Courtesy photo Tucker Smith, Sam McKnight, Zac Vosburgh, Jake Winchester, Casey Cannon and coach John Archambeau, from left, won the final round of Matchwits, beating McClave High School. Matchwits is a quiz program produced by Rocky Mountain PBS.

Spelling "fluorescent" correctly Dec. 3, Salida High School Matchwits team members beat McClave High School of Bent County, winning the southern Colorado regional championship.

It required five rounds for the Spartan 200-190 win.

"It was back and forth the entire time. They'd get a point, then we'd get a point," team member Casey Cannon said.

Team members were Cannon, captain Zac Vosburgh, Sam McKnight, Tucker Smith and Jack Winchester. Two served as alternates.

Spartans competed against Ellicott, La Junta, Pueblo East and Fountain Valley high schools to reach the final round. Cannon said the team will receive a traveling trophy and one to keep.

He didn't know when the traveling trophy would be presented.

The pressure came during sudden death against McClave, the strongest competitor, Cannon said.

Cannon said he, teammates and coach John Archambeau were discussing the tournament before meeting McClave when they believed competition wasn't as difficult as they thought it would be.

However, with McClave, it was a different story.

"Coach Archambeau said, 'We need to be careful what we wish for,'" Cannon said, smiling.

Last year the team got to the quarterfinal round where Pueblo East beat them. Team members sacrificed lunch time every Tuesday to practice, Cannon said.

Matchwits is a program produced by Rocky Mountain PBS in Pueblo. Competition consists of three rounds. In the first round, team members must answer on their own. Each question is worth 10 points, he said.

There is a five point deduction for an incomplete answer which is considered incorrect.

Second round competition is for speed. There are three categories from which to choose and team members may consult each other before answering. The captain answers questions, Cannon said.

Point values are the same as the first round. Teams have 100 seconds to answer as many questions as possible.

Opposing team members go head-to-head in the third round, Cannon said, without deductions for the final round.

Questions cover a variety of topics ranging from history to science to current events said. There are audio and video questions.

Team members have had previous experience with being quizzed in a similar fashion. They are also members the Salida High School Knowledge Bowl team, Cannon said.

He and Vosburgh were previously on a championship Knowledge Bowl team, Cannon said.

With the Dec. 3 win, Spartans want to attend the National Academic Championship during June in Washington, D.C., Cannon said.

The winning Dec. 3 match will be aired on Rocky Mountain PBS at 1 p.m. Feb. 22. The entire program schedule is available at www.rmpbs.org/matchwits.

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