This year, the Eden Prairie High School Knowledge Bowl Team netted its first state championship in April. Many of the team members were also part of the championship-winning Quiz Bowl Team. KB Team members included Sam Daub, Anant Shah, Steven Shonts and Michael Wright..

The state-championship winning Quiz Bowl team includes: Igor Luzhansky, Shah, Colin O’Donnell Wright and Shonts. Both teams are coached by Kirk Walton.

In an e-mail, Coach Walton gave a summary of the final championship round against Prior Lake and Simley:

“They chipped away at Prior Lake’s lead over the first 30 questions, then got to within 1.5 points with 10 questions to go. A cold spell led to a 3.5 point deficit with only five questions to go. All Prior Lake needed to do was get one question in the last five to clinch the win. EP would get the next two to pull to within 1.5. Simley got the next one, so EP would need the final two to win. And guess what happened?! EP did just that.”

 Eden Prairie News e-mailed Michael Wright, one of the team captains, to learn a few more details about the victory: Included is his response:

Michael Wright

 Q. You were also part of the state championship-winning Quiz Bowl team. What’s the main difference between the two events?

Well, in Quiz Bowl, a moderator will pose a question which can only be answered by one player and is immediately followed by a non-related, three-part bonus during which all the members of the team receiving the bonus may confer. Quiz Bowl is much faster paced and also includes bonus points for tossups that are answered exceptionally early.

Knowledge Bowl is a more team-oriented event because teams confer for 15 seconds on each question asked; KB also lacks bonuses. Our team much prefers Quiz Bowl because we feel it rewards more in-depth knowledge.

Q. What are the main categories of questions asked?

The categories which are asked about cover almost every topic imaginable. The most represented are literature, science (specifically chemistry, physics and biology), history, mathematics, geography, pop culture, language and many, many others.

 Q. It sounds like the final round was pretty tough. What were the two final questions the team got right?

The final question was “Complete the following palindrome: ‘a nut’ …” *buzz* – Answer: Tuna. Incidentally, it took an uncomfortably long amount of time to come up with that answer.

“What title feathered biped of a Percy Shelley poem …” *buzz* – Answer: A Skylark.

 Q. What’s your favorite category of question and why?

I really love history and literature. I particularly enjoy these two topics because it’s fun to see how the world has been portrayed both in reality and in the perceptions of the men and women who record it. On top of that, I really like reading, so those two topics lend themselves quite well to my interests.

 Q. What’s the secret to the team’s success this year?

Our team’s success is easily attributed to a combination of good chemistry, our passions for the game and a notable desire for more knowledge.