by Matt Gomez
Daily Lobo
Twelve teams tested their buzzer-hand reflexes, pressure-handling abilities and knowledge Saturday in UNM's College Bowl campus tournament.
The tournament was the second one at UNM.
Jessica Cheatwood-Alvarez, student activities specialist, said the tournament had taken a 40-year hiatus before last year.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
She said there were 12 teams this year, but last year there were more.
"Last year was maybe a little bit of a weed-out year, and this year people knew what it was about and signed up knowing what they were getting themselves into," Cheatwood said.
After several matches, team La Confederacion de los Intelectuales won the tournament.
Despite losing a round of questioning, the team went on to compete in the double-elimination tournament to take the win.
The members of the team are captain Clinton Peebles, a senior majoring in geography; John Ogren, a sophomore studying physics, chemistry and applied mathematics; Kieran Gallagher-Gonzales, a junior studying biology, chemistry and mathematics; and Nas Manole, a freshman studying biochemistry.
The team also won last year's tournament and did well in regional and national competitions.
Cheatwood-Alvarez said the tournament is fast-paced.
"The rules are pretty strict in terms of the guidelines of how they have to play," she said.
Trey Smith, student activities coordinator, said participants were asked a broad range of questions.
"We've got history, literature, physics, pop culture," he said. "One thing the teams do beforehand is strategize their areas of strength."
The tournament was open to all UNM students.
Competing teams were made up of four students. One graduate student per team was permitted.
Teams were made up of students from residence halls and student organizations.
The teams competed in 14-minute matches in which they tried to correctly answer as many questions as possible. Teams earned points when they answered questions correctly. The team with the most points won.
Winners of the campus tournament receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the regional tournament in Arizona, Smith said. If they do well at the regional tournament, they get the opportunity to compete at the national tournament in Connecticut.
Manole said he took time on a Friday night to prepare for the competition.
"Last night, instead of going out and partying, I went to collegebowl.com and started doing questions," he said.
Other members of La Confederacion de los Intelectuales took the competition seriously, but did not do too much to prepare.
Peebles said he watched a lot of TV the night before.
The team offered some words of advice for people thinking of signing up for the College Bowl tournament next year.
"Don't drop out of high school," Peebles said.
Ogren said people in the tournament should stay calm and not take it too seriously.
"College Bowl is supposed to be a fun experience," he said. "The whole idea is just to relax. Do your best and go to class."
Manole agreed. He said the best advice for future competitors is to not get too stressed out.
"Don't get all hyped up about it," Manole said. "It's about what you know."
