Members of the state-qualifying North Tama Academic Decathlon team pictured in the classroom of assistant coach Matt Walston on Wednesday, March 2, two days before the state tournament commenced in Mason City. Team members include, front row (l-r) Madison McKee, Chloe Randall, and Alexis Chizek; back row (l-r) Jonathan Cochran, Alex Meggers, Hunter Finzen, Izzy Hallett, Emma Boldy, and Madi Schults. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

It may have been a Friday in early March, but it was still ‘Friday Night Lights’ for the North Tama Academic Decathlon team on March 4 as they spent their evening under exam lights taking tests of knowledge as part of the two-day State Academic Decathlon competition in Mason City.

After qualifying for the state tournament by placing second in small school regionals in Grundy Center on January 26 – taking home 21 ribbons and two team medals – the team including Emma Boldy, Alex Chizek, Johnathan Cochran, Hunter Finzen, Izzy Hallett, Madison McKee, Alex Meggers, Chloe Randall, and Madi Schults spent practically every one of their lunch periods and many after school sessions cramming for the state competition that took place March 4-5.

Top scoring schools from around Iowa are invited to compete at state with this year’s competition including 192 high school students.

As the name implies, the competition has 10 events including art, economics, essay, interview, literature, math, music, science, social science, and speech.

Following two days of participation, the hard work paid off for North Tama with Meggers earning a Bronze medal for total score in the small school Varsity division.

North Tama’s Academic Decathlon state medalists pictured on Saturday, March 5, in Mason City including (l-r) Madison McKee, Izzy Hallett, Alex Meggers, Hunter Finzen, and Madi Schults. –Photo by Hollie Hampton

North Tama also received several individual event medals including Meggers (Varsity) with a gold in Literature and Essay, and a bronze in Math and Social Science; Finzen (Scholastic) with a gold in Social Science, and a silver in Science; Schults (Honors) with a gold in Literature; Hallett (Scholastic) with a bronze in Economics; and McKee with a bronze in Music.

The North Tama team placed ninth overall out of 12 teams in the small school division.

Despite the intense preparation necessary in order to compete at the state tournament, all nine rookie North Tama members said they plan to return next year.

“You don’t [study],” Finzen said in response to a question about how the team practices. “You cram. It’s like cramming all year for the ACT.”

North Tama brought back their team this year following a multiyear absence from the annual competition due to lack of interest, the pandemic, and the team’s former coach Kevin Darrow taking a job at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids.

Darrow left North Tama in 2010, after which current North Tama head coach Brenda Jensen restarted the team for two seasons from 2016-2018.

Darrow’s Jefferson team won the state tournament this year in the large school division and will represent Iowa at the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) National Competition which is being held virtually April 20-23.

The Union Community School District’s Academic Decathlon team coached by Kerrie Michael also advanced to USAD Nationals where the team will compete in Division IV.

Union’s team – in its eighth year as a competitive team – includes students Arianna Abrahamson, Asher Beermann, Adam Brehm, Sadie Hennings, Dominic Huisman, Haven Ellsworth, Daniel Grey, Emma Jenkins, Matthew Medina, Caitlyn Wylie, and Madelyn Zak.

Wylie tied for the highest score in the speech category among the large and small school divisions respectively.

In addition to Jensen, the 2021-2022 North Tama Academic Decathlon team was coached by assistant coaches/high school teachers Hollie Hampton and Matt Walston.

“We’re a bunch of kids who have amassed a lot of random knowledge and facts,” North Tama’s team profile stated on the Iowa Academic Decathlon’s state competition website. “This is the first year any of us have done Academic Decathlon. We’re made up of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. We have kids with interests in a bunch of different things such as esports, sports, art, and music. We’re aiming for a solid ‘not last’!”

Essays from this year’s competition will be published on the Iowa Academic Decathlon website: www.iowaacdec.org.