The Canyon Ridge High School Quiz Bowl Team recently competed in and won the Eastern Idaho Science Bowl Competition on March 13th, 2026. As a result, the team earned a place in the national competition in Washington, D.C., where 68 quizbowl teams across the nation will compete on April 30th-May 4th.
At the regional competition, quiz bowl students Kitt Schuerman, Eli Kriwox, William Edwards (juniors), and Zach Haderlie (senior) competed against seven other teams within the region, including Twin Falls, Marsh Valley, West Side, Idaho Falls, Kimberly, Malad, and Madison high schools.
The competition was structured as a bracket, with teams competing against each other to earn a place in the next round. Canyon Ridge competed against Marsh Valley, Twin Falls, and West Side, in that order.
Each round lasted for a total of twenty minutes, split up into ten-minute sections with a two-minute break in between. Within the round, a proctor alternates asking each team a question related to fields in math and science. Each question answered correctly is worth five points, and each correct answer earns the team a chance at a bonus question worth one point. If the team answers their question incorrectly, the opposing team is given one chance to answer the question and take the points for themselves.
Teammates are not allowed to speak to each other during the first question, but they can converse as a team on bonus questions. A competitor can only speak after buzzing in to answer the provided question.
Even though the team competed against West Side High School in the final championship round, the whole team agreed that the round they won against Twin Falls High School was the greatest accomplishment.
The Twin Falls High School Quiz Bowl Team was the previous the reigning champion of the regional competition for two years in a row, and, according to CRHS quiz bowl students, was definitely the hardest team to beat.
To prepare for the competition, the team met for practice after school on every Tuesday and Thursday. To practice, the team’s faculty advisor, Mr. Sam Franklin, stands in as a science bowl proctor and runs mock rounds with practice questions.
The team as a whole was “surprised” but “excited” by their win at regionals.
Quiz bowl member Eli Kriwox explained that his mindset going into the competition “was really just to have fun and try something new.”
As a team, they “didn’t anticipate winning, but they [did] better than any of them expected to…It was exciting to have gotten into something we really feel we were good at,” added Eli.
“I thought, ‘okay, we’re going to go into this competition, and we’re going to get our butts kicked, but it’s going to be fun.’ But after we started, we won a few rounds, and we were really surprised,” quiz bowl team member Kitt Schuerman said.
“We didn’t practice very hard. That was why it was kind of funny we won, cause [teams like] Twin Falls definitely took [the tournament] more seriously than we did,” said William Edwards.
The team is excited to represent Canyon Ridge at a national level in Washington, D.C., where they will also have the opportunity to explore the nation’s capital.
