North Kansas City
| North Kansas City (MO) | |
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| Location: North Kansas City, MO | |
| Coaches | Pat O'Keefe, Branden Stilwell |
| State Championships | 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007, 2008 MSHSAA; 2008, 2009 NAQT |
| National Championships | None |
| National Appearances | HSNCT: 1999, 2007-2014, 2016 NSC: 1998, 1999, 2008, 2015 |
| Program Status | Active |
| School Size | 1476 |
| NAQT Page | link |
North Kansas City High School, also known as NKC or Northtown, is a suburban public school in North Kansas City. Its quizbowl team has been active since the 1980s in local, regional, and national tournaments. Under longtime coach Larry Allen, the team won the MSHSAA Class 4 State Championship six times, in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007, and 2008, as well as the first two NAQT Missouri Qualifiers. The team has held a number of MSHSAA records and has seen national success, finishing 6th at the 1999 PACE NSC, 5th at the 1999 NAQT HSNCT, 13th at the 2007 NAQT HSNCT, and 5th at the 2008 PACE NSC.
Randy Jackson assumed coaching duties following Allen's retirement after the 2010 season. Jackson stepped down after the 2015-2016 season and was succeeded by Pat O'Keefe.
Alumni
- Forrest Walker 2013
- Selena Montes 2013
- Grant Gates 2010
- Victor Faniel 2009
- Tyler Kinshella 2009
- Brandon Roney 2009
- Derek Tran 2009
- Charlie Dees 2008
- Christine Prezwodek 2007
- Jared Goede 2006
- Jon Matthew 2002
- Andy Wehrman 1999
- Mike Wehrman 1997 - held record for the most tossups answered in the course of a MSHSAA state championship from 1997 until 2011, and was often regarded as the best player ever in Missouri for several years after his graduation.
Tournament Hosting
North Kansas City has hosted many tournaments over the years in varying formats. Its Varsity invitational tournament sometimes included elements of the Panasonic Academic Challenge as Larry Allen was the longtime sponsor of the Missouri team.
On November 17, 2007, NKC hosted a Junior Varsity tournament that had 22 teams and which was won by Park Hill South HS. It is noted for the circulation of its questions to college players for amusement.
On December 8th, 2007, NKC, in an attempt to expand pyramidal questions in Missouri, tried hosting an NAQT tournament on set 69A. After a large number of dropouts within the month before the tournament, 3 teams did not show up. With only 4 teams there was a round robin, and then Lexington decided to leave after the third game, so everyone decided to just play an advantaged final and end early. Liberty (MO), going undefeated in the prelims, won the final against Savannah. Stats
NKC hosted a mirror of the Fall Novice Tournament on November 7, 2009, won by Liberty.
The 2010 iteration of the varsity tournament was held on January 16, 2010 and was in the tossup/bonus format, written by Mike Wehrman. The questions for this tournament got significantly more difficult in the playoffs, ending with a Savannah 120, Cameron 100 final.
The 2011 iteration of the varsity tournament was held on February 26, 2011 using HSAPQ Tournament 16, and was the first NKC tournament to be certified by the Missouri Quizbowl Alliance. The field significantly shrunk the morning of the tournament due to icy weather, which also precluded tournament director Charlie Dees' attendance, so MOQBA president Jeffrey Hill assisted coach Randy Jackson with the eight team tournament. Park Hill South went undefeated in the round robin to win the tournament.
Beginning in the 2011-2012 season, North Kansas City has scheduled its Junior Varsity tournament each fall and a Varsity tournament each spring, both using pyramidal sets and pooled preliminary and playoff/consolation rounds, making North Kansas City the first host in the Kansas City area to consistently offer 8-9 rounds to all teams using good questions and a fair schedule.
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2007, 2008 |
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