The team was made up of senior captain Andy Huss, juniors Brent Lockee, Lance Villeneuve, and Scott Lindgren, and sophomore Sam Weitkemper. First the team competed in four round-robin style matches and went 3-1. This record was good enough to give the Knights a chance at the sixteen team tournament, but first they had to win a tiebreaker. With a solid performance in the tiebreaker they were able to earn a spot in the tournament, but the road would be tough.

Mount Michael’s first match of the double-elimination tournament was against Lincoln Pius X High School and turned out to be a rather sound victory. The team was surprised to score such a victory in the tournament, Lindgren said, “The questions got harder as we went along, but the way we
won against Pius kind of surprised me.”

Next the team faced Creighton Prep, and tensions were high. Huss knew many of the Creighton team members and before the match let the team know that they were some of the smartest people he knew. One of the team’s members actually got a 36 on the ACT. Once again the Knights were victorious as they came out of the blocks with several correct answers in a row. When asked about the victory, Villeneuve said, “This makes our day.”

After starting the day with almost fifty teams, the competition was down to eight teams, and Mount Michael was scheduled to play a team from Omaha Central. After a few tense moments regarding the rules, Central pulled within two questions of Mount Michael. Time ran out on the Central comeback, though, and the Knights scored a close victory. Huss said, “Even though the competition was really tight at that point and we were challenging some of their answers, they were an extremely considerate and impressive team.”

The Knight’s next opponent was none other than the second team from Central. If Mount Michael could win this match they would be the favorites for the championship. This did not materialize, and Central won by a close victory.

Immediately following the Central match, Mount Michael played Centura to earn a rematch against the Central team that had defeated them. Things did not look good, however, as Centura opened up a four-question lead on Mount Michael, who didn’t answer any questions correctly in the first half of play. The second half was a different story. The team rallied after Lockee and Huss got the ball rolling and as time ran out Lockee answered a physics question to eek out a victory. When asked about the match Lockee said, “I can’t believe we came back like that. I thought we were done for sure, and Centura seemed to be stunned.”

Central was now the only thing standing between Mount Michael and a trip to the National Science Bowl in Washington D.C. Because they had lost previously, the Knights would have to win two in a row against this tough team. Once again, Central showed their strength The Knights only answered one question in the first half of this match, so they would need another heroic comeback once again. Mount Michael ran out of time and fell just short of another comeback. - Brent Lockee