Medina’s Scholastic Bowl team wins championship for 2nd straight year

‘We all know a lot of random stuff’

Provided photo: From left, WLVL host Derick Evans poses with Medina High School’s Alex Balaban, Dan Owen DeVera, Cole Hughes and adviser Jeff Dole. Medina defeated Starpoint on Tuesday night to win the championship for the second year in a row.

MEDINA – Medina High School’s trivia team won the Scholastic Bowl at Lockport’s WLVL on Tuesday, defeating Starpoint. This is the second championship in a row for Medina’s team, led by adviser Jeff Dole.

Schools participating in the Scholastic Bowl were Medina, Royalton/Hartland, Starpoint and Wilson. Other schools in the Scholastic Bowl were Akron, Lockport and North Tonawanda. The Scholastic Bowl competitions are held once a month in January, February and March. As winners, Medina received a trophy and $1,000 in prize money, which Dole said is used for material and food for their meets.

Members of Medina’s winning team were Cole Hughes, eighth grade; Alex Balaban, 11th grade; and Dan Owen DeVera, 12th grade.

The Masterminds are made up of teams from Albion, Pembroke, Holley, Elba, Kendall and Medina.

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Medina High School’s Masterminds defeated Pembroke during a competition Friday at Medina High School. For Pembroke on the left are Matteo Sinclair, Kayla Reynolds, Amelia Geck and Emily Guilian. Medina’s team at right is Dan Owen DeVera, Alex Balaban, Henry Rigerman and Ryan Geiger. Scott Kroner, standing is in charge of the games and provides the questions, while Medina’s adviser Jeff Dole, seated in red, keeps score.

The teens are all big fans of trivia. Balaban said he reads a lot, watches the news and pays attention in class. They also practice once a week as a team.

As members of Medina’s Masterminds, the students all have different areas in which they excel. Hughes loves history. Balaban is well-read in history and politics, while DeVera is good in Shakespeare and literature.

“We all know a lot of random stuff,” Balaban said. “We try to have balance on our team.”

Adviser Jeff Dole said any student who is interested in trivia can participate in Masterminds. No one is turned away, he said. He has been their adviser since the 2013-14 school year.

Questions for their competitions are purchased from Scott Kroner of Rochester, who is in charge of the games. He runs games all over the state, Dole said. Questions are on dozens of subjects, including geography, customs, dance, disease, algebra, art, physics, politics, pop culture and ancient history.

Dole said parents are encouraged to attend their children’s competitions and he would like to see more people in the audience.

The second team to compete for Medina was, from left: Dan Owen DeVera, Alex Balaban, Lucas Wilkins and Joey Wolters.