Guilford schools among quiz bowl teams invited to nationals this weekend

Two quiz bowl teams from Guilford County are among nearly 200 schools competing in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments' Middle School National Championship Tournament in Chicago this weekend.

Just one other school from North Carolina qualified for nationals, and that's Smith Academy in Chapel Hill, last year's national champions.

Brown Summit and the Academy of Lincoln teams were invited after strong performances at quiz bowl tournaments throughout the season. It's not about memorizing information, say student participants and their coaches.

"Quiz Bowl is a great club for the curious," said Helen Anderson, a Brown Summit seventh-grader who is on the team. "I find that the best part about it is being able to learn something new every day while studying for competitions, whether it be from YouTube, Wikipedia, or even listening to some classical music pieces."

Friday is the start of the three-day tournament, which features 192 teams of four students from across the country battling for middle school honors. The results will be updated online all weekend, leading to the final game.

Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas.

Brown Summit qualified for nationals by finishing in first place at a virtual 5-week tournament.

At the state competition held at Southeast Guilford High School in March, the Chapel Hill school finished in first place, Lincoln in second place, and Brown Summit in third.

"What I enjoy about this club is that it is a team effort where students are invited to bring their own unique expertise," said eighth-grader Maulik Narsale, the Brown Summit team captain, who was named to the All-State First Team in March. Helen was also named to the All-State Team.

The two Guilford County Schools teams have built a reputation in the quiz bowl community over the years, according to officials with the national association that puts on the championship.

Academy at Lincoln has attended the Middle School National Championship Tournament five times before. Most recently, in 2025, they made the playoffs and finished in 49th place.

"I am so proud of my team's achievements," said Academy social studies teacher Sarah Heeden, their coach. "They've worked really hard, inside and outside of school, to prepare for tournaments this year. And they have had some great success, which is wonderful. I think, just as importantly, they've also had a lot of fun."

Academy of Lincoln teammate Alex Zhu played as part of the 2025 Middle School National Championship Tournament in Rosemont, Illinois. The team includes Zhu, Anay Bhadouria, Rohan Dayal, Pratham Gupta, Lakshya Khowala, Shashwat Mohan, and Molly Zhang.

"My team captain, Alex Zhu, said that one of the best moments of this season for him was the first question he answered at the Chapel Hill Challenge," Heeden said of their first tournament. "Up until that point, we had just been practicing, and correctly answering that first question was the starting point to getting to nationals."

Brown Summit has attended the Middle School National Championship Tournament seven times before.

The team includes Maulik, Helen, Paarth Mehta, Trent Teoh, Arnav Verma, and Amelia Wall. Helen, Maulik and Amelia Wall were part of the team that played in the 2025 Middle School National Championship Tournament. Maulik is also a former individuals champion.

The Brown Summit students have been practicing together since last summer and have worked incredibly hard to qualify for this event, said Beth Perdue, one of the coaches and a former, now-retired, teacher at the school. Besides practicing afterschool once a week, they also meet virtually and practice each week. They organize additional practices and write their own questions to quiz each other.

Brown Summit finished third in the nation in the Long Island Quiz Bowl Alliance competition this school year.

"One of our players was in India this past month but still joined each practice virtually," Perdue said. "This meant getting up at 1 a.m. to join us. This could be one of the best teams we've ever had."

One of the students is a mini-expert in mythology. The individuals also understand their weak spots and work on them, Perdue said. But they also have a camaraderie with other teams. The team they beat in the state competition last year gave them their mascot to carry for good luck. When a high school player they had battled in the middle school division wasn't at a high school tournament they were attending, they asked around and found out that he had been in treatment for cancer and was not in school, Perdue said.

"They rallied and they got our school to donate a bunch of Amazon gift cards for him, and they put a basket together and sent it to his home," Perdue said. "Just to see them want to do that. They don't see the other teams as enemies. They see them as friends."

Perdue joins Peeden in saying their students are having fun.

"Quiz bowl isn't everything for them," Perdue said. "They are very well-rounded kids. They're musicians, they're athletes, so this isn't everything for them. When we get to the competition, there will be some teams where for the kids, this is all they do. They're going to make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes. They don't get so uptight about it."

Tournament results will be updated throughout the three days of competition so supporters can follow along. The sites to follow the tournament are: https://www.naqt.com/go/stats/17100 and #msnct on Instagram.

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