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32 teams compete at 25th Quiz Bowl
By Sean Barron
AUSTINTOWN
It’s probably safe to say that most people remember Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea last year, but few people likely are aware that the Soviets did essentially the same thing about 160 years ago.
George Clark, however, is an exception.
“That’s something that is related to the modern day that I really enjoy. I love history,” the Sebring McKinley High School senior explained.
A question pertaining to that piece of Russian history was one of many Clark answered correctly during Sunday’s 25th annual Mahoning Quiz Bowl Tournament at Austintown Fitch High School.
Hosting the six-hour competition was Fitch High, noted Valerie Baiss, a Spanish teacher and academic team coach.
Thirty-two varsity and junior-varsity teams representing 16 high schools in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties competed in the double-elimination tournament that had seven timed rounds, including a final round. Students answered questions related mainly to history, literature and science, noted Greg Bossick, tournament and league director.
Other categories were geography, current events, fine arts, pop culture, sports, philosophy, theology and social sciences, Bossick said.
Ticking off the right responses to obscure questions is nothing new for Clark, who plans to major in biology and be a pre-med student at Ohio State University. In his four years of competing in the tournament, he has racked up 4,190 points, and was named 2015 Player of the Year.
“My mom and dad are both teachers. I enjoy reading and looking into things I don’t know,” he said.
On Sunday, Clark correctly answered a string of questions during Round 6 competition in which he and several fellow Sebring students played against Canfield High School. Sebring won and was to compete against Boardman’s varsity team, which came into the tournament with a 14-0 record.
John Timmer, a former academic coach at Jackson-Milton High School in North Jackson, read questions that covered everything from Shakespeare to chemical reactions to classical music. Also mentioned was the Fibonacci Sequence, a series of numbers in which a given numeral is found by adding the two before it.
The schools began competing last January. Boardman’s varsity and junior-varsity teams were the Mahoning League champions. During Sunday’s event, Boardman defeated Sebring in the final by a score of 280-195 to claim its first win at the tournament since 2001.
Boardman’s junior-varsity team also won in its division, defeating Canfield 235-20.
The top-five varsity finishers qualify for the 2015 National Academic Quiz Tournament High School National Championship Tournament, set for May 29-31 in Rosemont, Ill.
For Clark, though, Sunday’s challenge also was part of a continuum that fit squarely into some of his top priorities.
“When I was little, I used to love to learn about animals,” he recalled. “My family encourages me to learn as much as I can. I always want to go further and further.”