Pictured with the IHSA Class 2A Regional plaque are Scholar Knights (front, l to r) Alex Rivera, Ben Logullo, Ethan Schumacher, Nick Toennies, John Hund; (back, l to r) Alex Norris, Minh Le, John Hilmes and Anthony Lepore.

On Monday, March 6, the Scholar Knights won the IHSA Class 2A Scholar Bowl Regional, a single-elimination, eight-team tournament.  With an impressive 67-4 record, the Scholar Knights, under the guidance of moderator Mr. Scott Timmermann, will now compete in the round-robin IHSA Class 2A Scholar Bowl Sectional on Saturday, March 11, at Mt. Vernon High School.

In the opening match, Mater Dei faced the Mt. Vernon Rams.  After only nine questions, the Knights held a commanding 260-10 lead, which they extended to defeat the Rams 410-170.  In the semi-final match, the Mater Dei took on the Mascoutah Indians.  The Knights claimed the lead on question four and never relinquished it, winning 350-190.  The championship match against the Belleville West Maroons proved more difficult, as the lead see-sawed between the two teams throughout the match.  Entering the second half with a 160-90 lead, Mater Dei lost the lead after three questions and trailed Belleville West 250-240 with two questions remaining.  In the nail-biting conclusion, Ben Logullo and John Hund converted the last two toss ups and the Knights won 310-260.

Ben Logullo led the Scholar Knights with nine total toss ups, followed by Ethan Schumacher (8), John Hund (7), Nick Toennies (6), Amber Litteken (3), John Hilmes (1) and Alex Norris (1).  Minh Le, Anthony Lepore and Alex Rivera also contributed to the victories.