On October 28, the Edison High School Quiz Bowl team attended and won the Lehigh Valley Open IV Tournament, hosted by Moravian Academy in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The team included captain Devam Mondal ‘24 and players Sushanth Balaraman ‘24, Nakul Narayanan ‘25, and Aravind Krishnan ’26. Competing against fifteen other Pennsylvania and Jersey-based teams, Edison played five preliminary rounds and seven playoff matches before defeating Henderson A in a final showdown.
In each game, twenty “tossups,” or questions about various academic and nonacademic subjects, could be answered for ten or fifteen points, depending on where a player “buzzed in” to give their answer. However, a wrong answer before the end of the tossup would result in the team losing five points and being locked out from answering that question. The team that correctly answered a tossup was then asked three “bonuses,” each of which counted for an additional ten points. The team with the highest score at the end of the round would win the match.
After achieving a record four wins to one loss in the preliminary rounds, Edison advanced to the playoffs. Winning close matches against Great Valley A (335–300) and Downingtown STEM (290–285), Edison again obtained a 4-1 record, qualifying the team for the semifinal match against Germantown Friends. In the semifinal, Edison capitalized on early leads and never let go, scoring a playoff-high 475 points to an opposing 140.
Facing Henderson A in the finals, a team they had lost to in the preliminary rounds, Edison was only one win away from being crowned back-to-back champions of the Lehigh Valley Open. In an evenly matched battle that came down to the wire, Edison managed to emerge victorious after answering the last tossup.
Balaraman was ecstatic about the victory, expressing his thoughts on the emphatic win while also remaining optimistic for the future.
“Winning felt great. I was really relieved that after so much work, our team was able to go into Lehigh and deliver, winning the trophy for the second year in a row,” said Balaraman. “I’m really proud of our team and hope we can continue to grow and develop into a powerhouse.”
Similarly, Krishnan highlighted the joy of winning after the hours of hard work that went into preparation for the tournament.
“It was a good team effort and I felt a sense of relief after we won,” Krishnan said. “I look forward to competing in more tournaments throughout the year.”
Through twelve games of tournament play, Balaraman and Mondal scored 51 and forty points per game (PPG) respectively, and both placed within top fifteen scoring for all competitors in the tournament. Narayanan ‘24 scored 31 PPG, placing within the top thirty-five, and Krishnan placed top sixty.
It serves as a great indicator of the work we are putting in as a program, and we hope to carry this momentum forward and perform well at the National Championship.
— Devam Mondal ‘24
Along with the positives that came with the victory, Narayanan mentioned the need to limit on mistakes while also capitalizing on those of the other teams.
“It was a very exhilarating win, and although there were a multitude of missed chances for victory, we won and everything was fine,” said Narayanan, who answered the last tossup against Henderson.
The victory marks a significant moment to be treasured in the future, especially as Mondal and Balaraman approach the last months of their high school quiz bowl careers. Additionally, this victory will set an example for the future of quiz bowl at Edison High, as the team prepares to partake in the National Championship Tournament in May.
“It was very memorable, especially because it was my first tournament win as captain and president,” Mondal said. “It serves as a great indicator of the work we are putting in as a program, and we hope to carry this momentum forward and perform well at the National Championship.”
