267 verses, one final question and a national championship
Submitted photo Trending
Submitted photoRyleigh Lutz, of Centre Pointe Church, is pictured with individual awards from the Bible Quizzing Junior Nationals.
BRANSON, Mo. - Three questions remained.
Across the table sat Michigan, the defending national champion, whose quizzers had spent most of their lives doing this. Across from them were three children representing Centre Pointe Church of Lewistown, whose Bible Quizzing program was only three years old.
Pennsylvania led, but not by enough to relax.
Michigan answered Question 13. Then Question 14. The score tightened. One question remained.
Ryleigh Lutz, Brennen Zeek and Josiah Lutz needed Michigan to miss, or they would have to keep fighting for a championship that, months earlier, might have seemed too large to imagine.
Michigan interrupted Question 15. The answer was ruled incorrect. Pennsylvania 1 had won, 110-105.
Even the adults had trouble believing it.
"It is honestly still a little surreal for us," coach Talina Lutz said. "We have to remind ourselves that it is real every once in a while."
According to Lutz, the three-member Centre Pointe Junior Bible Quizzing team became the first Pennsylvania team to win the national championship.
Ninety-five teams competed in the Junior division at the North American tournament in Branson, Missouri. Pennsylvania finished 9-1.
Its only loss came against Michigan. Then it beat Michigan twice.
The numbers tell part of the story. The rest started long before anyone sat behind a quiz table in Missouri.
Ryleigh, 11, Brennen, 12, and Josiah, 9, memorized 267 Bible verses from Genesis through Revelation. This year’s theme was "Bible Doctrine."
Memorizing the verses was only the beginning.
Competitive quizzers also learn what is called charting. They study repeated words, unique phrases, cross-references and other patterns in the material. The goal isn’t simply to memorize Scripture. At the highest level, they must recognize where a question is headed before the quizmaster finishes reading it.
Ryleigh and Josiah studied two to three hours a day, Talina said, on top of school and their other responsibilities.
A Junior quiz contains 15 questions worth 10, 20 or 30 points. Two teams face each other. A quizzer can interrupt before the question is finished, but then must correctly complete the question and give the answer within 30 seconds.
Guess wrong, and the other team gets another chance.
That creates pressure before the quizmaster finishes reading. Children sit quietly, listening for a word or phrase they recognize, then decide in a fraction of a second.
Wait. Or jump.
Each Centre Pointe quizzer had a job.
Ryleigh, the captain, sat in the first position. Brennen became the team’s reread specialist. Josiah attacked the buzzer regardless of the opponent.
Their personalities fit their assignments.
Ryleigh is quiet and shy in public, her mother said, but determined.
Brennen is also quiet. He is analytical and careful. He knew the material well enough to become the team’s reread specialist.
Josiah is different.
"He is fearless and confident," Talina said. "He is not afraid to jump in and get on the buzzer, and compete with any team, no matter their status."
He also became the team’s encourager.
"They won with grace and they lost with grace," Talina said.
"We believe their love for Scripture and their attitude made them especially good," she said.
Ryleigh had another obstacle to overcome before the trip.
Throughout the season, Talina watched her daughter battle what she described as "extreme fear." It became especially noticeable when Ryleigh sat behind the quiz board.
The Wednesday before the family left for Missouri, Ryleigh was attending church camp. She went forward during the service to be prayed for.
She later told her parents she felt the fear leave her.
"She believed God had healed her," Talina said.
The family left for nationals, believing things could be different.
They were.
Ryleigh earned the tournament’s top All-Tournament Team honor. Centre Pointe won the championship. Talina said Ryleigh also received Quizzer of the Year recognition, completing what quizzers call the "Trifecta."
The season had given Centre Pointe reason to believe it could contend.
Centre Pointe finished first in all but one Pennsylvania tournament during the season, placed third at an invitational in Newark, Delaware, and took third at the Northeast Extravaganza regional event, where the team qualified for nationals. It then won the Pennsylvania District Finals.
The coaches thought a top-10 finish at nationals was realistic. Winning the whole thing was something else.
The defending champions had far more experience. Talina said some of Michigan’s quizzers had been competing for about nine years. Centre Pointe had been doing it for three.
Michigan handed Pennsylvania its only defeat of the tournament, 140-115.
Later came another meeting. This time Pennsylvania won, 135-115. Their coaches told them to remain calm, trust God, and play with confidence. That brought them to those last three questions.
Michigan answered two. Then came No. 15. Michigan missed. Pennsylvania won.
Centre Pointe also sent an Intermediate team to nationals. Tianna Lutz and Bryce Zeek finished 17th among 73 teams, continuing a season in which the pair won the Pennsylvania District Finals and produced strong finishes at other regional events.
For Talina, the results aren’t the main reason the program matters.
She's watched the children set aside time on their own for prayer and personal devotions. She's seen shy children become more comfortable speaking in public and better students learn new ways to study. They have also learned how to handle winning and losing.
All three Junior quizzers are honors students, she said.
They also made friends with quizzers from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Maine and Ohio.
The championship will remain. So will the trophy.
For the Lutz family, the larger result began with 267 verses and hours of study.
"Quizzing isn’t just about a game or a competition for our family," Talina said. "It has become a life-changing tool for each of our children."
In Missouri, all those hours of study eventually came down to one final question.
Michigan jumped.
Michigan missed.
Three children from Pennsylvania were national champions.