The pursuit of esoteric knowledge in all fields of academic study has led to Thomas County Central High School Quiz Bowl team’s third place finish at state competition.

Georgia Quiz Bowl was held Saturday, March 24, in Forsyth. There were 44 teams in competition.

"We accomplished being first in the region and third in the state,” sponsor Amy Ponder says. “This is a first for Thomas County quiz bowl. Our team has been practicing twice a week every week this year, expanding their knowledge and building areas of strength.”

The team earned its first competition trophy of the year. The five players who participated were Kyle Clark, Jason Weeks, Kaleb Ward, Tommy Piland and Bret Hendricks.

“I am proud of our placement because it really shows that our hard work paid off,” sophomore Tommy Piland said. “I believe we acquired our placement through the hard work and dedication of each teammate.”

Piland enjoys how quiz bowl questions challenge him and the knowledge he gains from participation in the activity.

“A lot of the questions aren’t things that you would normally learn in your classes,” he said.

Sophomore Kaleb Ward says the team, despite the differences of its individual members, has a good way of working together to come up with the answers, especially on bonus questions.

“Even though we are individuals who are very different and have very diverse specialties, we rely on each other and we’ve created a team bond,” he said.

Captain Jason Weeks and co-captain Kyle Clark, the team’s highest scorers, will finish their high school competition careers with 3,000 and 2,000 points scored, respectively.

“These two will be sorely missed next year,” Ponder said.