Friday, March 4, 2005
Tournament Overview
The 2005 Bellevue University quiz bowl tournament was held Friday, March 14, 2005 on campus at Bellevue University. For the first time since 1993, the Norris Titans came home with the championship trophy, adding to this team's impressive collection of honors for the year. The Norris team, consisting of Joel Keralis, Shane Lowe, Andrew Keralis and Evan Egger, finished the day with five wins against a lone loss to win the double elimination tournament. The Titans beat Bellevue West High School in the finals by a score of 210-85. Earlier in the day, the Titans had beaten Woodbine, Iowa, Bellevue East, Blair, Ralston to reach the championship match with an undefeated record. In the first final, Bellevue West beat Norris by the margin of a single question and bonus 160-145 in a match that was tight all the way. In the second final, Norris opened an early lead and stretched it out steadily throughout the match to win by a large margin.
2005 Bellevue University Quizbowl Champions
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Left to right: Channel 7 Anchor Rob McCartney, who officiated in the
finals, Coach Tom Brazee Evan Egger, Shane Lowe,
Joel Keralis, Andrew Keralis and Tournament Quizmaster Roy Smith. |
| 2005 Bellevue Invitational | Place | School | Record | Champion | Norris | 5-1 | Runner Up | Bellevue West | 7-2 | Third | Ralston | 4-2 | Fourth | Blair | 4-2 | Fifth | Elkhorn | 5-2 | Fifth | Bellevue East | 4-2 | Seventh | Lincoln NE | 3-2 | Seventh | Gretna | 3-2 |
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The day began auspiciously for Norris as their scheduled
first round opponent, Pawnee City failed to show up for the tournament, and were
awarded the win on a forfeit. Things continued to go well in the second
round as Norris blew out Woodbine, Iowa in the second round 260-35.
In the third round, Norris got some revenge for last year, beating Bellevue East, the only team in last year's Bellevue tournament to finish ahead of them. Bellevue East was leading a see-saw match 95-90 midway through the match when the Titans posted 105 unanswered points to establish a dominant lead, going on to win 210-150.
In the winner's bracket semifinals, the Titans had to face a tough Blair squad, who had beaten Norris soundly in a pool-play match at the Elkhorn Invitational. The match was very well-played. Blair won the first half of the match, leading 95-55 before the Titans began their comeback. Norris finally caught the Bears at 120 all and then dominated the end of the match to win 185-155.
| Norris Results | Team 1 | Score | Score | Team 2 | Norris | 260 | 35 | Woodbine | Norris | 210 | 150 | Bellevue East | Norris | 185 | 155 | Blair | Norris | 180 | 145 | Ralston | Norris | 145 | 160 | Bellevue West | Norris | 210 | 85 | Bellevue West |
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Ralston, a team which had thoroughly dominated all of their opponents early in the tournament, was Norris' opponent in the winner's bracket final. In the beginning stages of the match, Ralston displayed impressive speed jumping out to a 70-35 lead. As in the Blair match, the Titans started a steady comeback, catching the Rams at 110 and then steadily pulling away to win 180-145.
This brought the Titans to the finals with an undefeated record. Someone would have to beat them twice in a row to keep them from the championship.
In the loser's bracket, Bellevue West came back with wins over Elkhorn, Blair and Ralston to face Norris in the finals. In the first match, Bellevue West had to win to stay alive and they managed to do that. Norris started strong and ran up a 120-80 lead over West before the Thunderbirds had a nice run of 60 unanswered points to lead 140-120. Norris was unable to come back from that run and West stayed alive with a 160-145 win.
In the final match, Norris never trailed, allowing the blood pressure of the Norris supporters to subside. Norris ran to leads of 60-15 and 155-50 before winning the championship match by 210-85.
| Individual Stats - Norris A | Match | Joel K | Andrew | Shane | Evan | Woodbine | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 | Bellevue East | 10 | 0 | 2 | 4 | Blair | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Ralston | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Bellevue West | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Bellevue West | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
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This is the second major tournament the Titans have won this year. Norris won the Creighton Prep Invitational in September and finished second in the Elkhorn Invitational in February.
Norris will compete in the Eastern Midlands Tournament on Monday, March 14th and will travel to Council Bluffs on Saturday March 19th