An ill-timed cell phone alert may have played a role in Iola High School’s regional Scholars Bowl championship.
Iola students Clarie Moran, Garrett Prall, Jonathan Tidd, Andrew Waldman and Clara Wicoff racked up a 10-2 overall record at Saturday’s Class 4A Regional Scholars Bowl Championships, including a perfect 5-0 mark in the championship round.
Iola had easily dispatched its other final-round foes, Frontenac, Fort Scott and Spring Hill, but their next-to-last match of the day against Ottawa promised to be a bit tougher.
Ottawa was one of the two schools to defeat Iola in the preliminary competition, noted Vince Coons, the Iola team’s adviser.
“We were at just the second question of the round against Ottawa when one of their kids’ cell phones rang,” Coons said.
Having a cell phone is grounds for automatic disqualification. Judges ended the match immediately and declared Iola the winner.
“In all the meets I’ve been to, I’ve never seen a school disqualified, and in such a bizarre manner,” Coons said. “For it to happen at regionals was really unfortunate.”
The victory set Iola up against another old rival in Louisburg: the same team to defeat IHS in KTWU’s recent “Quest Academic Competition.” The match was recorded in January and will be broadcast in March.
This time, Iola had the upper hand, cruising to a 70-25 win.
“They’re our arch-nemesis,” Coons said good-naturedly. “I was proud of the kids and how they responded.”
The victory sends Iola to upcoming 4A State Scholars Bowl Competition Saturday in Wellington.
This is the second straight year Iola has earned a state berth.
“It shows the quality of students we have at IHS,” Coons said. “I’m proud of these kids. To win it two years in a row is quite an accomplishment.”
Scholars Bowl students are grilled on a number of academic disciplines, such as foreign language, social sciences, language arts, science and health, math, fine arts and current events.
IHS scholars earn regional crown
