| Fair Grove R-X School
|
Location:
Fair Grove, MO
|
| Coaches |
Michelle Wahlquist
|
| State Championships |
2021 MSHSAA Class 3; 2023 MSHSAA Class 4
|
| National Championships |
2023 SSNCT Traditional Public
|
| Program Status |
Active
|
| School Size |
287[1]
|
| NAQT Page |
link
|
Fair Grove is a small public high school in Fair Grove, Missouri, a few miles northeast of Springfield.
Led by sophomores Braden Booth and Christian Allen, Fair Grove finished tied for seventh place and second among "very small schools" in their SSNCT debut in 2021 before winning the 2021 MSHSAA State Championship in Class 3.
The next season, they ended Hallsville's long-running small school title streaks at both the MOQBA Fall Championship and NAQT Missouri Qualifier. They lost to College Heights Christian in two close games in the best-of-three quarterfinals of the 2022 MSHSAA State Championship, the first time that two MSHSAA state champions met in the next season's championship series, which was made possible due to Fair Grove moving up to Class 4. Fair Grove then finished in fourth place (and again the second-best very small school) at the 2022 SSNCT.
In the 2022-2023 season, Fair Grove was one of Missouri's most dominant teams, ranking in the top 15 of Groger Ranks and winning tournament titles over closely-matched Ladue and others at the 2022 MOQBA Fall Championship, WUHSAC XXV, and the 2023 NAQT Missouri Qualifier. Fair Grove also won the 2023 Jesse Brown Small School Showcase.
At the 2023 SSNCT, Fair Grove finished the preliminary rounds 10-0, earning the #1 card in the double elimination playoffs. After winning their first three playoff games, they met the #4 card, held by another MSHSAA Class 4 school, Houston, as the two only remaining undefeated teams in the tournament. In a game coincidentally moderated by MOQBA president Jeffrey Hill, Houston claimed fifteen tossups to Fair Grove's nine to win 485-325, dropping Fair Grove to the elimination bracket after they had won all of their previous games by 260 points or more. Fair Grove won 525-85 over Russell A and 750-75 to eliminate defending champion Glasgow A, advancing to play the final winners bracket team, Southwestern A, in the 1 vs. 4 cross-bracket game. With a 590-215 win in that game, Fair Grove advanced to the first stage of the final, defeating Woodland 715-70 to set up a one game final with Southwestern. Fair Grove claimed the first 14 tossups to lead 495 to -10, clinching the championship with ten cycles to go. The final score of 655-165 may have been the highest winning score in any national championship final in quizbowl history to date, though this score was later surpassed by St. Mark's 660 points in the 2024 SSNCT Open Division final.
|
|
| Preceded by |
Year |
Succeeded by
|
| Ladue |
2023 |
(defending champions)
|
- ↑ 2023-24 MSHSAA enrollment (grades 9-11 in March 2023), from https://www.mshsaa.org/Activities/SchoolEnrollments.aspx