“It was almost a complete sweep,” commented Quiz Bowl Master, Riley Nuttleman. “The Seward High Varsity Teams B and A placed First and Second and in our new Freshman Tourney-the SHS Freshmen teams placed First and Third! Every team won a trophy! It was a great way for the SHS Seniors on the Quiz Bowl team, as for them, it was the last one in their high school career and they went out “on top!”
The SHS Seward High Quiz Bowl Team B, coached by Melissa Pohl-SHS English teacher, was named the Central Ten Champion at the recent Central Conference Quiz Bowl Tournament in Seward at the Seward Civic Center, hosted by Seward High on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
The students participating included DeeRoy Jamison, Darien Sugden, Ezekiel Ferebee, Mason Vest, Cole Reinhard, James Weverka, Izayah Lavicky, Emaline Janda, Bethany Jurchen, Alex Pliefke, Nolan Brashear, Kayla Albright, Ava Slechta, Emma Matulka, Maddelyn Larson and coach Melissa Pohl.
Second Place Team A included Emaline Janda, Bethany Jurchen, Alex Pliefke and Izayah Lavicky.
The First Place Team in Varsity was Team B- Ava Slechta, Kayla Albright, Maddelyn Larson, and Emma Matulka. Each team won a trophy, and the first place won gold Central Conference medals.
In the Freshman Division, the Freshmen Third Place trophy went to Team B DeeRoy Jamison, Mason Vest, Cole Reinhard, Darien Sugen and the Freshmen First Place SHS
Team was Ezekiel Ferebee, Nolan Brashear, James Weverka. They both won trophies for their team, and each student won a Central Conference medal.
“We were so happy and excited to participate and then win today, as for many of our team members who are seniors, this is their last official Quiz Bowl event while at Seward High,” commented Coach Melissa Pohl. “So many of these Seniors have represented SHS since they were Freshmen and they will be missed. Thank you Central Conference for showcasing so many wonderful, talented and very smart students in our Central Conference. The tournament began at 8:00 AM with donuts and juice for all of the participants, followed by a session dealing with the rules and guidelines for the day’s event. While the students enjoyed the many local places to eat at during the noon hour, Seward High hosted the competing coaches, bus drivers, readers and judges to a pizza lunch over the noon hour.
The morning consisted of a Round Robin tourney, with each team playing four rounds in a warm-up for the afternoon single elimination tournament.- with winning placings to the top four teams in each tournament. There were two tournaments- a Varsity Quiz Bowl for the school’s top two Quiz Bowl teams and a new Freshmen Quiz Bowl tournament, where each school was invited to bring two Freshmen Teams for competition.
This was a general knowledge Quiz Bowl, with questions centering on Math, History, Science, Geography, Grammar, Sports and Literature/English. Students were allowed to use paper and pencils for math but not calculators. The questions were purchased for the event from Academic Hallmarks and prepared just for this tournament.
The results included…
Varsity -Central Conference - 2026
Champion-Seward High-Team B-Coached by Melissa Pohl
First Runner-Up-Seward High-Team A-Coached by Melissa Pohl,
Third Place—Adams Central-Team B-Coached by Jill Houghtelling
Fourth Place-York High-Team-A-Coached by Abbey Beining
Freshmen Team-Central Conference-2026
Champion- Seward High-Team C -Coached by Melissa Pohl
First Runner-Up-Adams Central-Team C-Coached by Jill Houghtelling
Third Place-Seward High-Team D-Coached by Melissa Pohl
Fourth Place-York High-Team D – Coached by Abbey Beining
Each winning team -First through Fourth - won a trophy and the first-place teams in each division also received the official Central Conference Championship Medals. The second and third place Freshmen teams also received medals, to encourage and promote their involvement at future quiz bowl tournaments. The volunteer readers for the annual event included Sue Imig, Andy Jensen and Clark Kolterman of Seward, Kathy Wilcox of Crete, Nancy and Stan Meyer of Geneva, Jenni Erhart of Osceola, and Ellie Janda of Beaver Crossing. The Quiz Master for the event was Riley Nuttleman and Clark Kolterman served as the Quiz Bowl Coordinator. Scott Curry, the Activities Director of the Seward High School, was the official host for the event-assisting with the coordination and represented the Central Conference Leadership at the trophy presentation. Special thanks was noted to the Seward Civic Center, and Erin Wisemen, for allowing the Quiz Bowl Activity to be staged in almost the entire facility.
There are nine schools in the Central Conference, with six participating, including Aurora High, Adams Central High, Seward High, York High, Schuyler High and Crete High. Schools in the Central Conference not participating included Grand Island Northwest High, Columbus Lakeview High and Lexington High.
Seward has offered to host the event again next year and looking forward to meeting again with the other Central Conference Schools in a fun and educational activity that captures the essence of “end of the school year!”
First place, l-r: AD Scott Curry, Ava Slechta, Kayla Albright, Maddelyn Larson, Emma Matulka
Second place, l-r: AD Scott Curry, Emaline Janda, Bethany Jurchen, Alex Pliefke, Izayah Lavicky
Freshmen, first place: AD Scott Curry, Ezekiel Ferebee, Nolan Brashear, James Weverka
Freshmen, third place: AD Scott Curry, DeeRoy Jamison, Mason Vest, Cole Reinhard, Darien Sugden