Students Vie for First Carlo Cup Trophy

With inspiration from newly minted teen saint, Carlo Acutis, five high school teams in the Diocese of Baton Rouge competed in the first Catholic quiz bowl. The winner of the competition received the coveted Carlo Cup trophy.

The teams included Catholic High School (CHS), Baton Rouge, Catholic School of Pointe Coupee (CSPC), Regina Caeli Academy (RCA), St. Joseph's Academy (SJA), and St. Michael High School (SMHS).

The final rounds of the which was part of Catholic Schools Week, were held in the Main Auditorium of the Catholic Life Center. CatholicLife Television lived streamed the finals.

Scott Smith, the organizer of the tournament and Dr. David Whidden, Vice President for Mission and Professor of Theology at FranU, were impressed with how much the students knew about their Catholic faith.

"I love this kind of academic competition, but I understand not everybody gets as excited about it as I do," said Smith. "That's why I was so moved to see everybody at the tournament get so excited – and even giddy – to compete and learn about the subjects they clearly love, Catholic subjects. The students really knew their stuff, too. There is a really deep base of knowledge in our youth and a deep desire to learn more and go ‘into the deep.’ Something beautiful is awakening in our youth, and we need to keep feeding that fire."

"They knew important facts about Scripture, theology, and Church history, and they knew it quickly," said Whidden. “The intelligence and preparation of these young people gives me great hope for the future. I hope every one of them comes to FranU to study theology with us." To show the depth of the questions, Smith shared the first question:
Top right photo: Catholic of Pointe Coupee and Regina Caeli Academy face off in the first round of the Carlo Cup quiz bowl. Photos by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator
Above Photo: Bishop Michael G. Duca welcomes the students to the Carlo Cup. To his left is Scott Smith, who created the tournament.
Question: An extension of the Kerkyra-Delphi-Athens-Delos axis of ancient Greek temples, this is a Christian loxodrome, as well as a ley line. The filming location of the Ahch-To exile of Luke Skywalker – the island of Skellig Michael – as well as Mont Saint-Michel and Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo are along this. For 10 points, what is this sequence of locations marking the blow that a certain Archangel inflicted on Satan when he cast him into Hell?

 Answer: The Sword of St. Michael (also acceptable were “St. Michael’s Line”, “Sacred Line of Saint Michael”, and “St. Michael-Apollo Axis”).

"The kids pounced on it," said Smith.

Allison Riley, a senior at SJA, said her team doesn't often compete in "themed" tournaments.

"Having one that's Catholic-centered is pretty unique. We don't usually get opportunities like this, so it's kind of exciting. It's not just about characters in the Bible or things like that – it's math, science, things relating to Catholicism – really interesting," she said.

Riley learned new things about her faith through participating in the quiz bowl.

"There's been a few interesting names dropped for sure," said Riley. "There's some art pieces for sure. They mentioned a couple different versions of the Madonna that I know I'll be looking up later. They've mentioned some martyrs that are pretty interesting."

Riley was proud of the efforts of her teammates: sophomores Camille Mendler and Cecilia Rumfola , and seniors Hayley Cavalier and Annie Tanory.

"Rumfola’s pop culture knowledge, Mendler’s literature skills and Cavalier and Tanory’s joint religious trivia knowledge came in super handy throughout the afternoon, and each fell into their role well," said Riley.

Team CSPC was composed of the only middle school students in the tournament. They spoke confidently because they had successfully competed together since the fourth grade.

"I was very interested in the liturgy and history part (of the Catholic faith)," said Stella Gain, a seventh-grade CSPC student.

She added, "I also discovered I'm not the fastest at pressing the buzzer."

Gain's classmate and teammate Lucy Smith, said St. Carlo Acutis is one of her favorite saints and she "likes being competitive and playing trivia."

"My dad (Scott Smith) has been the quiz bowl coach for 27 years," said Lucy. I have an interest because of him."

Isaac Duvall, a tenth-grade student at RCA, enjoyed the testing of his knowledge about the faith.

“Participating in the Carlo Cup was a great way to apply what I've learned about the Catholic faith, and to be challengMembers of the Regina Caeli Academy team, left, and the Catholic High School team, right, pictured during the final round. Photo provided by Dina Dow | Director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Baton Rouge.ed by fellow Catholics from the diocese was pretty fun," said Duvall.

CHS and RCA met in the final round. CHS took home the trophy, having won every round that day. The members of the team are Miles Malcon, junior, John Hart, sophomore, and Anthony DiVincenti, sophomore.

The final scores were:  CHS, 1,195; RCA, 970; SJA, 930; CSPC, 640; and SMHS, 505.

Smith's mission for the coming year is not just to host the second annual Carlo Cup, but to bring Catholic quiz bowl to the national level and beyond with a National Tournament of Diocesan Champions. He created a website, Catholic Quiz Bowl organization, cqbo.org,  to undertake this mission.