl students completed the written round—an intense 60-question multiple choice exam. When the scores were tallied, the Cook County team was tied for 11th place.
On the morning of April 13, the oral rounds began at 8:30 a.m. Knowledge Bowl Coach April Wahlstrom said the Cook County team had a great first round. The team earned 13 points, which put them in 9th place and kept them ahead of the other two teams in the northern region, Marshall and International Falls.
The second round did not go as well and the team only gathered five points. That moved the team down to 18th place, where they faced Minnesota Valley Lutheran, the ultimate second place finisher. In the third round, the team scored seven points and moved down to 20th.
Coach Wahlstrom said, “The kids were bumming. Luckily, we had a little lunch and their positive attitudes were restored”
During the last two rounds the reenergized Cook County team accumulated points—14 in the 4th round and 15 points in the 5th round. “During the last two rounds they rebounded and really worked hard as a team,” said Wahlstrom.
Cloquet, which is within the same region as CCHS, but was moved to the A division at state due to school population size, came in 4th place. Marshall came in 7th, and I Falls was 21st out of a total of 24 teams. The Cook County team earned a very respectable 13th.
“To top it off we won the Heritage Spirit Award for the A division,” said Coach Wahlstrom. “This award was given based on attitude, working together, and overall conduct.”
The Knowledge Bowl teams are coached by Wahlstrom, T.J. Super and Dorie Carlson.
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