Ironwood, Bessemer chase quiz bowl success

As the Public TV 13's High School Bowl quiz bowl tournament nears its end, two local teams - Bessemer and Ironwood - have won their way into the semifinals and are eagerly hoping for a Gogebic Range final.

Both Ironwood coach Steve Boyd and Bessemer coach Dave Rowe praised their neighboring school, saying they are always glad when the other team wins - except when its in head-to-head competition.

"We really actually care about them, we really do," said Rowe, explaining that the two teams sometimes share notes on opponents. "... The only match I really don't want him to win is when he plays me, or vice versa."

"We wish Bessemer the best of luck, in their first match only," Boyd joked. "I really hope they do win, I'd love to see a Gogebic Range final. I really would."

Quiz bowl competitions features two teams of four students. The teams compete for a "toss-up question" Rowe explained that, if answered correctly, gives the team the opportunity to answer up to three bonus questions. As all four questions are worth ten points, Rowe said success can often come down to the ability to answer the toss-up.

"If you are going to win, you have to get the toss-ups," said Rowe.

As there is no penalty for guessing incorrectly, Rowe explained that a sound strategy is to buzz in and guess as soon the question gives some clue as to the category. An example Rowe gave of the strategy was to guess Franklin Delano Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan as soon as the word president is mentioned in the question.

Categories can come from any subject, ranging from pop culture to math problems.

"There's no way to predict it," said Rowe.

The tournament, which is held in Marquette and broadcast on television station WNMU, began in September and ends with the semi-finals and finals on Friday.

Bessemer takes on Escanaba in their semifinal match with Ironwood competing against Hancock. The winners of the two matches will compete immediately after in the final match.

While both teams have more members than the four allowed to compete, the strongest competitors make it to the "varsity team" that appear in televised matches.

In the nine years that Rowe has coached Bessemer, they've made it to the "Cerebral 16" seven times. Of those seven, the team has made the quarterfinals three times and semifinals twice. Although Bessemer has made the finals once, it was before Rowe became the coach, meaning that a win in the semi-finals Friday would be the farthest Rowe has led a quiz bowl team.

Much like Bessemer, Ironwood has never won the competition, although they have made it to the finals once with Boyd coaching.

Both Boyd and Rowe said the best teams tend to be composed of specialists rather than people who know the same subjects.

"If they all know the same things, then that doesn't help," said Rowe.

The Bessemer team is made up of four seniors, while the Ironwood team is two freshmen and two juniors.

Both coaches say that their team this year is probably the strongest they have fielded in quite a while.

"As a team they just work together so well. I mean each one of them have certain strengths, and it really comes through in our competitions," said Boyd. "This team is very aggressive on the buzzer and that's one of our big strengths. And then when you get the bonuses, they are really good about collaboration. They all know each other's strengths and weaknesses."

The Ironwood team members also credit their success to their ability to ignore the pressure of being on television, a skill they credit, in part, to their tradition of wearing costumes to matches. They declined to reveal the plan for the upcoming matches but captain Brett Mattson said they "promised to be distracting."

The semi-finals will air at 8 p.m. on April 4 with a rebroadcast at noon on April 6 and the finals will be initially broadcast at 8 p.m. on April 11 and rebroadcast at noon on April 13.