Minnesota High School Quiz Bowl League
The Minnesota High School Quizbowl League is one of the most popular quiz bowl formats in Minnesota and is a member association of the Minnesota Quiz Bowl Alliance. It culminates in a tournament consisting of 16 of the top teams. It is currently run on questions supplied by NAQT, derived from one of the A series they produce each year. The league is directed by R Robert Hentzel and takes place over five nights at four separate sites. The four sites are each home to one division. The divisions are supposed to be divided equally by talent and location, but recently have become rather lopsided. Each night a team plays four rounds within its division. On the last night, which is the the "playoff" night, the top teams from each site come together and play for the title in a single elimination playoff bracket. Each school can only send one team to the championship tournament. The MNHSQB League championship tournament considered by many to be more prestigious than the official NAQT Minnesota State Championship, as it is generally has a more challenging field and is televised.
Divisions
List of 2013-14 divisions and competition dates
| Division | School | City | Head Coach | # of teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Division
11/7, 12/12, 1/23 | ||||
| Chanhassen | Chanhassen | Krista Hammann | 3 | |
| Blake | Minneapolis, Hopkins, Wayzata | Frank Sachs | 3 | |
| Breck | Minneapolis | Brad Kohl | 1 | |
| DeLaSalle | Minneapolis | Martin Marrin | 6 | |
| Edina | Edina | Nickie McKeever | 4 | |
| Hopkins | Hopkins | John Sammler | 3 | |
| Hudson | Hudson, WI | Laurie Harmon | 2 | |
| Robbinsdale Armstrong | Plymouth | Pat Quinn | 3 | |
| Robbinsdale Cooper | New Hope | Tim Darsow | 2 | |
| Wayzata | Plymouth | Meaghan Decker | 6 | |
| East Division
11/14, 12/19, 1/30 | ||||
| AFSA | Vadnais Heights | Randy Brodzeller | 1 | |
| Hill-Murray | Maplewood | Louise Head | 4 | |
| Irondale | New Brighton | Jeremy Hieb | 1 | |
| Roseville | Roseville | Ira Sanders | 2 | |
| Mounds Park | Saint Paul | Wade Peterson | 4 | |
| Mounds View | Arden Hills | Justin Benolkin | 2 | |
| North Saint Paul | North Saint Paul | Michelle Zwirn | 2 | |
| Saint Paul Academy | Saint Paul | Amy Weisgram | 2 | |
| West Division
11/21, 1/9, 2/20 | ||||
| Chaska | Chaska | Jennifer Stone | 4 | |
| Benilde | St. Louis Park | Megan Kern | 3 | |
| Eden Prairie | Eden Prairie | Dan Murray | 5 | |
| Minnetonka | Minnetonka | Joan Truettner | 3 | |
| Mound Westonka | Minnetrista | Jim Kaeter | 2 | |
| Saint Louis Park | Saint Louis Park | Carmen Garland | 3 | |
| Providence | Plymouth | Arthur Hippler, Kevin Keiser | 3 | |
| Orono | Long Lake | Larry Williams | 1-2 | |
| Saint Paul Central | Saint Paul | Randy Knoche (de jure) | 2 | |
| South Division
12/5, 1/16, 2/6 |
Apple Valley | Apple Valley | Brett Melton | 1 |
| Burnsville | Burnsville | Les Moffitt | 4 | |
| Eagan | Eagan | Brian Poehler | 2 | |
| Eastview | Apple Valley | John Kelly | 3 | |
| Kennedy | Bloomington | Christopher Lyons | 2 | |
| Prior Lake | Savage | Andy Franklin | ||
| Rosemount | Rosemount | Chris Kauffeld | 5 | |
| Simley | Inver Grove Heights | John Severson | 2 | |
| St. Thomas Academy | Mendota Heights | Peter Wynia | 4 |
Past teams:
Format
The current format consists of two eight-minute halves of NAQT tossups and bonuses, with a pair of lightning rounds after the first half. The lightning round consists of groups of ten related questions worth ten points each. The team that is not in the lead gets the first choice of three subjects for their round, and have one minute to answer as many as they can. The other team then gets a 30 second bounce-back phase on questions the first team missed. After this, the process is repeated with the leading team choosing from the remaining two choices. 15-point powers are used in league play, but -5 penalties are not.
In previous years, MNHSQB games consisted of four "phases." The first phase consisted of twelve very short warm-up tossups. The second phase consisted of standard tossups with powers and bonuses. The first two phases were combined for timing purposes, and were 9 minutes long. The third phase was a lightning round, and the fourth was more tossups and bonuses, for 6 minutes.
Questions
About NAQT A-Series questions. In years past questions had been even easier. You can read a sample packet here.
History
Since the 2006-2007 season League play has been on NAQT questions. Before that it was run on Patrick's Press questions, and on Questions Unlimited in the mid-eighties. Eden Prairie has won the most titles in the NAQT era. Very incomplete records can be found here. At one time, the MNHSQB league was the sole venue but invitational tournaments on the circuit has since been held. Records suggest that it was once part of a quiz show on KSTP.
Past Results
Pre-NAQT era
| Year | Set Used | # of Teams | Champion | Second | Third | Fourth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | ||||||
| 2000 | Patrick's Press | |||||
| 2001 | Patrick's Press | St. Thomas Academy | Minneapolis Southwest | |||
| 2002 | MN-01 | St. Thomas Academy | results missing | |||
| 2003 | MN-02 | Chaska | results missing | |||
| 2004 | MN-03 | Chaska | results missing | |||
| 2005 | MN-04 | St. Thomas Academy | results missing | |||
NAQT era
| Year | Set Used | # of Teams | Champion | Second | Third | Fourth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | MN-05 | 88 | St. Thomas Academy | results missing | ||
| 2007 | MN-06 | 98 | Eden Prairie | St. Anthony Village | St. Thomas Academy | Wayzata |
| 2008 | MN-07 | 112 | Eden Prairie | Orono | Minnetonka | Wayzata |
| 2009 | MN-08 | 100 | Chaska | Eden Prairie | Saint Louis Park | Wayzata |
| 2010 | MN-09 | 100 | Eden Prairie | Saint Thomas Academy | Chaska | Saint Louis Park |
| 2011 | MN-10 | 108 | Chanhassen | Saint Paul Central | Eden Prairie | Wayzata |
| 2012 | MN-11 | 110 | Wayzata | Saint Paul Central | Chaska | Mounds View |
| 2013 | MN-12 | 110 | Wayzata | Saint Paul Central | Chaska | Eden Prairie |
| 2014 | MN-13 | 105 | Eden Prairie | Wayzata | Saint Thomas Academy | Blake |