Geneva wins 37th Scholastic Bowl
Mar. 16—ASHTABULA — The 2023 Geneva Scholastic Bowl team finished in the middle of the pack during the Ashtabula County competition last year, but a year of experience paid off for the Eagles in 2024.
Geneva bested seven other teams on Saturday afternoon to win the Ashtabula County Scholastic Bowl championship in the 37th edition of the competition on Saturday at Kent State Ashtabula.
The Geneva team won the finals over Saint John School 270-125. Jefferson finished third in the competition. The questions the students must answer include history, geography, sports, pop culture and many other categories.
Anne Markijohn and Brenda Unsinger are the advisors for the Geneva team.
"We practice once a week and we start in October," Markijohn said.
The advisors said the team was young last year, but they have matured.
"They are a lot more confident in themselves. We have all veterans now," Markijohn said.
Unsinger said the team got an early start with a television competition in October that aired in January. Geneva won that competition as well.
"The CVC [Chagrin Valley Conference] had a tournament and we came in third in that," Unsinger said.
She said the team will also participate in a regional competition this spring.
Riley Platt was the only senior on the team. He said this is his second year on the team.
"I just like being with my friends and having fun," he said.
The competition started on Saturday morning with eight teams representing their schools: A-Tech, Conneaut, Edgewood, Geneva, Jefferson, Lakeside, Pymatuning Valley and Saint John.
The final four included Geneva, Saint John, Conneaut and Jefferson. The Falcons earned the third-place trophy and Saint John got a shot at the undefeated Eagles.
If Saint John had won there would have been another match to determined the county champion.
The Ashtabula County Educational Service Center sponsors the annual event. It started 37 years ago and has taken place at a variety of locations throughout Ashtabula County.
ACESC Supervisor of Gifted and Talented Students Denise Hunt said the event is important for individual students and good for the overall educational process as well.
"It puts a value on knowing a wide range of facts in a wide range of disciplines," Hunt said.
She said the students really enjoy the experience.
"This is just like a sports team to them," Hunt said.
The Scholastic Bowl has grown from a once a year competition to a season of practice and competition that takes months and includes contests with other teams throughout the winter.
