Leader photo/COURTESY OF KATHY STAFFORD
HEADED TO STATE. The Murfreesboro High School Quiz Bowl Team has earned a trip to state competition. Pictured are (from left) Destiny Legate, Austin Kimberlin, Sutton Balch, Conner Watson, Katie Alexander, Riley House, Joe Gatliff, David Green, Jake Faulkner and Austin Green.

On Saturday, March 9, the Murfreesboro Senior High Quiz Bowl Team placed second at the 2A Southwest Regional Tournament sponsored by the Arkansas Governor’s Quiz Bowl Association (AGQBA). The tournament was hosted by Poyen High School.

The second-place finnish qualifies the MHS Quiz Bowl team for the state tournament, which will be April 6 at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton.

The Murfreesboro team won all three games in the morning round. These are the preliminary games which determine placement on the tournament bracket for the afternoon games. In Game 1, Murfreesboro defeated Poyen, 210-110. Next, MHS played Mountain Pine in Game 2, winning 220-190. They also won Game 3 against Cutter Morning Star with the score 230-110.

Placement on the tournament bracket is determined by the win-lost record and an average based on the points scored in the three games. Gurdon, who also had three wins, was the number one seed on the bracket with Murfreesboro seeded number two. MHS had a bye for the first round. In round two of the brackets which was the semifinals, Murfreesboro played Mountain Pine, the number-three seed. MHS advanced to the finals defeating Mountain Pine, 220-110. In the final game, Murfreesboro lost to Gurdon by the score of 145-225.

MHS senior Joe Gatliff was selected for the Regional All-Tournament team.

In October, the MHS Quiz Bowl team placed third at the Genoa Central Tournament.  The team placed second at the Ashdown tournament in November and on March 7, MHS placed fourth at the Murfreesboro Tournament.

Kathy Stafford is coach of the senior high quiz bowl team and assistant coach is Sandra Elliott. At the regional tournament on Saturday, Sandra Elliott and Tammy Elliott were in charge of the records room. Connie Dorathy served as a judge. Also assisting at the regional tournament were freshmen Sutton Balch and Austin Green.