Quiz Bowlers Win NAC Playoffs, Advance to Finals in Chicago

Posted May 30, 2014 / Last updated June 5, 2014

Print Print Email Email Share Share
Seated (from left): Jack Caliva, Kevin Yokum, Stanley Dai, Ian Calamari Standing (from left): Parent coach Brian Yokum, Jesuit coach Ron Rossi

Jesuit Quiz Bowl Team A (seated from left): seniors Jack Caliva, Kevin Yokum, Stanley Dai, Ian Calamari; and (standing from left): parent coach Brian Yokum, Jesuit coach Ron Rossi

Jesuit’s quiz bowl team won the National Academic Championship (NAC) playoffs held over Memorial Day weekend at the Hampton Inn Convention Center in New Orleans.

NAC hosts tournaments in three locations—New Orleans, Washington DC, and Chicago—in its yearly quest to find the best teams in the nation. Each team played six preliminary rounds on Saturday and/or Sunday to narrow the field down for Monday’s single elimination rounds.

Jesuit sent two varsity teams and a JV team to the competition. Undefeated Team A emerged victorious and will travel to Chicago to play against the winners of the Chicago and DC tournaments. Team B made it to the quarter finals and JV made it to the finals winning second place.

Team A, composed of seniors Kevin Yokum, Ian Calamari, Jack Caliva, and Stanley Dai, and Team B, composed of junior Patrick Fine, senior Andrew Collins, sophomore Anthony Stoner, and junior Sam Zelden, entered Monday’s playoff rounds with 6-0 records and were seeded 2nd and 3rd respectively. The JV team, composed of sophomore Andrew Cerise, freshman William Fine, sophomore Mayank Mardia, and sophomore Stephen Owers, entered Monday with a 5-1 record and was also seeded 2nd.

Kevin Yokum was recognized as the MVP for second consecutive year.

View the NAC playoff bracket.

The members of Team A along with senior Andrew Collins have also qualified to represent Louisiana in the NTAE tournament in Disney World later this summer.

The varsity quiz bowl team is coached by history teacher Ron Rossi and assisted by parent coach Brian Yokum. The JV team is coached by Latin and Greek teacher Joe Knight.

Read More

QUnlimited.com – Home Team Takes New Orleans

New Orleans Phase 2014
Home Team Takes New Orleans

New Orleans Jesuit is one of the few schools that have participated at Nationals during four decades (1980’s through 2010s). Their previous high finish was in 2012, when they became a national Semifinalist by advancing to the last game in New Orleans.

This year they broke through, posting a 9-0 record, winning by substantial margins until they met a tough Fort Worth Paschal team in the last New Orleans match, a seesaw battle for most of the way. Before that, Jesuit had defeated Zionsville A, 375-275, and White Plains A, 400-285. Meanwhile, Paschal found themselves in the last game after beating Saratoga Springs 435-275 and St. Martin’s 520-105.

In the last match, Paschal led after the first period, 55-35. The bonus round was a lackluster affair, with nobody getting a 15-pointer right, and no change in the lead margin, as Paschal led 120-100. The tables turned in the 60 Seconds Round, as Jesuit netted 90 in their category, FINISH THE BIBLE QUOTATION. Paschal chose COATS OF ARMS, missed the first three and then got the next seven right. Jesuit picked up three steals, which translated into a 30-point Jesuit lead at the end of the quarter. Two quick 15-pointers to start the “Stump the Experts” round gave Paschal a tie for the lead at 220. Jesuit led again after two 15-pointers, but Paschal go three in a row to take a 270-250 lead, including 20 points on a visual question, identifying El Greco’s View of Toledo. Jesuit tied it at 270, late in the contest, after this one: “It is common to mollusks and cephalopods. Its structure is formed of crystalline whiskers. Nanocrystals made of this material produce the iridescence of butterfly wings. What long-chain polymer is found in fungal cell walls and arthropod exoskeletons?” (Ans. Chitin) Jesuit then proceeded to gain 65 unanswered points, including 20 on a question about the old trail, El Camino Real, to give them a 335-270 win.

Junior Varsity

In the 5th annual Junior Varsity division play at the National Academic Championship, Jesuit won out over Collinsville (OK) in the semifinals, 350-155, before falling to Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington, 195-310, in the last match.