Academic Team loses state but keeps smiling

By Mallory Sepúlvedas

Sixty questions. Two teams. Eight buzzers. When you are sitting at a table with a buzzer in front of you, an academic bowl competition feels nowhere close to a casual pub trivia round. Instead, it’s a high-stakes battle that racks your brain as you watch the timer tick down just mere feet away from you. The OHS Academic Team kept high spirits at their most recent match through the stress of the questioning and the pressure from being at a state-level competition. Thanks to the team’s easy camaraderie and playfulness, they ended the day with joy, even after a quick loss.

Owasso’s first round in the tournament was against Jenks—the team which caused Owasso’s only loss at the regional competition.

“We … had our first match against Jenks,” explained junior member Aaliyah Mack. “And I know a lot of people were very nervous about this one because we lost to Jenks at regionals. But we tried our best. I think Jenks was just really good.”

Photo of team members Bastian Gray, Rishi Patel, Tyler Trimble and Sydney Wallace before a round taken by Mallory Sepúlveda

The first speed round—in which teams are given sixty seconds to answer ten questions—placed Jenks in front of Owasso by a huge margin. The Jenks team’s knowledge of college basketball mascots surpassed Owasso’s knowledge of 1994 Billboard Hot 100 artists, and after thirty more questions, Owasso could not pull ahead.

“We got destroyed,” stated junior Dustin Peppers. 

Now in the losers’ bracket, Owasso moved rooms to compete against Mustang. While Owasso held on to the lead in the beginning, a star player from Mustang carried them to the win.

“We were up against Mustang, and I actually think we had a good shot at this one. We were ahead after the first half of the game, so I really thought that we could win.” Mack added with a laugh, “But they pulled out that one guy, and he answered, like, every single question.”

After that, it was over. Owasso had lost out of the main bracket, and now they had lost out of the losers’ bracket. 

“There were times [during the tournament] where it really could have been anyone’s game,” Mack remarked. “Except not in that first game—Jenks beat us up.”

Without any more rounds to play, the team moved on to a group lunch at Fuzzy’s Tacos.

Photo of team members and coach Teresa Palmer leaving the tournament taken by Mallory Sepúlveda

“We had a nice meal, and I like that none of us were sad about losing,” Mack expressed. “We were obviously kind of disappointed, but I think we all realized that we tried our best … and [the questions] weren’t in our favor.”

What was really highlighted during this tournament was the exuberant team dynamic that Academic Team has built. During and in between rounds, players were smiling, laughing and encouraging each other.

“Sometimes I do get nervous at first,” explained senior member Sydney Wallace, “and then when I’m actually up there, sitting at the table with the buzzer … [with] my teammates around me helping me, it makes it better. It’s really fun.”

A majority of the members joined without knowing if Academic Team was going to be for them, but then they stayed because of the enjoyable, laid-back environment.

“I was really nervous [to join] because I didn’t think I would know answers to the questions, but it was a lot of fun,” shared Mack. “And it was really silly instead of super serious so I stayed.”

Photo of members Tyler Trimble and Bastion Gray after the tournament taken by Mallory Sepúlveda

The coaches Lisa McBride and Teresa Palmer foster this easy environment at and away from the buzzer table.

“We’re still learning things, and I’m always impressed with their knowledge,” exclaimed McBride, “especially the higher level math skills sometimes and the random bits of knowledge. [I love] those fun kind of moments. It’s less structured than class and you just get to know everybody a little bit better.”

The team bounced back quickly from the loss and were already discussing their next opportunity, the African American Heritage Bowl, over lunch. While the car ride home could have been filled with disappointment and grumpiness, it was instead infused with laughter and word games, and everyone departed with a smile on their face.

“It was nice that there were no tears,” beamed Mack. “It was just like, ‘Oh, we tried our best; let’s just do more next year!’”

From left to right, Audrey Stall, Rishi Patel, Bastian Gray, Tyler Trimble, Sydney Wallace, Mallory Sepúlveda, Aaliyah Mack, Jesus Cardenas-Ramirez, Dustin Peppers; picture taken by Lisa McBride