The Cook County Knowledge Bowl teams continue to shine in competition, earning a third and 13th place finish at regional competition. It is now on to state for one of the CCHS teams! (L-R) Will Seaton, Audrey Summers, Sarah Larsen, Ben Seaton, Sean MacDonell, Mara MacDonell, Lars Scannell, and Joey Chmelik.
The Cook County High School Knowledge Bowl continued its stellar scholarly season at the regional tournament on Wednesday, March 21. Knowledge Bowl Coach April Wahlstrom said it was a “knuckle-biting day.”
Two teams competed in the regional competition and Wahlstrom said after the written round, which is usually the Cook County team’s forte, the top team was in 6th place. However, Wahlstrom said they calmed themselves down and kept advancing in each round of oral questions. Heading into the second oral round, the Cook County team was in second place behind Marshall High School and ahead of International Falls.
In the last round of oral questions, they scored more points than Marshall, but fewer than I-Falls. That moved the team of Ben Seaton, Mara MacDonell, Sean MacDonell, and Sarah Larsen into 3rd place.
International Falls and Marshall went on to compete in a tiebreaker. Because the Northeastern Region is one of the biggest in the state, three teams go to the Knowledge Bowl state meet, so the Cook County team is heading to the state finals on April 12 – 13 in Brainerd, MN.
And, said Wahlstrom proudly, “Not only did our students earn a spot at the state meet, but they also earned the region’s Sportsmanship Award!”
The second team also had an exciting day of competition. Coach Wahlstrom said, “Our second team actually started out ahead of our team going to state. They dropped a little bit but maintained nicely. They came in 13th overall, which is a great place to be for such a young team.”
The second team is Audrey Summers, Joey Chmelik, Will Seaton, and Lars Scannell.
Wahlstrom said, “I want to thank Dori Carlson for getting the Knowledge Bowl going here at Cook County at the junior high level years ago. This is our third year having a senior high team, as she knew that there was potential amongst these students and asked TJ [Super] and I if we would advise/coach it. She has been instrumental in getting this program off the ground.”
Wahlstrom added congratulations to the students, who, she said, “are amazing because not only have they learned this information but they can access it and retrieve it in seconds when they are asked these challenging questions.”
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