Seniors Cole Phinney, Joe Stitz, Matt Chalem and Matt Dew are a part of a nationally ranked Quiz Bowl team based right here in the halls of WHS.

The four-man team was ranked 23rd in the nation according to High School Quiz Bowl Rankings website after being ranked 34th at the end of last season.

“It feels really good that all of our hard work to become good has paid off and people have started seeing that,” Phinney said.

For all of the members, their journey started in middle school.

“A bunch of my friends got letters saying they might be good at quiz bowl and a lot of these people were people I hung out with,” Phinney said, “so I decided to go to the meeting and as soon as the first practice came during seventh grade, I was hooked.”

Phinney and the rest of the team have enjoyed their time and look forward to their final season.

“I like the competitive nature, and I like to learn things. I get to learn new things. I really like history and that’s a big part of quiz bowl, knowing historical facts,” Phinney said. “It fascinates me.”

Along with the competitive nature, teamwork is a big part of Quiz Bowl.

“It’s a team building [event]. You can’t just do it on your own, you have to also use your teammates to succeed,” Chalem said. “It’s fun to see how your progress both as a team and as an individual.”

The team is setting high expectations for this season.

“Personally, I would like to go undefeated in the state of Missouri,” Chalem said, “and try to do as well or better as we did in nationals last year.”