ROSEMONT, Il.__ On the weekend of Saturday, April 27, Pandora-Gilboa High School joined 142 of the top quiz bowl teams from small public high schools at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Chicago for the 2024 Small School National Championship Tournament to determine who was the best.

The team, in the Traditional Public Schools Division, was captained by Chase Dettrow, who was joined by Braden Gerding, Holiday Herman, Brayden Hoffman, Tyler Pugh, Ethan Recker, and Jacob Recker. The team was coached by Leo Recker and Joyce Suter.

Pandora-Gilboa was one of 15 Ohio teams competing at the national championship.

Pandora-Gilboa finished the preliminary rounds with a 7-3 record, which qualified them for the playoffs.

Pandora-Gilboa High School played two games against opponents from near home. In round 8, they defeated Paulding 350-10. In round 17, they beat Ottawa Hills 210-175.

Pandora-Gilboa spent five playoff games on the brink of elimination. They defeated Riverside from Oakland, Iowa; Ottawa Hills; Salem; and West Iron County from Iron River, Michigan before falling to Morris A from Oklahoma, ending their shot at the title.

Pandora-Gilboa High School finished in eighth place in the Traditional Public Schools Division, tied for the best performance by any team from Ohio at the 2024 Small School National Championship Tournament (Traditional Public Schools Division). They also finished fourth among Very Small Schools teams.

The Traditional Public Schools Division champion was Hastings High School Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. The Open Division champion was the A team from St. Mark’s School of Texas Dallas, Texas.

The 2024 Small School National Championship Tournament (Traditional Public Schools Division)’s field featured 88 teams from 24 states.

Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas. Participation in quiz bowl both reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests.