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Francis W. Parker School makes playoffs at Scholastic Bowl National Championship Tournament

On the weekend of Saturday, April 26, Francis W. Parker School joined 152 of the top quiz bowl teams from small public high schools at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare Chicago in Rosemont for the 2025 Small School National Championship Tournament to determine who was the top team.

Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. It is the national version of the game that is often locally called Scholastic Bowl. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas. Participation in quiz bowl both reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests.

Francis W. Parker School sent two teams to the 2025 SSNCT. The A team, in the Open Division, was captained by Annoshae Mirza, who was joined by Jack Bartlett, Logan Florsheim, Beckett Nikitas, Nash Oliphant, and Chase Wayland. The B team, in the Open Division, was captained by Lincoln Hamid, who was joined by Darius Cleaver, Sam Goldblatt, Spencer Koh, Annabelle Kutcher, Judah Solomon, Audrey Terman, and Dev Weiss. The teams were coached by Stacey Huynh, Sean Miranda and Xiao Zhang.

Francis Parker entered two of the 13 Illinois teams competing at the national championship.

Members of the Francis W. Parker School quiz bowl A team, Nash Oliphant, team captain Annoshae Mirza, Logan Florsheim and Chase Wayland (not pictured: Jack Bartlett and Beckett Nikitas). Courtesy of National Academic Quiz Tournaments

Francis Parker A finished the preliminary rounds with a 7-3 record, which qualified them for the playoffs. Francis Parker B finished the preliminary rounds with a 4-6 record.

There were some tense moments. The A team defeated Miami Valley from Dayton, Ohio, by the narrow margin of 250-225 during round 8; defeated Paideia B from Atlanta, Georgia, 245-240 during round 15; and defeated Early College at Guilford B from Greensboro, North Carolina 345-325 during round 16. The B team defeated Taejon from Daejeon, South Korea, by the narrow margin of 200-180 during round 3 and defeated Riverfield Country Day from Tulsa, Oklahoma, 185-175 during round 4.

Francis Parker A spent three playoff games on the brink of elimination. They defeated Paideia B from Atlanta, Georgia, and Early College at Guilford B from Greensboro, North Carolina, before falling to St. Mark's School of Texas C from Dallas, Texas, ending their shot at the title.

Francis Parker B was on the brink of elimination when they defeated Indiana Academy A from Muncie, Indiana, in round 9 to stay alive. Unfortunately, they lost to Paideia B from Atlanta, Georgia, ending their shot at the playoffs.

The A team finished in 11th place in the Open Division.

The Traditional Public Schools Division champion was the A team from West Point High School Cullman, Alabama. The Open Division champion was the A team from St. Mark's School of Texas Dallas, Texas.

The 2025 Small School National Championship Tournament (Open Division)'s field featured 66 teams from 28 states and South Korea.

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