The Port Townsend High School Knowledge Bowl team flexed their intellect to win the Summit Award and 1A division tournament for the Washington State Knowledge Bowl competition in late January.

The Knowledge Bowl is an interdisciplinary quiz bowl-like competition where teams of four to six students per school take part in rounds of questions to score points and win (think bar trivia for adolescents).

The school teams around Western Washington compete in three Knowledge Bowl events to qualify for regional and state-level matchups. The Port Townsend High students participated in the second of three events Jan. 27.

The team travelled to the Schoolhouse Building in Fort Worden State Park and faced a variety of opponents. Port Townsend high scored 162 points,the most points in the 1A division, earning them the Summit Award for their hard work.

The three other winning schools were Central Kitsap High (4A division) with 281 points, Sequim High School (2A division) with 150 points, and Quilcene High scoring 90 points in the 1B division.

Port Townsend’s team has been incredibly successful in recent years and are the reigning champions in the 1A division since winning in 2019. The 2020 and 2021 Knowledge Bowl regional and State events were cancelled due to COVID-19, but students will be able to compete this year for the first time since 2019.

“It’s back in-person and happening, I think we have a great chance,” said Ben Dow, one of two coaches for the Knowledge Bowl team. “I’m really excited to see how they do.”

The third Knowledge Bowl event will occur March 3 at Fort Worden, and teams will compete to earn a spot in the regional competition, then State.