After graduating four members off last year’s Class 1A Division I state championship team, Hodgeman County leaned heavily on its two returning members, seniors Whitney Salmans and Jaydon Hahn in its bid for a repeat. 

Hahn and Salmans delivered, helping lead the Longhorns to their second straight title on Saturday at Fairfield High School. 

“(Salmans and Hahn) were tenacious and analytical,” Hodgeman County coach Jamie Lonnberg said. “I am overwhelmed by their determination to succeed. They had a goal and analyzed every match along the way. Our goal was to see an increase in both math and science and we were successful.”

The rest of the team is comprised of senior Kaylee Hendrickson and freshmen Desmond Thomas, Gavin Zubiate and Reagan Lawson. 

“This team is incredibly special. They won every tournament in which we participated,” Lonnberg said. “The pressure to continue the winning streak at state was immense and my seniors rose to the occasion.”

Hodgeman County went undefeated on the day, going 5-0 in its pool and 5-0 in the finals. Rock Hills took second place and Satanta was third. 

Lonnberg noted the Longhorns were well prepared for the postseason, thanks to stiff competition in the Southern Plains Iroquois Activities Association, which sent three teams to state.
 

ROCK CREEK RUNS IT BACK IN CLASS 4A
 
Standing in the same Circle High School concourse where he posed for championship pictures with teammates a year ago, Rock Creek senior Corbin Montenegro pondered the Mustangs’ second consecutive Class 4A Scholars Bowl title on Saturday afternoon.
 
“Back to back, that’s pretty impressive,” Montenegro said. “The first time was good because I’d never won a state championship in anything before and we also went 9-0.
 
“We didn’t go 9-0 this year, but it’s still pretty cool either way.”
 
With its senior-heavy lineup, Rock Creek was still plenty formidable, winning eight of nine matches on the way to defending its 4A championship. After a slow start, the Mustangs surged in the homestretch of the 16-question title match to defeat Mulvane 55-25.
 
Two of Montenegro’s classmates, Becca Jilka and Aisling Terrell, joined him in winning their second state Scholars Bowl titles. Another senior, Gracie Schadegg, and sophomore Aiden Levendofsky were part of the Mustangs’ 6-1 run through round-robin qualifying and a semifinal victory over Winfield before the win over Mulvane in the final.
 
“Corbin, Ains and Becca were all part of this last year,” Rock Creek coach Chris Schmitz said. “Gracie stepped in this year and she’s done a really good job. And Aiden, we toyed with the idea of bringing him up last year and decided to wait. The number of tournaments they ran through without anyone getting close to them, they were just impressive all year.”
 
Rock Creek earned the chance to defend its title as one of four state qualifiers from the Pratt regional. The Mustangs didn’t win that tournament, but they were sharp in winning four state pool-play matches by at least 35 points, including a 60-10 victory over Pratt regional champion Hugoton.
 
The Mustangs’ lone pool-play loss was 60-45 to Winfield. Rock Creek avenged that to set up the championship match with Mulvane, which defeated regional champion and eventual third-place finisher Paola in the semifinals.
 
Schmitz admitted feeling nervous for his veteran team in the championship. But Rock Creek’s diverse strengths and experience paid off.
 
“The thing I think that set them apart from a lot of teams is they are hyper-aggressive,” Schmitz said. “I’ve told them they have carte blanche. I don’t care if you miss five points. That doesn’t mean anything to me. And so they jump in. That means a couple times we’ll have to fight back because we’ll make a mistake, but I want them to go. If you’re over 50% sure, go. If you miss five, we’ll get it back.”
 
 

 COLLEGIATE COMPLETES DOMINANT SEASON WITH 19^TH STATE TITLE
 
The numbers produced by Wichita Collegiate’s 2022-23 Scholars Bowl team were simply staggering.
 
Eleven tournaments. Eleven victories. And a 101-4 record for the Spartans’ varsity with a 63-match winning streak.
 
Collegiate carried that dominance through the Class 3A state tournament Saturday in Russell, going 5-0 in pool play and then repeating it in the championship round to win its fifth consecutive 3A title, seventh consecutive state title and state-best 19^th in program history.
 
Seniors Tyler MacKenzie and Satvik Kolla, juniors Rahul Madhaven and Conner Schupbach, sophomore Hannah Ternes and freshman Ethan MacKenzie comprised the Spartan varsity team, which tallied at least 90 points in its first five matches to win the tournament’s Pool B. Collegiate then won five matches by an average of 65 points in the championship round.
 
Collegiate averaged 100 points in the 16-question rounds of pool play and finished the tournament with 935 points. The Spartans defeated runner-up Wichita Trinity 100-20 in pool play and 90-30 in the championship round.
 
Collegiate was successful on 36 of 44 question interruptions for the tournament.
 
Kolla led the Spartans with 305 points. Tyler MacKenzie, a four-year varsity player who was part of four 3A regional and state championship teams, scored 260 points.
 
Collegiate, the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail Division IV champion, scored 10,290 points during the season in its 105 matches. The state title extended the Spartans’ run in 3A after they started their current streak with back-to-back 4A titles in 2017 and 2018.
 
“The kids in this program work so hard to give back,” Collegiate coach Peter DeVries said. “They hosted four on-site tournaments and helped at a fifth (co-hosted by Wichita East).
 
“The program began the year by hosting a training event designed exclusively for new coaches and young teams. We want schools of all sizes state-wide to have quality programs and great competition opportunities.”
 

BLUE VALLEY NORTH CLINCHES 2-PEAT

Blue Valley North powered its way to a second straight Class 6A scholars bowl state title with an undefeated record.

“They were beyond elated to win a consecutive state title,” said Kat Buchanan, Blue Valley North first-year head coach.

But even without a loss, the Mustangs felt a lot of pressure throughout this year’s state competition, even if a lot of the pressure was self-imposed. 

Last year’s squad won the final two rounds by a combined 90 points, Blue Valley North suffered a single loss in pool play of that tournament. So this year’s Mustangs, led by senior co-captains Luke Chen and Devereaux Knight, had their sights set on going 7-0 heading into the semifinals.

It looked like they would pull it off, too. That is, until they reached the final question for the second-to-last round in pool play.

“We went into the 16th question tied,” Buchanan said. “It was kind of nail biting all the way up to that, too.”

Of course, her students came through with the win.

“The kids wanted to go 9 and 0 at the tournament, that was a goal of theirs and they did it,” Buchanan said.

Still, it was not smooth sailing for the Mustangs after that. After completing the first seven rounds with a 165-point advantage over the next highest scoring team, Blue Valley North faced another nail biter in the semifinals.

“That round was tense,” Buchanan said.

In what she describes as a nerve-wracking round, Blue Valley North needed to hold off Lawrence Free State with a 55-50 victory.

But in the championship round against Manhattan, Blue Valley North returned to form as they pulled off an 80-50 victory to secure the state title two-peat.

Buchanan gave credit to the students, specifically seniors Luke Chen and Devereaux Knight, for making sure this team was prepared to repeat as state champions even as Buchanan transitioned to her first year on the job. 

“They definitely were the leaders of this team,” Buchanan said. “I always say I didn’t really coach them. I was more like a sponsor or chaperone to them.

Buchanan, who has more experience with debate than scholars bowl, said she consulted the captain duo on everything from team emails to which area coaches she should reach out to with more in-depth questions about this activity.

“I was present for practices and tournaments, but those two really, their leadership is unbelievable.”

Chen and Knight also helped instill the mentality to lead to that undefeated record.

“This was all new to me, but that’s something I really was impressed by this particular team,” Buchanan said. “They treated each round like a separate individual competition. Each one held importance to them.”

Buchanan said this team is constantly preparing for the next question.

“Even in the car rides on the way to tournaments, they had a couple different apps with questions they would talk about, or they would break out different sections of let’s say history,” Buchanan said.

One of the captains would just name a potential subject or topic, such as current prime ministers in various countries around the world. Then every member of their team would pull out their phones, do a Google search for prime ministers and start.

Blue Valley North will have to reload without Chen and Knight, but it already looks to Buchanan like the team has the dedication necessary to achieve the three-peat.

“We went to celebrate afterwards at Dairy Queen and I thought the kids would want to just rehash what had happened,” Buchanan said. “Immediately, the conversation turned to, with Luke and Devereaux still there, ‘Okay, here’s what you guys need to do next year.’

“That was fascinating to me. It was like we took a millisecond to celebrate and we were already looking at next year.”

 

ST. JAMES RETURNS TO TOP OF 5A

St. James Academy entered the Class 5A state tournament for scholars bowl unsure if the team could return to the finals for the first time in three years.

The Thunder not only made it there, they ended up taking home the program’s third state championship in the last five years.
St. James head coach Evan Bradfield described the moment as surreal and incredible for this team to earn the highest honor possible.

“It feels great,” St. James head coach Evan Bradfield said. “It's just awesome to see that they worked hard for something, played a good tournament and got to be at the top.”

Bradfield said that heading into state that his team had not really entertained the idea that they could return to the finals for the first time in three years.

“I think coming in we just wanted to do our best and take as deep of a run as we could,” he said. “Once we got there, the kids were like, ‘We’ve made it this far, let’s do it. Let’s be champions.’”

The Thunder were the only team in the final four that did not score at least 400 points. They even took away that final spot from a higher scoring Newton team, thanks to a 55-50, head-to-head victory over the Railers in the fourth round.

But once St. James reached the semifinals, everything clicked into place for the team.

First, St. James got matchup with Salina Central. Although the Mustangs earned the top rank in the final four bracket with a 6-1 record, Bradfield said his team was more nervous about either of the teams that they would need to face in the finals.

“We had beat (Salina Central) in pool play just fine and we had actually lost to DeSoto and Andover,” he said.

St. James beat Salina Central 50-25, setting up a rematch with De Soto after the Wildcats pulled out a narrow 45-40 win over Andover. 

De Soto earned a 90-75 victory over St. James in the fifth round, but the Thunder got off to a hot start in the finals. St. James correctly answered the first question on world language.

But De Soto made a challenge, arguing that the moderator did not hold the question in an easily readable way. St. James' competitors argued that it was a disadvantage to both teams, but they were still able to get the right answer.

St. James won the challenge.

“I think that kind of set the tone for the next few questions,” he said. “The confidence my team had just buzzing in. It starts off with language arts and then science and social studies. Those are some really strong categories for my crew.”

Bradfield said the next few categories of science and social studies landed right in his team’s wheelhouse.

“They got in a groove and just, ‘Buzz, buzz, buzz,’” he said. “By the time we get to math, I think we’re up 80-15. I think they were feeling really excited at that point and knew they could secure the victory.”

After losing to Andover 60-45 in the second round of pool play, St. James ended up beating the Trojans 90-45 to claim the state title.

Bradfield said the team also lucked out that the questions in the finals ended up landing in many of the subjects his team had specifically studied.

“I always make the joke with my kids that you can always have your Slumdog Millionaire round in scholars bowl,” Bradfield said. “It’s all questions you get asked like you had been preparing for it and able to use it to your advantage.”

Bradfield took over the program three years ago after serving as an assistant coach under Joe Walberg when the Thunder earned a Class 5A state title two-peat in 2020. Walberg had already planned to step away from his scholars bowl coaching role when he approached Bradfield with a succession plan.

Bradfield said he feels lucky to not only get to train under a state-title winning coach, but also to work at a school where that success can be found in many other activities.

“Working at St. James, we have an incredible staff,” he said. “To see other coaches that are getting state titles and then to work closely with these other coaches who are successful in their programs, it kind of gives you a picture of what you want it to look like.”

None of the St. James senior trio of Adriana Brady, Patrick Rodriguez or Robert Ochs were competitors on the 2020 state title team, but all have been with the team throughout the last three seasons of trying to return to the state final.

Brady played a pivotal role on the third-place and fifth-place teams in the previous years. Rodriguez and Ochs started out as strong JV competitors as freshmen before finally working their way onto varsity as upperclassmen.

“It was cool to see all the seniors get a moment to shine their brightest,” Bradfield said.
 
 

SACRED HEART GOES BACK-TO-BACK IN 2A
 
All season long, Sacred Heart coach David Green felt the pieces were there for the Knights to capture a second straight Class 2A state championship.
 
But there was a bit of the unknown behind that belief.
 
“I didn’t have them all together except maybe once or twice during the regular season because they’re all doing different things,” Green said of a six-player team whose members were involved in other activities at Sacred Heart such as debate, forensics, athletics and music. “I knew they were all great, so it as long as we could be mentally tough and get together, I knew we could win it.”
 
Sacred Heart delivered on that promise Saturday in WaKeeney. The Knights successfully defended the state championship they won a year ago, going 4-1 in pool play before sweeping to a 5-0 mark in the finals and finishing with a total margin of 175.
 
Moundridge, TMP-Marian and Wichita Independent each finished the finals with 3-2 records with Moundridge taking the runner-up spot on the point margin tiebreaker with 100, while TMP was third with a 75 point margin and Independent fourth with a margin of 15.
 
While graduation claimed only two members of last year’s Scholars Bowl championship team, the loss of seniors Nate Elmore and Noah Martin left big holes. In particular, Green said replacing Elmore’s presence was a huge task.
 
“He was a superstar – he really got the ball rolling,” Green said. “He read everything and got everybody excited about Scholars Bowl. … I think he answered more than half of the questions last year at state.”
 
Sacred Heart returned the senior trio of Jace Douglas, Markus White and Stephanie Silverman and junior Andy Marshall. Junior Jason Marrs and sophomore Abram Anderson stepped into the final two spots.
 
While the team never got extended periods throughout the season to build their chemistry, Green said the group was always responsive to his requests to improve areas to strengthen the team.
 
“I would say, ‘Go learn grammar,’ and they’d be like, ‘OK,’” Green said. “And then they’d go learn grammar, or whatever it was I asked of them. They’d be reading on the way to Scholars Bowl events and just worked really hard to make themselves better.”
 
Sacred Heart showed its mental toughness at state. The Knights lost their second pool match to Jefferson County North in convincing fashion with the Chargers taking an 80-40 win in the match. But the Knights dominated the rest of their pool matches, outscoring Moundridge, St. Marys, Inman and Rawlins County by a combined 370-75. 
 
“I actually kind of like it when we lose one (in pool play),” Green said. “We did that same thing at regionals. Then they’re just, ‘We’ve got to really play’ and don’t get too cocky or complacent. And they don’t get too shook up by it. We know we just have to get top three in our pool and then in the finals, stick to our strategy of win the first one and then win every one after that.”
 
That strategy was put to the test in the finals.
 
The Knights were on the verge of seeing their title hopes disappear as TMP-Marian jumped out to a seemingly commanding 40-0 lead. Instead of panicking, the Knights stayed calm and stormed back to take a 50-45 victory.
 
“That was scary,” Green said. “We were halfway through the questions and I was like, ‘All right guys, we’ve got to answer the rest of them.’ And they did. They kept their cool and played it well.”


That was Sacred Heart’s only close match of the finals. The Knights beat Independent – which had gone 5-0 in its pool – 70-15, topped Inman 80-30, Remington 65-40 and Moundridge 80-40 to take the state title.
 
“They were determined,” Green said. “They knew how good Nate was. So they knew they really had to step it up. They worked hard over the summer, learning and they definitely knew we could do it if they worked at it and they worked at it.”
 

ROLLA WINS 1A DIVISION II FOR 13TH STATE CHAMPIONSHIP 

One of the smallest schools in Kansas, Rolla continued its strong Scholars Bowl tradition, capturing the Class 1A Division II state championship on Saturday at Hutchinson-Central Christian High School for its 13th title in school history. 

The Pirates relied on a mix of experience and youth with four seniors – Carissa Sohm, Tina Martens, Dakota Compaan and Thomas Brown – and two freshmen, Samantha Dunn and Ethan Compaan.

“These players have worked hard to build their knowledge and skills all season long and really kept working with intensity in preparation for the regional and state competitions,” Rolla coach Becky Sohm said. 

Rolla advanced out of a difficult pool with a 3-2 record. The Pirates were perfect in the championship round at 5-0, securing their first state championship since 2016. Central Christian took second place and Wallace County was third. 

“It feels surreal to have achieved what we've been working so diligently toward, not just this year, but in previous years also,” Sohm said. “It feels really great to have continued Rolla's proud tradition of Scholars Bowl success.”