Academic Challenge, sometimes referred to as Quizbowl, is an extracurricular activity that takes place in the wintertime. This year, Lowellville had one of the best turnouts for players it has seen in a long time. This season had many ups and downs and while their record may not reflect it, they had many more ups.

     After losing a few core players at the end of last year’s season, some younger players had large shoes to fill. This year, there were 9 student players on the team. Jordan Nock, Reeve Donatelli, and Zak Sargent returned to the Varsity team, while John Swanson and Tyler DeMain occasionally substituted in, both of whom were new. There were new players such as Lily Sargent, Kayleigh Cruz, Levi Moore, and Morgan DeMain on JV.

     Reeve Donatelli answered 28 questions, the most questions for Varsity this year. Jordan Nock had a close second place, answering 27, and Zak Sargent answered 8, but with two powers. A power in Academic Challenge is when someone buzzes in before a certain point in a question and gets it correct.

     Now, as the season comes to a close, the team has the tournament to look forward to on the 24th. After that, the students plan on playing in a Trash Tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2024. While Academic Challenge has more educational-based questions, the Trash Tournament’s questions involve modern-day pop culture. Good luck to the team in the upcoming Trash Tournament!