Academic Challenge Team Excels

The Upper School Academic Challenge Team had a very exciting season. In April, the team of Theo Dengler ’25, Cehan Ahmad ’25, and Niklas Rietsch ’25 took first place on WEWS-TV’s Nordson Academic Challenge with a then season-high score of 750 points.

This score earned them one of three spots in the show's championship match in May, where they faced Gilmour Academy and Westlake, ultimately falling a close second to Gilmour. With this commendable finish, the team earned $5,000 for the school! 

Watch the April match here. 

Watch the May championship match here. 

The team of Theo, Cehan, and Niklas went on to earn second place in the regional tournament and sixth place in the state tournament. 

In national Academic Challenge news, two Upper School teams traveled to Atlanta in late May to represent University School in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) High School National Championship. Nearly 1,700 players from 336 teams competed. The team of Cehan Ahmad ’25, Theo Dengler ’25, Vishaan Patel ’26, and Niklas Rietsch ’25 went 5-5 in the main tournament and 5-0 in the consolation rounds, placing 145th overall and improving their ranking from last year. The team won the entire consolation bracket and, in the main rounds, had a thrilling overtime victory against the team that ultimately placed fourth overall.

 

The second team, Nicholas Bricker ’26, Giles Lafave ’28, Sid Puthuraya ’28, and Adonis Wazni ’26, went 4-6 in the main tournament and 3-2 in the consolation rounds, placing 248th overall and gaining valuable experience in the process. 

Congratulations to these gentlemen on an exciting season!