Two Dixon High School students selected as top Scholastic Bowl players to compete on sectional team

DIXON — Two Dixon High School Scholastic Bowl team members were selected out of 30 regional teams for the Illinois High School Association All-Sectional team.

Nathan Stauter, sophomore, and Ronin Quick, junior, are two of 10 students on the Class AA Sectional 3 team. The sectional teams will compete against the other teams, made up of the most skilled high school players throughout Illinois, during the competition March 15 at Belvidere High School. The team’s players are nominated by their coaches and then voted on by all coaches in the sectional, DHS Scholastic Bowl Coach Tom Padilla said in an interview with Shaw Local.

Stauter was one of the top six players on the sectional team, meaning he is automatically considered for the All-State team. Those players are selected by the IHSA All State Committee and compete at the state championship March 22 at Heartland Community College in Normal.

The other players on the Class AA Sectional 3 team are Luke Snyder and Jamie Fischer from Auburn High School in Rockford; Jack Denning and Ethan Anton from Belvidere North High School; James Eisenbraun from Belvidere High School; Emma Caver from Hononegah Community High School in Rockton; Tyler Groenland from Richmond Burton Community High School in Richmond; and Helena Solana from Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford.

Padilla, who’s been coaching DHS’s scholastic bowl team for nearly two decades, said he’s never seen two players as good as Stauter and Quick.

It’s the second year that Stauter and Quick have been on the Scholastic Bowl team, which is made up of about 15 players in total, Padilla said.

The Scholastic Bowl is an academic competition between two school teams that’s set up like trivia. A match is made up of 20 “toss-up” questions where any player on either team can “beep in” to answer it. If they answer correctly, that team is given three bonus questions.

Both Stauter and Quick average five correct toss ups a game, which is 25% of the questions in a game, during the regular season from January to the end of March, Padilla said.

The pair has also competed well in the Stateline Quiz Bowl Tournament in Rockford. Stauter was selected to the SLQB All-Star team and made captain of the team, Padilla said.

The Stateline Quiz Bowl is a televised special tournament that airs exclusively on WTVO and FOX 39. Teams from 28 local schools in the region can sign up to participate in the competition, which lasts until May.