Fair Grove Scholar Bowl is Preparing for State and National Tournaments
March 29, 2022
Luc Deeds (11), Madi Ellis (11), Braden Booth (11), and Christian Allen (11) competing at the Fair Grove scholar bowl tournament on February 12th.
The Fair Grove Scholar Bowl Team is wrapping up their 2021-2022 season. With the season’s end, they are preparing for the Missouri State Tournament and the Small School National Tournament.
Over the past year, The Fair Grove Scholar Bowl team has found a lot of success at the tournaments they have attended. Their record for this season is a very impressive 77-15, with the team having been participating in tournaments since October of 2021. Last year was no different with the scholar bowl team winning first place in the Missouri State Class 3 Tournament. The team is looking to follow up with another big win this year after being moved up to Class 4.
The scholar bowl state tournament is a MSHSAA regulated event that functions the same as any Missouri sport state tournament. The Fair Grove Scholar Bowl team will play the district game at Blair Oaks, Missouri on April 9th. If they win they will advance to sectionals which is being hosted at Fair Grove on April 20th. The winners will be moving on to the Class 4 State Tournament at the University of Missouri, Columbia on May 5th.
Not only is the team preparing for state, but they have also qualified for the Small Schools National Tournament which is being held in Rosemont, Illinois on April 22-24th. Last year Fair Grove ended up getting 7th place at the national competition. This is a team that has been working very hard and coming out with a lot of success, one of the key reasons for this success is due to their coach, Michelle Wahlquist.
Wahlquist has been pushing the team to their full potential this season and isn’t letting up. She has been exactly what this team has needed to continue on a path of victory this season even if it hasn’t been easy competing in Class 4. “We are facing new challenges this year as we were bumped up a class. I am super impressed and proud of these students,” said Wahlquist, “It is refreshing when so many want to do the minimum, to be around students who really want to know more and do more.”
One of the incredible students the Wahlquist has been coaching this year is Braden Booth (11). Booth is one of Fair Grove’s top performers at tournaments over the past seasons. This year he is ranked in the top 5 players in the state and hasn’t gotten below 5th place individually at a single tournament this season. “I enjoy the amount of stuff there is to learn,” Booth commented, “… I’m ranked 57th in the nation, and I still see stuff I don’t know every single day. No one person could ever know it all, and that’s the beauty of it.”
The Fair Grove Scholar Bowl Team is always looking for new members to join the team and strengthen the team in future seasons. They are very supportive to new members who are looking to learn more and help win tournaments.
As the tournaments approach, the team is working hard by practicing old sets and quiz sites in their free time. These students are looking to continue their winnings into the postseason. Wahlquist added, “There’s nothing like a little success to inspire a desire to continue.”