Over the past three weeks, New Ulm’s state qualifying knowledge bowl teams, New Ulm Purple and New Ulm Ivory, have been practicing during lunch in Mr. Foley’s room to prepare for the state competition held on April 11 and April 12.

This is the third time New Ulm has sent two teams to state in school history for Knowledge Bowl, and they did it fascinatingly. On the last question in the entire state qualifier meet, New Ulm Ivory had to get it correct, or they would be out of the race for state. Jordan Maroon buzzes in first to answer the question and the suspense is high, but they answer incorrectly. Now it is New Ulm Ivory’s turn; they throw up a wild guess and not only get the question correct but also punch their ticket to state at Cragun’s Resort in Brainerd. “After we buzzed in and couldn’t get a reread of the question, I thought for sure our season was over; I turned to Lucas and asked him what that one ‘M’ city is on the coast in France,” said senior Ethan Lieb. The question they were answering was, “What is the oldest port city in France,” however, they could only hear the part that stated, “What is the oldest…” before buzzing in. Lukas replied with “Marseille?” and they went with it, crushing any hope that Jordan had at going to the state meet.

New Ulm Purple, having already mathematically qualified for the competition, had started slowing down on answering questions to try and give their counterpart a greater chance at state. This strategy may have boosted Ivory to second, but overall, it did not have much of an effect on the outcome of the meet.

Now, it’s onto the state meet, the biggest and most competitive knowledge bowl competition in the entire state. New Ulm knows their work is cut out for them, but they are excited and ready for it. “I think this year, we have the greatest chance at winning state because not only does the competition feel lighter this year, but I think we also have a better team,” said junior Cullen Slette.

So, New Ulm Purple and New Ulm Ivory have been trying to get every bit of practice over the past few weeks. Whether that be on the website, Knowledge Bowl Online, practicing in Mr. Foley’s room, or even just studying in school. It helps to improve the chances of getting a higher finish at state.