Extremely successful, yet not always recognized, the Montezuma-Cortez High School knowledge bowl team is slowly making a name for itself.
Competing at the Regional Tournament in Bayfield on March 15, team members Mathew Sanchez, Tyler Dykes, Ryan Jackson, Xavier Eddy and Cody Canzona finished third overall.
As the top Class 4A finisher in the competition, the group qualified for the Colorado State Knowledge Bowl Tournament, which will take place April 17-18 in Colorado Springs.
Key to team’s success has been the ability of team members to utilize their own specialized knowledge to answer a wide-array of questions.
“(Dykes) is our military guy,” said Sanchez, a junior who joined the team this year. (Eddy) and I are good at math, English and history. (Canzona) and (Jackson) are solid (in those subjects) too.”
Asked what he enjoys about knowledge bowl, Eddy, a three-year veteran of the activity was frank.
“I like knowing things and I like showing off that I know things,” said the senior.
After finishing fifth at the state competition in 2010 and fourth at the competition in 2011, the team is hoping to perform even better this year.
“I think our ultimate goal is to make it to nationals,” said Sanchez.
“If we place in the top three (in the state), that would be nice,” echoed Eddy.
Between now at the state competition, the team plans to continue studying hard while raising money to fund their trip.
With any luck, the brainy bunch will return to M-CHS in late April with some state tournament hardware.