Gering High School takes third at state Quiz Bowl competition | Education

Their sixth game of the day against Sutton was their most exciting one. Down by 10 points with one question to go, the Gering team’s only chance at moving on to the next round was to get both the final toss up and the bonus questions right.

“It was a military question, and you could just see the timer ticking down,” coach Amanda Cochran said. “Nobody buzzed, nobody buzzed, nobody buzzed. And right at the end, Milo (Newman) pressed the button and he got it right.”

Now only down by five, they had to buzz in first and get the final question right. This time it was an animal question and the team was confident that member Victoria Christophersen would get it, since it’s her specialty. But once again, both teams were stumped.

“They asked the question — it was a really hard question — and we’re all looking at each other going, ‘Ah man, that’s a hard question,’ and the timer’s going down again down, down, down,” Cochran said. “And one second left, Victoria goes, ‘I think it’s a salamander,’ so Milo, the captain, has to give the answer, so he turns to the judge and says, ‘Salamander!’ And the judges all look at each other like it was a ‘Hail, Mary’ thrown out down the field. And they all go, ‘Ahh it’s amazing! Gering wins!’”

The students said everyone in the room was cheering — everyone except maybe the Sutton team and fans.