Fort Zumwalt West is our NAQT HS Team of the Week.
![From Coach Jeremy Gibbs: Last year, our four starters were [just] sophomores, [yet] all four of my players were chosen to attend the Missouri Scholar’s Academy in the summer of 2025. Our school is only allowed to send four students to that special camp. These same four easily won JV State that year and toppled one of the best teams in the state at districts, picking up the final three questions. This year, they have only played together in one full tournament, defeating some of the best teams in St. Louis (and the state) in the process on their way to FZW’s first varsity tournament championship since 2010. What Makes Them Great Their success comes from trust, balance, and unselfish play. They know each other’s strengths and consistently defer to the right teammate—something even top teams struggle to master. Study Approach We keep it simple and consistent. Our program uses a structured 26-week curriculum (20 Books to Know, 20 Artists to Know, etc.) paired with regular quizzes for accountability. Players also frequently use QBReader for additional practice. 1/3](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3t67hm6oeysyxo2qg2xbnzf6/bafkreigbjwb4egj5ms35e4kjxmjmnwhnbidmfwvmmtng2al4rnjv72tw3q)
From Coach Jeremy Gibbs: Last year, our four starters were [just] sophomores, [yet] all four of my players were chosen to attend the Missouri Scholar’s Academy in the summer of 2025. Our school is only allowed to send four students to that special camp. These same four easily won JV State that year and toppled one of the best teams in the state at districts, picking up the final three questions. This year, they have only played together in one full tournament, defeating some of the best teams in St. Louis (and the state) in the process on their way to FZW’s first varsity tournament championship since 2010. What Makes Them Great Their success comes from trust, balance, and unselfish play. They know each other’s strengths and consistently defer to the right teammate—something even top teams struggle to master. Study Approach We keep it simple and consistent. Our program uses a structured 26-week curriculum (20 Books to Know, 20 Artists to Know, etc.) paired with regular quizzes for accountability. Players also frequently use QBReader for additional practice. 1/3
From Coach Jeremy Gibbs: Advice for Other Teams Start with literature—it’s the most overlooked path to improvement. Build into history, revisit material often, and create accountability. Most importantly, learn to love learning. From captain Ryka Adi: Don't give up on your team! While our team has won several matches, our victories have come after learning from all losses, big and small. But our perseverance has led us to keep on trying, and eventually we worked up to becoming one of the best teams in the state. On that note, you never stop learning! There will always be questions you don't know, and teams you haven't beaten yet! You have to keep an open mind, and learn from success to pursue it From Tanisi Adi: Well, I would say make sure you have a good camaraderie with your teammates. We work really well together when we play quiz bowl, and it strengthens our teamwork and efficiency. I would also say don't be discouraged if you lose a round or neg on a tossup because there are always days where things will be better. Most importantly, have fun! From Sean Sathish: I really recommend that other teams build a solid study system to grow from. That is what our coach laid the foundation for at West, and it has worked impeccably. Another thing: learn about subjects that you genuinely enjoy. Each of our team members loves learning for learning’s sake, not just to win (although winning is a pretty big incentive too :)). 2/3
From Coach Jeremy Gibbs: Anecdotes At one point, we faced a particularly challenging set of literature bonus questions. Each time, our captain deferred to Tanisi—and each time, she answered correctly. At the end of the question, instead of saying, “That’s 30 points for Fort Zumwalt West,” Jason quipped, “That’s 30 points for Tanisi.” The room broke into laughter. Coach Background When I started teaching in 2002, I happened to walk into the math classroom of the Scholar Bowl coach. I saw a buzzer set and inquired why she had one. Up until that point, I did not realize that this was a high school activity or that the high school where I taught offered it. I stopped coaching in 2010 for a variety of personal reasons. After restarting the program in 2024, it has quickly regrown into one of the top teams in the area. 3/3
⭐ NAQT’s HS Team of the Week is Fort Zumwalt West from O'Fallon, MO for their performance at the 2026 Gateway Athletic Conference Scholar Bowl Tournament.
![From club president Vidyut Arvind: Any advice you have for other quiz bowl teams? I would say to trust your teammates. They generally know more as a group in the best case, and you should trust them in guessing their categories if nobody knows an answer. You also never know when someone just has that random knowledge for no reason whatsoever, and that could be your teammates. (Dashiell Finer-Regn) Any funny quiz bowl anecdotes? An amusing memory was being in a close, tense playoff game at PHSAT 2025 when [redacted] managed to fall asleep in the middle of waiting for the other team's answer to a bonus. He was able to come back exactly five seconds later and accept their answer just in time. He was truly a pro. (Balint Csete) What kept you growing as a team? The major part of how we were able to grow so much so quickly was Vidyut's tireless recruiting efforts through the last couple of seasons. He spent an incredible amount of time finding new players, getting them interested in the game, and using his expertise to educate them on how to play well. Currently, we are sustained largely by the immense body of knowledge which our players come into the team with and the willingness many of them have to learn organically about their subjects far beyond quiz bowl practice. (Balint Csete)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3t67hm6oeysyxo2qg2xbnzf6/bafkreidftaxppz5owir2o7yaed6wzfciai2psjtfg6pssqk643qmfozchm)
![From coaches Victoria Lehman (V) and George Goga (G): What makes them a great quizbowl player? Austin is hard work personified. This is hard to believe, but Austin did not answer one question during his middle school years. As a freshman, he had the opportunity to play with some very talented students and they modeled professionalism. He is quick of mind and consistently prepared. The only senior on our team, he is patient with his teammates. He is also unfailingly kind and polite. Austin is a true gentleman. (V) [Austin] is a remarkable young man, an excellent student, and a stellar QB player. In my literature seminar, his insights are always astute, and his reading is informed by a depth of critical analysis and cultural competence. Just today, as we encountered the cyclops in The Odyssey, he mentioned a potential QB question which could arise from the text! He's a great kid. (G) From Austin via coach Victoria Lehman: What studying tips do you have to share? Staying consistent is very important, whether you are playing QB reader daily, or hitting your ANKI webdeck. What matters in the end is routine and if you make smaller, minute improvements you will ultimately become a better player. Any advice you have for other quiz bowl players? Quizbowl is a very competitive sport and you are bound to lose many games throughout your career. You have to get in the mindset of pushing on, take it on the chin and go forward. I recently had a game where I negged 6 times but got eight toss ups.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3t67hm6oeysyxo2qg2xbnzf6/bafkreie5ecw3hmfjgzxlvqf7rncfctlsg5x3y3an3ccspasjflupd6ebny)
![Regarding advice for other teams, what made a difference for my team was eliminating (as much as possible with a dozen teenagers) negative comments and bickering. Questioning a teammate about a "stupid answer" that they already regret never helps either player. I also discourage players from using negative self-talk as a means for deflecting pressure; for example, when players say "I hope I do well but I'll probably blank on __", I tell them not to talk that into truth, as the brain will do what is rehearsed. The funniest stories our team has won't translate well without context, but hearing a player order a hamburger with a hot dog on the side on our SSNCT trip last year still makes me laugh! Playing tossups on the same topic as a conversation that happened hours earlier is always funny, like the SSNCT question about Dubai that mentioned [a clue] that we were talking about just before the match! As a coach, I always look towards the team's future by recruiting younger players and developing rookie talent. The difference this year is that I'm also trying to savor every practice and tournament with this extra-special group of seniors that only comes along a few times in a career. We are all so grateful to NAQT and the Ohio Academic Competition (OAC) for providing such a fun and enduring activity that we've enjoyed together for years. There are 8 more players on the team: Senior Jackson Curt; Junior Hannah McParlane; sophomores Eduardo Gomez-Nieves, Drew Gailey, Owen Vonderhaar, and Jackson Revis; and freshmen Rocco Cardosi and Devyanshie Rautela.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3t67hm6oeysyxo2qg2xbnzf6/bafkreig2huc6ihydvd5uiiki2t7ght7gzm6jn27vzkq4bxl4lnarajy4iu)
