The Middle School quizbowl A-team went 16-1 at the Middle School National Championship Tournament, capping off the competition by finishing first out of 192 teams with their 445-220 victory over Riverwatch in the championship match.
St. Mark’s had three teams qualify for the tournament in Chicago from May 8-10. In the opening round on Saturday, the B and C teams both went 4-4, strong showings as both teams barely missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, the A-team breezed through the preliminary rounds, winning all eight matches by at least 180 points.
As the only undefeated team in the entire preliminary rounds, the program earned a double-bye and the top overall seed going into the elimination day. The Lions’ top team of Nathan Aurora, Kamran Nawaz, Ritam Setu and Roger Wang breezed through the first two rounds. However, the team suffered its first defeat of the entire season when it was upset by River Trail in a narrow loss.
Although the team lost, the tournament’s double-elimination style meant that the Lions could continue, but that every game following would be win or go home. With the pressure on, the team rattled off four straight wins to reach the final round against the Riverwatch Middle School A-team, whom the Lions would have to beat twice to be named national champions.
With an audience of hundreds in the crowd and over 1,500 viewers watching online, the Lions took a slim lead into halftime in the first match. As the game still hung in balance, the Lions answered the last three questions correctly to secure the win, 365-270. In the second match, the Lions’ A-team dominated their ninth game of the day, taking an early lead and cruising to a 445-220 point victory.
Ritam Setu led the team with 70 tossup points in the championship match. The eight grader finished in the top ten in the tournament with 85.79 points per 20 tossups-heard and was named a tournament all-star.
The championship is the first in program history for the Middle School division. At the Upper School level, the quizbowl program has won four of the last six Small School National Championship Tournaments.
