FHS Knowledge Bowl First Competition of 2026

The FHS Senior High Knowledge Bowl team started their season on January 8th with their first meet in Mt. Iron. They competed against other Northland teams including from Esko, Mesabi East, Littlefork-Big Falls, Hill City and Greenway.  

Team 1, including Doug Salo, Matthew Foley, Andy Davenport, Bradley Muehring and Sig Ginter, got off to a very strong start in the written round, scoring 37 and placing them in 2nd place out of 16 teams.  Competing against two other top -ranked teams, they were able to hold their position at 2nd and 3rd place in the top room through oral rounds 1,2 and 3, where they scored 8 points, 9 points and 6 points respectively.  They faced top-ranked Esko Team 1 and 2 in the final oral round and found it difficult to get to the buzzer before the other teams, scoring only 4 points.  Their final score of 70 for the meet resulted in a 5th place finish overall.

Team 2, including Remington Brade, Joe Sullivan, Michael Faust, Wesley Buckshot and Lynn Batdorf started off with a written score of 21, or 14th overall.  The team had solid scores each oral round, with scores of 5, 9, 6 and 6 and were able to advance to 12th place overall by the end of the meet.  

Coach Zahradka is excited to watch the teams develop through practice in the next few weeks and looks forward to the next meet on February 4th.  Team 1 has the advantage of experienced players, many of which have been a part of Knowledge Bowl for three or more years.  With more practice on the buzzer and anticipating questions and answers, she feels the team will be a strong contender for the playoffs and possibly the state meet.  Team 2, although younger and less experienced, fared well against the older teams in the oral rounds and was commended for their respectful behavior at the meet.