The pressure of the buzzer and the weight of a perfect Regionals record are fueling the Manhattan High Varsity Scholars Bowl team as they head into the postseason.
Manhattan dominated regionals on Feb. 5, finishing the day undefeated to claim the Regional championship. By sweeping the bracket against 6A competition, the squad officially punched their ticket to the 6A KSHSAA State tournament.
“The key to success has been working as a team because we don’t have one guy who can do it all,” sophomore Spenser Cunningham said. “We do a good job of everyone having their own specialty and letting them answer the questions on those types of questions.”
The Indians were also on fire at the Centennial League tournament on Jan. 30 and went 4-0 across all their matches. The Indians have placed first five out of the past seven years. Manhattan has continued their dominance and momentum from previous years.
“Multiple schools in the league are kind of on a down-swing right now, and we’re on an up-swing,” head coach Ted Dawdy said. “So that led to us not having too much competition at League.”
The Indians look forward to hosting the State tournament on their own turf and the team will be looking to win back-to-back State titles. With the momentum they’ve been gaining over the past few weeks, it seems more of a possibility. They have proven themselves by beating top competition like Wichita Northwest, who has given them some trouble in the past at Regionals.
“There will always be [Wichita] Northwest, who will always be a good school,” Dawdy said. “They’re a magnet school, so they tend to have a program that is sustainably high functioning. But other than that, it’s always the variability of how strong you are, and it’s nice to go with a strong team every year.”
Some of the other competitive schools Manhattan will face against in State are Topeka West and Blue Valley North and Wichita East, who along with Manhattan will be the favorites for the State tournament.
“The most important factor is going to be our mental focus. Our biggest opponent is Wichita East, so we have to be specifically ready to face them,” junior Solon Xia said. “Aside from the competition, maintaining our team synergy and keeping our nerves in check will be the keys to success.”
With League and Regional titles both in the trophy case, along with some team synergy, Manhattan will enter State as one of the hottest teams. With this momentum, they have the tools to challenge the state’s best teams, trying to bring back the State championship trophy for the second straight year.
“I’m very happy with how the season has gone; it’s been even better than last year,” Xia said. “Our team is more well-rounded and diverse, which has allowed us to answer more questions than we did last season.”