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SHELBY TOWNSHIP — The Gene L. Klida Utica Academy for International Studies joined 153 of the top quiz bowl teams from small public high schools at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Chicago for the 2025 Small School National Championship Tournament to determine who was the best April 26.
The Gene L. Klida Utica Academy for International Studies was one of nine Michigan teams competing at the national championship. The team finished in 11th place in the Open Division.
The team was on the brink of elimination when it defeated the Early College at Guilford A from Greensboro, North Carolina, in round 16 to stay alive. Unfortunately, the team lost to University School of Nashville A from Tennessee, ending its shot at the title.
Dwight Kidder, an engineering software tester and member of National Academic Quiz Tournaments, which organizes the tournament, said a lot of people, even some in small schools, make the assumption that a quiz bowl team from a small school can’t compete against a team from a large school.
“That’s wrong; there’s differences, but almost all of the differences occur at the beginning when you’re forming the team. You have to cast a wider net. Once you have a team working together to learn and practice, the defining variable is not a school’s size but the team’s experience. The teams that come to the Small School Championships have gained their experience, and play every match with knowledge equal to larger schools. We’re just happy to give them the opportunity to demonstrate that,” he said.
Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas.
The team, in the Open Division, was captained by Benjamin Edmunds, who was joined by Daniel Buzdugan, Yousif Hadoo, Leo Koenders and Kiran Nair. The team was coached by Zach Crossen and William Dobbie.
The Gene L. Klida Utica Academy for International Studies began the preliminary rounds with a five-game winning streak, in which it defeated Miami Valley from Dayton, Ohio; University School of Nashville B from Tennessee; Lancaster Mennonite from Pennsylvania; Hebron Academy from Maine; and New Heights Christian B from Joplin, Missouri. The team finished the preliminary rounds with a 9-1 record, which qualified it for the playoffs.
There were some tense moments. The team suffered a heartbreakingly narrow loss to the eventual champions, St. Mark’s School of Texas A from Dallas, 410-400 during round eight.
Benjamin Edmunds was honored as an all-star for correctly answering 132 tossup questions, 46 of them for “power” — so early as to earn extra points in the preliminary rounds.
The Traditional Public Schools Division champion was the A team from West Point High School of Cullman, Alabama. The Open Division champion was the A team from St. Mark’s School of Texas.
The 2025 Small School National Championship Tournament Open Division’s field featured 66 teams from 28 states and South Korea.
Jonah Greenthal, vice president for operations, National Academic Quiz Tournaments, said The Gene L. Klida Utica Academy for International Studies shone brightly among the 66 teams from across the United States and South Korea, making the playoffs for the third consecutive year, the highest finishes ever by a Michigan team in the Small School National Championship Tournament’s Open Division.
“Captain Benjamin Edmunds was the second-highest scorer at the whole tournament as he led his team to 11 thrilling victories. We’re looking forward to seeing what they can do at our High School National Championship Tournament in a few weeks in Atlanta, which is for schools of all sizes, and four of their five players are underclass students, so we’re also excited for how well they’ll perform next year. It’s been great to see the growth of the Michigan quiz bowl circuit,” he said.
