For the first time in 19 years the Glenbard South Scholastic Bowl team brought home the gold as Regional champions. 

According to sophomore Andrew Lullo, “Both this year and last year we had an undefeated conference season. And so we went into conference this year, missing half the team due to the Disney trip, and we still managed to come up with second place. And then once all the Disney kids were back Monday they were all super tired but we managed to come out and win Regionals for the first time in 19 years.” Lullo continued that though the team ultimately lost at Sectionals, “it was just getting there and being able to play there,” that mattered. 

Senior Hans Herrera and Scholastic Bowl Captain expressed similar sentiments, “I’m very, very proud of our team,” said Herrera in reflection of their season. 

For a Scholastic Bowl competition, for those unfamiliar, “two teams compete against each other through a series of questions that a moderator reads,” according to Herrera.

To prepare for competitions Lullo explained that at practice the team holds “mock competitions”, using a packet full of questions the team splits into groups and answers them as if it were a competition. “There are two types of questions,” said Lullo, “toss up questions and bonus questions. With the toss up questions it’s the first person to use their buzzer to buzz in and get it correct to get the point and with bonus questions it’s the entire team conferring on a three part question.” 

“I’ll just say for tossups, the fun of it is trying to figure out when to buzz in because if you buzz in too soon, you have a higher chance of getting it wrong. But if you buzz in too late, somebody on the other team might buzz in. So it’s a balance of accuracy, speed and a lot of confidence,” said Bittlingmaier, chiming in. 

Besides the mock competitions the team uses an activity called ‘listing’ to learn more about a specific area. Herrea explained listing as, “making lists of keywords that come up with topics that come up a lot.” 

The team is also composed of people who specialize in different question areas. Each member specializes in a particular subject and collectively the team has a broad range of knowledge. The categories include literature, math, science, history, fine arts, geography, philosophy, world religions, mythology, social science and a category called ‘trash’. 

Trash is, “basically like your pop culture stuff. These are typically questions about sports, or things like reality TV,” said Herrera. One especially memorable question for Herrera was, “One about Solange Knowles, the sister of Beyonce, and how she beat up Jay Z in an elevator,” said Herrera. 

When asked what got Bittlingmaier into Scholastic Bowl, Bittlingmaier said that it was Lullo who got her to join South’s Scholastic Bowl team, “He was like, ‘Hey, there’s this thing and it looks kind of nerdy and do you want to join it with me?’ and I said okay.” 

“There’s really room for anyone to join,” said Lullo, with Scholastic Bowl’s wide range of topics from literature to science to history to pop culture, “everyone has a place.” 

“The first time I ever showed up to Scholastic Bowl there was this three part bonus all about Taylor Swift and I got all three parts,” said Bittlingmaier. This was a momentous moment as afterward she said, “Yes, this club is for me.” “But there is serious stuff too, if you’re actually into trivia,” conceded Bittlingmaier. 

Scholastic Bowl meets every Friday and while their season is over they are always looking for new members. For those interested, contact Mr. Micheal Douglas and Dr. Caicina Jones with any questions. In addition to the impressive comradery and trivia fun, Scholastic Bowl treats its members to free pizza every week. “Emphasize the free pizza every week,” said Douglas, enthusiastic with the prospect of getting more students interested in his club. 

In reflection of South’s Scholastic Bowl season this year, Bittlingmaier summed it up by saying, “I mean, we kind of crushed it.” And with Scholastic Bowl’s historic winning streak, they most definitely did.