Mounds Park Academy Middle School Quiz Bowl Teams Excel at Nationals

Mounds Park Academy sent three teams to compete in National Academic Quiz Tournament's  (NAQT) Middle School National Championship Tournament. It was held on April 27-28 in Chicago, Illinois. 96 teams from 37 states competed in the tournament. These MPA teams qualified via two tournaments in the Twin Cities earlier in the school year. We had some great results this past weekend:

The  A Team - Cole Staples of Afton (8^th), Charlie Kramer of St. Paul (8^th), Aidan Opatz of St. Paul (8^th), Jack Indritz of Roseville (8^th), and William Amendola Bye of St. Paul (8^th) - finished 7^th out of 96 teams. They were the highest placing team from Minnesota. This was the highest finish by an MPA team in a National Quiz Bowl Tournament!

The B team - Amanda Baumgart of Woodbury (8^th), Ryan Guggenheim of St. Paul (7^th), Kate Van Hecke of St. Paul (7^th), and Nick Samsel of Lino Lakes (8^th) -  finished 53^rd out of 96, and just missed the playoff round.

The C Team - Travis Mudge of Gem Lake (7^th), Sumner Wu of Maplewood (7^th), Paige Indritz of Roseville (5^th), Pranay Somayajula Woodbury (7^th), Teja Upadhyaya Woodbury (8^th) - finished 51^st out of 96 and also missed the playoffs by one match.

In addition Kate Van Hecke (7^th) won the "Top Rising Player" Award at the tournament. She was the top player not currently in 8^th Grade.