With its strong finish at the Missouri River Valley Conference Scholar Bowl, the Scholar Bowl team from Lafayette County C-1 High School in Higginsville proved themselves worthy to play on a national stage. On Friday, April 24, the team will represent their school in a 154-team national competition: National Academic Quiz Tournaments’ Small School National Championship Tournament.

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 Scholar 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.

Lafayette County has attended the Small School National Championship Tournament two times before. Most recently, in 2025, they made the playoffs and finished in 33rd place.

The SSNCT is the only quiz bowl national championship pitting small schools against each other. It has one division containing non-selective public schools with 500 or fewer students in their top three grades, and another division for other schools with 350 or fewer students in their top three grades. Lafayette County may face familiar foes in Rosemont, as Hallsville, Lakeland (from Deepwater), and Weaubleau will also be attending.

The team comes in with some nationals experience: Alex Dyer, Harper Hayes, Zackery Hunter, Nora Knipmeyer, and Marshall Ridinger played the 2025 Small School National Championship Tournament in Rosemont, Illinois (near Chicago) and Alex Dyer, Harper Hayes, Nora Knipmeyer, and Marshall Ridinger played the 2024 Small School National Championship Tournament in Rosemont, Illinois (near Chicago).

The team, in the Traditional Public Schools Division, will consist of Alex Dyer, Harper Hayes, Zackery Hunter, Nora Knipmeyer, William Knipmeyer, Landen Logan, Marshall Ridinger, and Mason Sutherland. The team will be coached by Christa Bell.

Tournament results will be updated throughout the three days of competition at https://www. naqt.com/go/stats/17101 so everyone can follow along and see how the team does. You can also follow #ssnct on Instagram.

CONTACT LAFAYETTE COUNTY C-1 HIGH SCHOOL Christa Bell, Coach: bellc@huskersk12.org