Pirate Quiz Bowl Team headed to state

Pirate Quiz Bowl Team headed to state

Pirate News is a presentation of Hart Public Schools in partnership with Oceana County Press. 

By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor

HART — Hart High School’s Quiz Bowl Team finished its regular season with an undefeated conference record, and the conference champions are headed to the state tournament in April.

“This is our second straight undefeated conference championship and second straight berth in the state tournament,” said Quiz Bowl Coach/Adviser Brett Ramseyer, a Hart High School English teacher.

“It’s basically like team Jeopardy,” explained Ramseyer. “It’s a quiz game, but there are all kinds of categories — history, current events, science, mathematics, sports, pop culture.

“It’s fastest to the buzzer, and if you get a toss-up, you get bonus questions, and that’s where you really separate teams. If you don’t get toss-ups, it’s very hard to do well, because you don’t get the bonuses and you can’t score.”

“In 2024 conference play, the team averaged 241 points per match with an opponent average of 131 points a match,” said Ramseyer. “In 2023, the team’s conference points per match average was 164, and the opponent point average was 90, So, the competition in the league improved, but so did this Pirate squad.”

The nine-member team finished West Michigan Conference Rivers Division play with a perfect 6-0 record, and in cross-divisional play went 4-1 for an overall 10-1 record.

Last year, Hart finished fifth in the Class B state tournament, and Jesse Lenon earned all-state honors as a junior, finishing fourth out of 77 competitors in the division, said Ramseyer. Lenon, who is team captain, finished this season with the highest conference points on the Pirate squad — 795. He earned first team all-conference honors this season, along with junior teammates Mia Perea with 210 points and Julia McTaggart with 200. Senior Sean Wood was named all-conference honorable mention with 155 conference points. 

“I’m in the Early College program and attend West Shore Community College full time, but I come here for this because I’m allowed to do extracurriculars,” said Wood, who has been on the Quiz Bowl team for about three years. “For me, I’m not too great in the sports area, so this is something that allows me to do extracurriculars without being super dominant in sports.” 

Wood said Holton has been Hart’s conference nemesis this season. “Our main challenger is Holton.” 

Team Captain Lenon said he enjoys the adrenaline rush he feels when he gets the right answer. “It’s an invigorating feeling — like in any kind of sport.” Lenon is the only Hart quizzer who has been on the team for four years. “It’s definitely a team effort. I’m good at the game, but we wouldn’t be division champions without my team.”

Perea has been a Quiz Bowl competitor for six total years, including three so far in high school and three years in middle school. 

“I’m confident in our team, and I know we’re all really smart people and we know how to get the answers in. It’s just a lot of fun to do with everyone,” said McTaggart. “It’s also fun to learn new stuff.”

“It’s cool to know questions that usually wouldn’t be brought up otherwise in conversation, but you know it, and it’s brought up here,” said junior Lauren Pretty. 

“I’m new to this, but I like that we all share that we want to learn new things,” said Alisya Cruz. “We have a lot of laughs and a good time.”

“It’s a lot of fun to hang out and talk about trivia,” said Austin Merten. 

“I chose to join Quiz Bowl, because I’ve always loved this kind of game,” said Daria Pesavento, an exchange student from Italy. “I’ve always looked for a challenge to my knowledge. I’m having so much fun and learning a lot of things. I realized I have some different knowledge about other fields,” said Pesavento. “I love seeing how my culture actually works here.”

“We had several practice questions about Italy that she was all over,” said Ramseyer.

Hart’s Quiz Bowl program has existed for about 40 years, said Ramseyer. It was founded by now retired HHS teacher Neil Marshall, who led the team for about 30 years.

“So far, this has been Hart’s most balanced, high-scoring team in my seven-year tenure.”

The Pirates advance to the state tournament, April 13, at Michigan State University.

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