Top 10 Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Teams (of the 21st century)

Go figure that, after I post my Top 5 Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Teams (of the 21st century), something happens the following quizzing year that will change it! Indeed, something monumental did happen in 2026 Bible Quizzing. Going into the Invitational finals on Sunday morning, the finals to determine the champion would be slated to be Rockville vs. Slate Hill 1. The reason this is monumental is because Rockville had already won the season championship and Slate Hill 1 had already won the AMEC Tournament championship. This means that whoever won the Invitational finals, and with it, the Invitational championship, that quiz team would automatically win a "double crown" (winning 2 of 3 championship available in a quizzing year), making that quiz team only the 7th team in Bible Quizzing history (of at least the 21st century) to do so. Turns out Rockville would become the winner of the finals, and the champion of the Invitational, earning them the honor of becoming the 7th quiz team in Bible quizzing history (of at least the 21st century) to receive the double crown. Even though Slate Hill 1 fell short at their chance of earning the double crown, they still put up an impressive feat.  In Bible Quizzing 2026, Slate Hill 1 participated in all 3 finals quizmatches possible, making them only the 6th Bible quiz team in Bible quizzing history (at least in the 21st century) to do so. Of those 6 Bible quiz teams to appear in all 3 finals within a single year, 3 of those 6 have won at least 1 championship, and 2 of those 6 have won 2 championships. Combine that 7 double crown Bible quiz teams with the 3 quiz teams that participated in all 3 finals and have secured 1 championship, a Top 10 Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Teams (of the 21st century) list emerges. Here are the top 10 Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Teams (of the 21st century). In my previous post on the top 5, I counted down to leave suspense on which Bible quiz team could be first, especially with technical ties for 1st and 3rd. For this post on the Top 10, I will "count up," for [SPOILER ALERT!] nothing happened this year to affect the top 2, so the top 2 will remain the same. Speaking on the prior post on top 5, for the Bible quiz teams already discussed there, I will merely copy and paste my conversation about them from there to here, for nothing really changed concerning their performance. If something did change, which requires edits, however, those revision will appear italicized, like this sentence. Text italicized in the prior post is now underlined, like this sentence.

1) 2014 Bowmansville 2

Despite the impressive feats both Rockville and Slate Hill 1 displayed in 2026 Bible Quizzing, the Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century) is still 2014 Bowmansville 2. Let me introduce you to the quizzers on the 2014 Bowmansville quiz team, and then let me tell you how well Bowmansville 2 performed in 2014.

Coached by legendary coaches Aubrey Haller and Donna Horst, Bowmansville 2 had 5 quizzers. Their top quizzer, Ethan Yoder, finished 22th place in the individual standings, with a score 575 points, averaging 30 points per quizmatch. The crazy thing about that stat is that would make Ethan Yoder the lowest top quizzer of all 10 teams on this list! Their 2nd best quizzer, Derick Weaver, finished in 36th place with a score of 525 points, averaging 28 points per quizmatch. Not far behind was Brett Haller, scoring 520 points, averaging 26 points per quizmatch, placing him in 39th, making him the 3rd best quizzer on the Bowmansville 2 quiz team. Bowmansville 2 follows the pattern that the best quiz teams have their best 3 quizzers finished in the top 40 of the individual standings. Ranking 4th on the quiz team, Erin Shirk 91st place in the individual standings with a score of 310 points, averaging 16 points per quizmatch. That makes this 2014 Bowmansville 2 quiz team only 1 of 5 teams on this top 10 list to have their starting 4 quizzers all fall in the top 100 of the individual standings. Last but not least Devin Weaver landed in 199th place with his 80 points, averaging 4 points per quizmatch. Devin may have only gotten 8 questions right all season, but it kind of makes sense considering he was most likely the regular substitute. 80 points is not bad for somebody sitting on the bench, waiting for someone to quiz out, so he or she can enter the quizmatch. While not as low (barely) as Lucas Ritzman on the 2016 Calvary Monument 2 quiz team, Devin just goes to prove that not everybody on a top quiz team needs to be a top scorer, yet that quizzer can score just enough to give the quiz team the edge, as will become evident later. Once again, we got to talk legacy. In his 5 years in Bible quizzing, Ethan is a 4-time top 100 quizzer, 3 of which are in the top 25. Furthermore, his quiz team has participated in 3 season playoff finals (with a 2-1 record in them), 2 ACC Tournament finals (with a 0-2 record), and 3 Invitational finals (1-2 in them). In his 7 years of quizzing, Derick Weaver is a 6-time top 60 Bible quizzer, with 2 of them in the top 15 (I'm not going to comment on his teams' performances, for that will spoil this top 10 list). As a quizzer for 6 years, Brett Haller finished on the Top 50 Bible Quizzers List 5 of those years, with 3 of those years in the top 15. As a quizzer, he was a season champion for 2 consecutive years (3 consecutive years if counting a year as a coach!) and an Invitational champion, as well as an ACC Tournament runner-up. Erin Shirk, in her 8 years of Bible quizzing, is a 3-time Top 60 Bible quizzer. Devin Weaver, in 4 years of Bible quizzing, only finished once in the top 100, in 2013, at 79th (his teams' performance will also wait in order to prevent spoilers for the rest of this top 10 list). This legacy may not look as impressive as previously mentioned quiz teams, but it does prove one mantra true: "It's not the team with the best players that wins championships; it's the players with the best team." Surely, Bowmansville 2 did not need all-star quizzers to put together an all-star team.

Just adding the raw score of the individual standings, the 2014 Bowmansville 2 quiz team scored a total of 2,010 points. Add in 13 team bonuses and then some extra points for extra questions, 2024 Bowmansville 2 scored a grand total of 2,275 points, averaging 120 points per quizmatch, which roughly equates to having team bonus, 2 quizouts and 1 extra question correct every quizmatch. This grand total score landed the Bowmansville 2 quiz team not only 1st place in League A but also 1st place of all the ACC Bible Quizzing quiz teams that year by a matter of 90 points (see, it would have been a whole lot closer without Devin's 80 points!). The 2014 Bowmansville 2 quiz team is only double crown winner on this top 10 list to finish the regular season in 1st place in both their league all of ACC/AMEC (There is 1 other quiz team on this top 10 list that will finish 1st place in both their league and the entire conference, but that quiz team did not win a double crown). A win versus Gehman 3, who finished 2nd place in League B, in the season playoff semifinals would advance Bowmansville 2 to the season playoff finals vs. Petra 1. The season playoff finals between Petra 1 and Bowmansville 2 always remained close, but Bowmansville 2 would inch out to become the winner with a score of 85 to 80, earning their first championship of the year.

If anything would dim Bowmansville 2's 2024, a lowlight would be the 2014 ACC Tournament. Bowmansville 2 finished 1st place in Group B, clinching a bye in the ACC Tournament playoffs. They won their 1st playoff quizmatch versus Calvary Monument 2. They won their quarterfinals playoff quizmatch versus Weaverland 2, albeit a close win (the entire quizmatch was always close). In the ACC Tournament semifinals, Bowmansville 2 would find themselves face-to-face with Petra 1, a rematch of the season finals. Both quiz teams came with their A game, as both teams got team bonus. In this quizmatch, however, Bowmansville 2 had a more definitive win, with a score of 110 to 80, proving that season finals victory was no fluke. The ACC Tournament finals would come down to Bowmansville 2 vs. Calvary Monument 1. Bowmansville 2 took an early 20 point lead, but 20 points would be their biggest lead of the whole quizmatch. After a close quizmatch, Bowmansville 2 would lose to Calvary Monument 1, 65 to 75, by a matter of 10 points. Between Bowmansville 2's early lead and Calvary Monument 1's close win, it felt like Bowmansville 2 could have taken the win, but simply did not, which could even by chalked up to luck of the draw, from luck of the draw with the questions to luck of the draw with the buzzes. While Bowmansville 2 did have some close wins (plus 1 close loss), they did their ACC Tournament the way a local tournament should be done. They secured 1st place in their group to clinch the bye, and then they marched down the playoff bracket to the final quizmatch. They just couldn't follow through with the win.

2014 Bowmansville 2 might just have the craziest Invitational performance on this list. On Saturday morning at 9:40 a.m., Bowmansville 2 has their first quizmatch of the Invitational, and they lose their first quizmatch to Petra 3, who finished the season 15th in League A with 1,345 points, averaging 71 points per quizmatch (if it makes Bowmansville 2 feel any better, Petra 3 would eventually finished 7th place in the tournament)! Perhaps it was a stroke of genius to lose the first quizmatch in order to ensure easier opponents for the rest of the morning. Maybe Bowmansville 2 was just too tired from quizzing so early in the morning.  Either way, Bowmansville 2 would have to spend the rest of the tournament in the 2nd chance bracket, the bracket for quiz teams with 1 loss. The good news is that Bowmansville 2 got the loss out of the way quickly. Bowmansville 2 would march down the 2nd chance bracket, winning every quizmatch, including the 2nd chance bracket finals, making them the "winners" or "champions" of the 2nd chance bracket. They never had to see the 3rd chance bracket with all the quiz teams who lost 2 quizmatches. Instead, they advanced to the Invitational tournament quarterfinals. Winning the 2nd chance bracket would pit them versus Orrville, the "winners" or "champions" of the winners bracket, meaning Orrville had not lost a quizmatch to this point. In the Invitational quarterfinals, Bowmansville 2 would deliver Orrville their first 2 losses (it was just the way the triple-elimination tournament was set up) in a row, thus advancing them to the tournament's finals (again, just the way the tournament was set up). Bowmansville 2 would not have to face Orrville again, as Petra 1 would give Orrville their 3rd loss in the Invitational semifinals, thus eliminating them from the tournament. Rather, Bowmansville 2 would have face off with Petra 1 again again, just like did they for the season finals and the ACC Tournament semifinals. In this Invitational finals quizmatch, it was third time the charm for Bowmansville 2 and 3 strikes and you're out for Petra 1. Bowmansville 2 won, Petra 1 lost, giving them their 3rd loss of the tournament, thus eliminating Petra 1 from the tournament, thus crowning Bowmansville 2 the Invitational champions. After losing their first quizmatch of the tournament, knocking them out of the winners bracket and into the 2nd chance bracket, Bowmansville 2 won 13 matches in a row, including 2 consecutive matches versus Orrville, to become the champions of the tournament. Indeed, we have seen better Invitational tournament performances. Of course, 2022 Strasburg 1 won their Invitational undefeated. Even 2017 Calvary Monument did not lose their 1 and only loss until the finals versus the eventual 2nd place. Heck, even teams that did not win the tournament, like 2016 Calvary Monument 2 and 2025 Slate Hill 1, did not get their first loss until Saturday evening, and they were not eliminated from the tournament until Sunday morning. Still, 1 loss is just 1 loss, no matter where it happens in the tournament. When all is said and done, Bowmansville 2 won the Invitational tournament.

If not evident already, for all these reasons, the 2014 Bowmansville 2 quiz team is the Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century). 2014 Bowmansville 2 earned the double crown of both the ACC season champions and the Invitational tournament champions. While Bowmansville 2 could not secure the ACC Tournament championship, they at least made it to finals, they kept it close, they only lost by 10 points, and still came home with a 2nd place trophy. Whereas 2016 Calvary Monument 2 performed similarly with 1st place in both the season and the ACC Tournament and 2nd place in the  Invitational, Bowmansville 2 deserves the tiebreaker because the Invitational holds more weight than the ACC Tournament. If the quiz team's performance does not hold enough proof, the individual quizzers' performance provides even more evidence on why 2014 Bowmansville 2 is the Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century). Like all the other quizzers of the quiz teams that won the double crown, the team's top 3 quizzers all landed on the top 40 Bible quizzers in the individual standings. Their 4 best quizzer still managed to squeeze out a spot on the top 100 Bible quizzers in the individual standings. Also, their quizzers have the best legacy on this list, proving this spectacular year wasn't a fluke. Speaking of legacy, let me add one last reason why the 2014 Bowmansville 2 quiz team is the Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century). Give or take, Bowmansville virtually almost did it again in 2015. In 2015, Bowmansville 2 wins the season championship for a 2nd consecutive year, and then they go on to finish in 2nd place in both the ACC Tournament and the Invitational tournament. While not as impressive as 2014, if you think about it, that means that Bowmansville 2 quizzed in 6 consecutive championship quizmatches. The only reason I say "give or take" and "virtually" is because (and I imagine you're wondering) it's not the exact same quiz team. The 2 Bowmansville 2 quiz teams share 3 quizzers: Derick Weaver, Ethan Yoder and Devin Weaver. Brett Haller is forced to retire due to aging out of quizzing. He returns as as an assistant coach. He is replaced by his sister Lauren Haller, who the previous year was the top quizzer for Bowmansville 3, which makes sense (it also helps to be the coach's daughter). Erin Shirk ends up on Bowmansville 1 instead of Bowmansville 2 for reasons unknown. In her place the spot is filled by Savanna Brubaker, who only got 3 questions right the previous season. This decision to replace Erin with Savanna befuddles me. A majority of the quiz team returns, so I say this is close enough to be considered the same quiz team. True, 2 members of the 2016 Calvary Monument quiz team end up on the 2017 Calvary Monument team, but they are the bottom 2 of both teams, whereas the 2 Bowmansville 2 teams have 3 quizzers return, 2 of which are the their top 2 quizzers on both teams (ironically, in different order). Therefore, again, Bowmansville has the tiebreaker over Calvary Monument. Indeed, the 2014 Bowmansville 2 quiz team is the Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century), a spot they have held uncontested for 12 years.

2) 2016 Calvary Monument 2

An argument could be made that there's a tie for the Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century), for both teams will come 1 quizmatch away from the triple crown. Therefore, I had to create a tiebreaker to justify which quiz team is deserves 2nd and which quiz team earned 1st. I did so by looking at 3 factors. First, I examined how each quizzer did in the individual standings. Next, I looked at how the quiz team did in the season. Then, I observed how the team did in the tournaments. Finally, I could conclude why I placed one quiz team over/under another.

Coached by legendary coaches Darrel and Ladina Rishel, the 2016 Calvary Monument 2 quiz team had 5 quizzers. Their top quizzer this year was Ashley Rickards, who finished 11th place with 565 points, averaging 33 points per quizmatch. Their 2nd best quizzer was not too far behind. Jacqueline Ritzman finished in 17th place with 530 points, averaging 31 points per quizmatch. Their 3rd best quizzer was David Rishel, who finished 40th place, scoring 445 points, averaging 26 points per quizmatch. Calvary Monument 2 follows the pattern of having 3 quizzers in the top 40. Their 4th best quizzer was Jake Wise, who scored 205 points, averaging 12 points per quizmatch, placing 131st. Last is Lucas Ritzman, who placed 207th with a score of 70 points, averaging 4 points per quizmatch. Since it's highly unlikely that Lucas quizzed out twice and did nothing for the rest of the season, it's more likely that Lucas got just 7 questions correct all season. His placing, his total score and his average score are the 3rd lowest of all the quizzers on this list, yet he belongs and contributed to the 2nd Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Teams (of the 21st century). Again, we have to talk about the legacy of these quizzers. Ashley Rickards is a 5-time top 60 Bible quizzer and a 4-time Top 40 Bible quizzer. With her team, she's been to the season playoff finals twice (1 win & 1 loss), a 1-time local tournament champion, a 3-time local tournament semifinalist, and her team has been 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Invitational. In her 4 years of quizzing, Jaqueline Ritzman finished all 4 years as 1 of the top 75 Bible Quizzers, 3 of which fell in the top 20. Her 4 teams have been 1-time season champions, 1-time local tournament champions, 2-time local tournament semifinalist (yes, 3/4 of her quizzing career had her team make it to at least the local tournament semifinals), and she has quizzed half her career in the Invitational finals (one championship, one runner-up). In his 6-year quizzing career, David Rishel finished among the top 40 Bible quizzers all 6 times, 2 of which was perfect! Ironically, this 2016 season's 40th place is the lowest he ever finished. For what the team did in 2016, I think it's a fair trade off. Sparking of team, David's teams are 1-time season champions, 2-time local tournament champions, 3-time local tournament semifinalist (yes in 5/6 of David's quizzing years, he has quizzed in at least a semifinal quizmatch in the local tournament), and in the Invitational, his team has finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. While Jake Wise has never finished higher than 75th in the individual standings, his teams at 2-time season champions, 1-time local tournament champions, 1-time local tournament semifinalist, 2-time Invitational champions and 1-time Invitational runner up. Lucas Ritzmas has never even broken the top 100 in the individual standings, but being on the same teams as Jake Wise, he too is a 2-time season champion, 1-time local tournament champion, 1-time local tournament semifinalist, 2-time Invitational champion and 1-time Invitational runner up. Truly Jake and Lucas are riding on the coattails of some powerful people here. Still, somehow it works. Ashley, Jacqueline and David do the heavy lifting, Jake and Lucas bring up the rear, and together it forms a strategy to win championships.

Going off raw score alone, the 2016 Calvary Monument 2 quiz team scored a total of 1,815 points. Add 10 team bonuses and then some extra points scored by quizzed out quizzers, 2016 Calvary Monument 2 scored a grand total of  2,030 points, averaging 119 points per quizmatch in this 17-quizmatch season. Again, that's about average for these best quiz teams (of the 21st century). Those 2,030 total points clinched the Calvary Monument 2 quiz team the number 1 seed in League A, qualifying them for the season playoffs. In their semifinal playoff quizmatch, Calvary Monument 2 would score 90 points, and Blainsport would score 65 points, making Calvary Monument 2 the quiz team to advance to the season finals. In the season final playoff quizmatch, Calvary Monument 2 would face off with Calvary Monument 1. Yes, this is the 2nd time of 4 years (at least in the 21st century) the season final came down to 2 quiz teams from the same church. After 13 questions, Calvary Monument 2 took a sizeable lead on Calvary Monument 1. In a desperate attempt, Calvary Monument 1 pulled every quizzer except Emily Pearl, leaving her sitting up on stage by herself, a very common Calvary Monument strategy. This time, the strategy did not pay off with the win. Instead, Calvary Monument 2 won, 90 to 55, thus becoming the season champions.

The 2016 Calvary Monument 2 quiz team would earn their 2nd championship at the 2016 ACC Tournament. Earning this championship, however, did not go as smoothly as how the quiz teams mentioned before won their local tournament. Ever since the local tournament playoff tree expanded to 24 quiz teams, only 1 tournament had a 3 seed win the championship, and only 3 tournaments had a 2 seed win the championship. 2016 Calvary Monument 2 is one of those 2 seed quiz teams to win the championship. Despite clinching a seed in Group H by finishing as 1 of the top 4 teams in League A during the season, the Calvary Monument 2 did not clinch 1st place in Group H. That honor of 1st place in Group H went to E-Town 2,  who during the season finished 14th in League B with a total of 1,165 points, averaging 69 points per quizmatch! This proves that the local tournament easily becoming a tournament in which anything goes and anyone can win. Despite the rocky start, Calvary Monument 2 marched down the playoff bracket, with wins versus Zion (No. 3 in Group C), Hinkletown 1 (No. 1 in Group A) and Bowmansville 3 (No. 2 in Group D). The challenge ramped up in the semifinals when Calvary Monument 2 came face-to-face with Calvary Monument 1. Yes, 1 of the tournament's semifinal matches was a rematch of the season final. This quizmatch must have felt tougher to Calvary Monument 2, as the score was always close, even up to the end. Calvary Monument 2 would end up on top, winning by a mere 5 points, 75 to 70. In theory, the challenge should have stayed ramped up with the tournament's final versus Blainsport, a rematch of 1 of the season playoff semifinal matches. In reality, Blainsport did not hold up during the ACC Tournament final as well as the ACC season playoff semifinal. Calvary Monument 2 blew Blainsport out of the water with a final score of 125 to 50. 2016 Calvary Monument 2 would become the first team to win both the season championship and the local tournament championship since 2003, when Petra 1 did the same thing, and no quiz team would do it again until 2025, when Slate Hill 1 did the same thing.

The 2016 Invitational tournament hosted by Wayne County in Kidron, OH did not go smoothly for the 2016 Calvary Monument quiz team either. 2016 Calvary Monument 2 did have a smooth Saturday morning, winning their first quizmatches. The first Saturday afternoon quizmatch went well, too, with a win versus Rockville 1. In their second Sunday afternoon quizmatch, the semifinals of the winners bracket, the Calvary Monument 2 suffered a devastating loss in a quizmatch versus Blainsport. Yes, a rematch of 2016 ACC season playoff semifinals and the 2016 ACC Tournament finals took place in the winners side of the Invitiational triple-elimination bracket in the semifinals. Well, the third time was the charm for Blainsport, as Blainsport finally learned how to overcome Calvary Mounment 2, knocking Calvary Monument 2 into the 2nd chance bracket of the triple-elimination tournament. Calvary Monument 2 would bounce back with 2 more wins versus Sonnenberg from Wayne County and Bowmansville 1. By doing so, Calvary Monument 2 would find themselves face-to-face with Calvary Monument 1. Yes, the Invitational 2nd chance bracket finals was a rematch of the ACC season finals and the ACC Tournament semifinals. Well, 3rd time was the charm for Calvary Monument 1, too. Don't get me wrong; it was a good show of good quizzing. Between the two teams, there were only 3 errors the whole match, and none of the bonuses were missed. This match was close at well, but Calvary Monument 1 would win against Calvary Monument  2, 95 to 70. Calvary Monument 2 would end their evening with the same way they began their afternoon - a win versus Rockville 1. On Sunday morning, the Invitational semifinals would take place between Calvary Monument 2 and Blainsport. Yes, for the 4th time this quizzing year, Calvary Monument would come face-to-face with Blainsport. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as "4th time is the charm." Calvary Monument 2 would get their revenge versus Blainsport, winning a close quizmatch, with a final score of 80 to 60. When all was said and done, the final 2 teams in the 2016 Invitational tournament would be Calvary Monument 1 and Calvary Monument 2. Yes, the 2016 Invitational finals would be a repeat of the 2016 ACC season finals and the 2016 ACC Tournament semifinals. Actually, it wasn't quite that simple. See, entering Sunday morning, Calvary Monument 1 had only 1 loss. In a triple-elimination tournament, Calvary Monument 1 would have to lose twice more to be eliminated from the tournament, meaning Calvary Monument 2 would have to win over Calvary Monument 1 twice in a row to become champions. That was asking too much from Calvary Monument 2, who struggled Saturday. Calvary Monument 2 did put up a fight. They won the first finals quizmatch, 100 to 30, a decisive win. Now with both quiz teams only having 2 losses in a triple-elimination tournament, Calvary Monument 1 and Calvary Monument 2 would face off for the 3rd time this tournament and the 5th time this year (not counting the probable multiple times these teams faced off in practice). On that 2nd Invitational finals match, that 3rd Invitational head-to-head, Calvary Monument 1 pulled an early lead and held onto it for most of the match. Calvary Monument did attempt a comeback, but as the match came near the end, Calvary Monument 1 still trailed by a chunk of points. Near the end, Ladina Rishel pulled every quizzer exept David, with the hope David could quiz out and force the match to go into overtime. His sister, Emily Pearl, sitting across from him, had other plans. David would never get that quiz out, the quizmatch would never go into overtime, and instead, Calvary Monument 1 would come out the victor and the champion of the Invitational tournament. When it comes to Calvary Monument 1 vs. Calvary Monument 2 face off, in the Invitational, Calvary Monument 1 won the series, 2 quizmatches to 1 quizmatch, thus Calvary Monument 1 deserved the Invitational championship. when it comes to Calvary Monument 1 vs. Calvary Monument 2 head-to-head for the year, however, Calvary Monument 2 won the series, 3 quizmatches to 2 quizmatch, thus deserving the title of the better team this year. I will give credit, kudos and props all around to coaches Darrel and Ladina Rishel for their integrity and sportsmanship. If I recall correctly, the 2 teams prayed together before the finals. If I was in the position of the Rishels, before the prayer huddle broke, I would have said to Calvary Monument 1, "Listen, Calvary Monument 2 is on the verge of history. They are just 1 win away from securing the 1 and only triple crown in ACC Bible Quizzing history (of at least the 21st century). Back down and let them win. I know you want this championship badly after coming short twice, but 2nd place in the Invitational is still pretty impressive, and it's very impressive next to 2nd place in the season and 3rd place in the ACC Tournament. Let Calvary Monument 2 have this." Perhaps their integrity and sportsmanship is why the Lord has blessed them with legendary coach status and not me.

The 2016 Calvary Monument 2 quiz team got to quiz in all 3 final quizmatches: the season final, the local tournament final and the Invitational final. Furthermore, they won 2 of those 3 finals, winning the championship for 2 of the 3: the season and the ACC Tournament. Making 3 finals and winning 2 of them is the primary reason Calvary Monument 2 is the 2nd Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century). They just fell short by not securing the Invitational Tournament. That's probably the primary reason they didn't make number 1 on this list. The number 1 quiz team took both the season championship and the Invitational championship. Invitational championship hold more weight than local tournament championship because the local tournament has a "anything goes and anybody can win" attitude, whereas the Invitational tournament comes down to the top teams. Other quiz teams on this list have won the Invitational championship. Even the other teams who haven't performed in the tournament did just as well as 2016 Calvary Monument 2, despite the lower placing. It just looks different because of the different formats of the tournament. While falling just short of the Invitational championship is disappointing enough, their whole Invitational performance was disappointing overall. Another reason for giving their ACC Tournament less weight is their sloppy performance in that tournament. Despite being seeded in the round robin, they could not secure seeding in the playoffs, and the just barely won their semifinal quizmatch. Other teams on this list will win their respective local tournament never losing a quizmatch. That's more of the performance I would expect from the 2nd best quiz team (of the 21st century). If I had to give a secondary reason for denying 2016 Calvary Monument 2 the number 1 spot on this list, it would be the individual quizzers and their legacy. Don't get me wrong; it's not bad. In fact, if I had to give a secondary reason for making 2016 Calvary Monument 2 the 2nd Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century), it would be the individual quizzers and their legacy. Furthermore, just like with 2022 Strasburg 1, Calvary Monument Bible Church had such a strong pool of quizzers in 2016 that any combination of quizzers from Calvary Monument 1 and 2 could have resulted in 2 championships and 1 runner-up. Still, 2016 Calvary Monument 2 does come short of their full potential. 2016 Calvary Monument 2 has a 2-time prefect quizzer on their quiz team. Not only does he not finish the year perfect, he is neither the best quizzer on the quiz team, nor is he the 2nd best quizzer on the quiz team! He's their 3rd best quizzer, barely making the top 40 of the individual standings. 2 of 2016 Calvary Monument 2's quizzers will go on to be part of the 2017 Calvary Monument 1 team, another very strong and very successful quiz team, but in 2016, they brought up the rear of this quiz team, and in 2017, they will bring up the rear of that quiz team. The number 1 team has quizzers with a better legacy, including being the best quizzers of their quiz team and their church. In a way, 2016 Calvary Monument 2 is tied for the Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century), but all the tiebreakers drop them down to 2nd best, leaving the number 1 spot for Bowmansville 2.

3) 2022 Strasburg 1

Technically, there is a 3-way tie for the 3rd Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century), for all 3 quiz teams will win 2 championships and a 3rd place. When all is said and done, however, the 2022 Strasburg 1 Bible quiz team breaks all possible tiebreakers and stands out as the greatest of the 3 teams tied for 3rd place. In order to understand why breaks all tiebreakers and stands alone as the 3rd best, I will summarize the composition of the Strasburg 1 quiz team, their season performance, their AMEC Tournament performance, their Invitational performance, and then I will conclude with why they won the 3-way tiebreaker.

Coached by legendary coach (and legendary quizzer, too!) Luke Rohrer, Strasburg 1 had 5 quizzers. Their top quizzer, Wesley Leaman, finished perfect, quizzing out every quizmatch, for a grand total of 735 points. Their second best quizzer, Zoe Landis, finished in 26th place, scoring 625 points, averaging 30 points per quizmatch. Their 3rd best quizzer, Ashley Ranck, finished in 37th place, scoring 590 points, averaging 28 points per quizmatch. Yes, Strasburg 1 had 3 quizzers in the top 40 of in the individual standings. Their 4th best quizzer, Owen Hostetter, finished 140th with 190 points. Their 5th best quizzer, Maddie Landis, finished 158th place with 130 points. While it may look cooler that 2025 Slate Hill 1 had all 4 of its quizzers in the top 100,  this feat can be explained away by the fact that Strasburg 1 had 5 quizzers, as opposed to Slate Hill 1, which had 4 quizzers. Based off of looking at the numbers alone, I imagine Owen and Maddie had to alternate between starting and subbing, which cut them off from having the chance at all 15 questions, which limited which questions they could buzz in and answer, which in turn limited how many points they could score. Still, from the look of things, they both look like solid 4th seat quizzers for team bonus, making team bonus more likely. May I also add that this is just looking at 2022. Look at the legacy of these quizzers! In his 8 years of quizzing, Wesley Leaman is 7-time Top 50 Quizzer, 2 of which were perfect seasons. On top of that, Wesley has contributed to 3 season championships, a 3rd place in the AMEC Tournament, and an Invitational championship. In her 7 years of quizzing, Zoe Landis is 7-time top 100 quizzer and 6-time top 50 quizzer, with her highest finish in 13th place. In her 8 years of quizzing, Ashley Ranck finished in the top 100 all 8 years, in the top 50 7 of 8 years, in the top 10 3 of 7 years, and she even finished in 5th place twice. On top of that, her team has earned season championship twice, 3rd place in the local tournament twice, and an Invitational championship. Maddie Landis is a 4-time top 100 quizzer and a 2-time top 50 quizzer, with her highest in 37th place, and furthermore, she has contributed to 2 seasons championships, an AMEC Tournament 3rd place, and an Invitational tournament championship. Talk about quizzers with legacy!

If doing the math, Strasburg 1 scored 2,270 points on just answering questions and quizzing out. Add in 13 team bonuses (that's roughly 3/5 of their quizmatches!), in the 21-quizmatch quizzing season, Strasburg 1 scored a grand total of 2,530 points, averaging 120 points per quizmatch. Interesting enough, Slate Hill this same year had the same exact grand total of 2,530 points! As a result, a quick 9-question quizmatch had to take place to break the tie between Slate Hill and Strasburg 1. Slate Hill would take an early lead, and Strasburg 1 would do a good job catching up, but Slate Hill would win over Strasburg 1 with a score of 55-40. While the loss may seem like a negative, it may have helped Strasburg 1, or even Strasburg Mennonite Church in general, in the long run. In the season playoff semifinals, Strasburg 1 would win over Calvary Monument 1, advancing them to the season playoff finals, in which they would quiz Strasburg 2. Yes, this is the 4th times of 4 years (at least in the 21st century) that the season finals took place between 2 quiz teams within the same church. (This may be a conspiracy theory, but I think maybe Strasburg 1 let Slate Hill win, so Strasburg 1 could avoid quizzing Strasburg 2 in the semifinals, in the hopes of quizzing them in the finals.) Strasburg 2 would have a strong start with their best quizzer Ashton Landis quizzing out early, but Strasburg 1 would take the lead and eventually the victory. Strasburg 1 would win the final match over Strasburg 2, with the score 90-70. Strasburg 1 will not stand solo as the only quiz team on this list to have to face their a quiz team from within their church during the finals, so having to face a quiz team from within the church to win the championship may become the mark of a top quiz team of all-time. Strasburg 1 may not have had the strongest start to the season, at least in terms of a top team. After their first week, they were only 4th in their league with a 98 point average (the book of Job was hard). The second week of the season and thereafter they were always in 1st or 2nd place in their league, and from the 4th week on, they always maintained a point average of 119 - 120 points per quizmatch.

The low point of Strasburg 1's year would come at the 2022 AMEC Tournament, but not by much. Strasburg 1 started off the AMEC Tournament strong. They went an undefeated 5-0 in Group E, clinching the number 1 seed that comes with a bye. Their first AMEC Tournament playoff quizmatch had them pitted versus a very formidable opponent - Strasburg 2! Yes, the same Strasburg 2 that finished 2nd place in the season. Apparently, Strasburg 2 did not have a strong round robin in the afternoon. They went 2-3, but they somehow they had the tiebreaker in their 3-way tie with Good Shepherd 2 and Calvary Monument 2, putting them in 3rd place in Group G, sneaking into the AMEC Tournament playoffs. Strasburg 2 managed to pull out a win versus Petra 6, but now they found themselves pitted against their own church and season champions Strasburg 1. This quizmatch I would describe this quizmatch as "playfully feisty," as this quizmatch also included a contest and rebuttal over something petty. The quizmaster even had to remind the team quizzing that, while a friendly rivalry from within a church, it was still a tournament playoff match, and such manners need to be shown. The results would be the same as the season final, as Strasburg 1 came out the winner, moving on in the tournament playoffs. Strasburg 1 would advance once more with a win over Waterway 1 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Strasburg would quiz with Calvary Monument 1. Yes, the same Calvary Monument 1 they quizzed with in the season semifinals. Calvary Monument 1 seemed to have learn their lesson from Strasburg 1 in the season semifinals. This time, Calvary Monument 1 would get the victory over Strasburg 1, winning 85-65. Strasburg 1 finished the 2022 AMEC Tournament as a 3rd place semifinalist alongside Rockville. This is the only time in the year that Strasburg 1 would not make it to the finals.

If a 3rd place in AMEC Tournament somehow put a damper on 2022 Strasburg 1's year, then Strasburg 1 would get back into the swing of things with the 2022 Invitational Tournament, hosted by AMEC at Lancaster Bible College. In the round robin, Strasburg 1 finished number 1 in Group G with an undefeated 7-0 record, qualifying them for the Joshua bracket, the name for championship playoffs. From the spot on the playoff bracket, Strasburg 1 kept winning, marching up the playoff bracket. This winning streak led them all the way up to the Sunday mornings, when the would quiz...Strasburg 2. Yes, for the 3rd time this year, Strasburg 1 and Strasburg 2 would find themselves in a playoff quizmatch together, and the 2nd time in a finals quizmatch. Apparently Strasburg 1 wasn't the only Strasburg team that cleaned up their quizzing since the AMEC Tournament! Even with both quiz teams improving from the AMEC tournament, the results of the head-to-head quizmatch still remained the same. For the 3rd time in 2022, Strasburg 1 would become the winner over Strasburg 2. Thus, Strasburg 1 become the champion of the 2022 Invitational Tournament. In their championship run, Strasburg 1 quizzed 13 quizmatches, and they never lost a single one. Strasburg 1 is the only Invitational champions in this list to win the Invitational tournament undefeated.

The 2022 Strasburg 1 quiz team has its pros and cons why it belongs in 3rd place. The pros not only defend the tiebreaker over the 2025 Slate Hill 1 quiz team and the 2026 Rockville quiz team, they also justify the 3rd place among all the top 10 greatest quiz teams. Strasburg 1 had 3 Top 40 Bible Quizzers, including 1 perfect one. What amplifies this fact is that Strasburg Mennonite Church had so many good quizzers that they could form 2 teams that could make both the season final and the Invitational final. Seriously, Strasburg Mennonite Church could have arranged and rearranged the quizzers of Strasburg 1 and Strasburg 2 into any 2 team formations, and both teams would have still seen the season finals and the Invitational finals. Not only are all these Strasburg 1 quizzers home grown, they all have a legacy, in both the team standings and the individual standings, and both before and after the 2022 quizzing year. The biggest tiebreaker over 2025 Slate Hill, however, would be Strasburg 1's Invitational championship trumps Slate Hill's AMEC Tournament championship. The AMEC Tournament can easily become an "anything goes, anyone can win" tournament. The Invitational tournament, however, requires a quiz team to be one of the top teams in the conferences, so much so that team better be a top team or deal with the consequences. For that reason, Invitational Tournament always carriers more weight than the AMEC Tournament, so the Invitational Tournament championship has more weight than the AMEC Tournament championship. Now determining the tiebreaker between 2022 Strasburg 1 and 2026 Rockville proved a little bit more challenging. For the season, both Bible quiz teams won the championship. In the AMEC Tournament, both quiz teams perfectly clinched the number 1 seed by going undefeated in their round robin group, but both lost in the semifinals, finishing 3rd place. Regarding the Invitational, both teams took home the championship. When all is said and done, however, 2022 Strasburg 1 performed a couple more feats that makes them look more impressive. The 2022 Strasburg 1 Bible quiz team's quizzers individually performed better than the 2026 Rockville Bible quiz team quizzers. If doing a side-by-side comparison of best vs. best, 2nd best vs. 2nd best, 3rd best, vs. 3rd best, etc., the 2022 Strasburg 1 Bible quiz team always has the better performing quizzer. Also, the 2022 Strasburg 1 quiz team went undefeated in the 13 quizmatches they quizzed to win the championship. In comparison, the 2026 Rockville quiz team quizzed only 10 quizmatches, and they lost 1 of those quizmatches. Granted, they lost to Strasburg 2, who finished 5th place in their league and 10th overall, with 2,015 total points and a 92 point average, a very formidable foe. An argument could also be made that the 2022 Strasburg 1 quiz team had an easier Invitational than the 2026 Rockville quiz teams, just based on the format of the Invitational Tournament. Still, a win is a win and a loss is a loss, no matter the strength of the opponent. 2022 Strasburg 1 quizzed more quizmatches and had a better win percentage. Therefore, 2022 Strasburg 1 performed better in the Invitational than 2026 Rockville. Between the stronger individual quizzer performance and the stronger Invitational performance, 2022 Strasburg 1 stands in front of 2026 Rockville as the greater team. As a lesser tiebreaker, Strasburg 1 has a better legacy, with quizzers on the quiz teams who had multiple Top 50 Bible Quizzers List appearances, as well as team trophies earned. With that being said, Strasburg 1 suffered from several drawbacks that would prevent them from climbing any higher on this list. Whereas so many quiz teams on this list will have all its quizzers in the top 100, Strasburg 1 has 2 quizzers outside the top 100, and together, they could not score as much as 1 quizzer. To make matters worse, Strasburgs 1's 4th and 5th best quizzer scored a combined 320 points, 100 under what other teams'  4th best quizzer can do. Combine those 2 facts, and it looks like Strasburg 1 had 3 above average quizzers and 2 average quizzers. Many of the other quiz teams on this list will manage to land 4 quizzers in the top 100, if not more, making them all above average quizzers. With all this in mind, Strasburg 1 deserves 3rd on this list, especially considering they broke the tiebreaker, but they do not have enough proof or evidence to advance them further up the list. (Surprise! Nothing happened in 2026 to affect the top 3, so the top 3 will stay the same. And I kept that surprise spoiler free, too!)

4) 2026 Rockville

Technically tied for 3rd place, and even considering tiebreakers, they come in a close 4th place, The 4th Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century) belongs to the 2026 Rockville Bible quiz team. In order to understand why the 2026 Rockville quiz team is technically tied for 3rd, but tiebreakers knock them back to a close 4th, I will first describe the quizzers who comprised this quiz team, I will second detail how they performed together in the season, I will third inform of their tournament performance, and last, I will conclude with why the tiebreakers put them in 4th.

The 2026 Rockville Bible quiz team comprised of 6 quizzers, an oddity for this top 10 list, for most top 10 quiz teams have either 4 quizzers or 5 quizzers. The 2026 Rockville Bible quiz team's best quizzer was Naomi Beiler, who finished 7th place in the individual standings with a total of 730 points, averaging 33 points per quizmatch. She came up just 2 quiz outs short of perfection, scoring 10 in the one quizmatch and 20 in the other quizmatch. The 2026 Rockville quiz team's 2nd best quizzer was Naomi's sister, Hannah Beiler, who finished in 27th place with a total of 620 points, averaging 28 points per quizmatch. 2026 Rockville's 3rd best quizzer was Meghan Beiler, who finished in 48th place by scoring 510 points, or a 23 point average. While impressive that 2026 Rockville had their top 3 quizzers all finish with the top 50 quizzers of the individual standings, this statistic too stands out as an oddity, for the rest of the Top 5 Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Teams (of the 21st century) all have their top 3 quizzers finished in the top 40 of the individual standings. Rockville's 4th best quizzer was Kendra Beiler. In her rookie season, she finished 78th place with a total score of 390 points, averaging 18 points per quizmatch. Yes, Rockville's top 4 quizzers, which probably was their starting lineup, all finished in the top 100 of the individual standings. The quiz team's 5th best quizzer was Matia Esh, who finished with 210 total points, or a 10 point quizmatch average. While this statistic does not necessarily mean she got 1 correct answer on every single quizmatch, that stat does prove that Rockville had a 5th quizzer reliable to contribute to team bonus, if any of the top 4 quizzers had an off day. Last is Kayla Zeiset, who scored 20 points. Yes, she answered only 2 questions right all season, making her the lowest scoring quizzer on a Top 5 ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century). Indeed, she is riding on the coattails of some very powerful people, but then again, she is the 6th quizzer on a 6 quizzer quiz team, and a powerful one at that. When you own teammates can be competition for points, managing to squeeze in 2 correct answers does stand out as impressive. In all honesty, the bottom 3 quizzers of this quiz team may all be riding the coattails of the top 3 quizzers, for the legacy of the top 3 will reveal how powerful they are. Naomi Beiler is a 4-time top 100 quizzer and a 2-time top 50 quizzer. Besides her individual performance, her teams are 2-time season champions, 1-time AMEC Tournament champions, 3-time AMEC Tournament semifinalist (yes, in all 4 years of her quizzing career, her team has at least made the semifinals of the AMEC Tournament), and 2-time Invitational Tournament champion, as well as 2nd place and 3rd place in the Invitational Tournament (yes, in all 4 years of her quizzing career, she has been on a top 3 Invitational Tournament team). Hannah Beiler is a 7-time top 100 quizzer and a 6-time top 50 quizzer, 1 of which was a perfect season, and 1 of which was a near perfect season, coming up 1 question short. On top of her individual performance, Hannah's teams have been 2-time season champions, 1-time AMEC Tournament champion, 4-time AMEC Tournament semifinalist (yes, in her 7 years of quizzing, 5/7 of it has put her on a team that has at least made the semifinals of the AMEC Tournament), and 2-time Invitational Tournament champion, as well as 2nd place and 3rd place in the Invitational Tournament (yes, in her 7 years of quizzing, 4/7 of it has put her on 1 of the top 3 teams of the Invitational Tournament). Meghan Beiler quizzed only this year and last year, finishing in the top 50 both times. In those 2 years alone, she is already a season champion once, an AMEC Tournament semifinalist twice, and an Invitational Tournament champion twice. Talk about legacy!

If doing the math, on the raw score of answering questions alone, Rockville scored 2,480 points. Add in 17 team bonuses (the most of any quiz team on this list!), add another extra question correct, minus a foul, and Rockville's final grand total for points comes to 2,825 points, averaging 128 points per quizmatch. Those 2,825 points Rockville in their League, League A. Let me tell you, it's a good thing Rockville was in League A, for if in League B, they would have finished in 3rd place, not even qualifying for the season playoffs! Rockville's season playoff semifinal would have them facing off versus Strasburg 1, who finished 2nd place in League B, with a grand total score of 2,835 points, averaging 129 points per quizmatch. This was one of those quizmatches where it was tied at 10 after question 2, tied at 20 after question 4, tied at 30 after question 6 and tied at 40 after question 8. This quizmatch was always close. You could tell that Strasburg 1 scored just 10 more points than Rockville in the season! Despite Rockville racking up 5 errors, they won, 85 to 65, advancing themselves to season playoff finals. In the season playoff finals, Rockville would find themselves facing off verses Slate Hill 1, who finished 1st place in the League B with 2,850 points, averaging 130 points per quizmatch. This time, Slate Hill 1 would rack up the 5 errors, causing them to lose 5 points and slow down. Rockville took advantage and won, 65 to 45. Rockville may have entered the season playoffs 3rd overall of 46 quiz teams, but they proved they deserved the season championship by overcoming 2nd overall Strasburg 1 and 1st overall Slate Hill in the season playoffs.

If anything diminished Rockville's 2026, it would be the AMEC Tournament. Rockville began the tournament strong, going undefeated in their group, Group F, clinching 1st place and a number 1 seed with a bye. They continued strong in the evening playoffs, winning quizmatches versus Waterway 1 and Petra 7, landing them in the semifinals. Their AMEC Tournament semifinal quizmatch would end up being a season finals rematch, as they would face off versus Slate Hill 1, who also went undefeated in their group. This quizmatch was much more intense, for the score was always close. As a matter of fact, after 13 questions, Rockville led by a mere 5 points, 70 to 65. Unfortunately for Rockville, Rockville could not score on the last 2 questions, but Slate Hill scored on both, winning the quizmatch, 90 to 70. Therefore, Rockville would finish the 2026 AMEC Tournament as a semifinalist, alongside Blainsport 1. At least Rockville could continue their streak of making at least the AMEC Tournament semifinals 5 years in a row.

The 2026 Rockville Bible quiz team had an interesting Invitational Tournament. In their 1st quizmatch, Rockville wins versus Gehman 1, an average quiz team who finished 10th in their league with 1,370 points, or a 62 point average. In their 2nd quizmatch, they lose to Strasburg 2, who finished 5th place in their league and 10th overall, with 2,015 total points, a 92 point average. With those stats, Strasburg 2 straddles the line of average quiz team and above average quiz team. Strasburg 2 is either a greater average team or a lesser above average quiz team. Rockville losing to Strasburg 2 in their 2nd quizmatch isn't as shocking as 2014 Bowmansville 2 losing to Petra 3 in their 1st quizmatch, but it's still surprising. The loss puts Rockville 1 in 1 Loss bracket, but only for 1 quizmatch. They win against Orrville, an average team from Wayne County (at least, according to Wayne County standards), giving them the 13 seed for the championship bracket. Yes, Rockville, the season champions, enter the championship bracket as a 13 seed. From there, Rockville experiences smooth sailing for the rest of the tournament. Rockville will go on to win the next 8 quizmatches to win the tournament championship. They didn't even need the 1 loss allowed in the double-elimination championship playoff bracket. They went undefeated in the double-elimination playoff bracket. Rockville faced off versus some formidable foes, too. The won versus Central 1, the NorthWest Ohio season champions, the number 4 seed entering the championship bracket, and the eventual 5th place overall in the Invitational Tournament. They quizzed and won versus Eastland 2, the 5 seed and the eventual 4th place in the tournament. They quizzed and won verses Petra 3, who finished 4th overall in the season, AMEC Tournament quarterfinalist and Invitational Tournament 3rd place. And of course, this also includes Slate Hill, AMEC season runner-up, AMEC Tournament champion, and eventual Invitational Tournament runner-up. Yes, Rockville had to face-off and conquer all the top 5 finishers of the Invitational (minus themselves, of course) to win the tournament championship. Despite their surprising upset early on in the tournament, conquering some formidable foes in the championship playoff bracket proved their deserved the title of Invitational Tournament Champions.

To figure out the tiebreaker between 2026 Rockville and 2022 Strasburg 1, we have to split hairs between two phenomenally impressive double crown seasons. Both 2026 Rockville and 2022 Strasburg 1 managed to capture the season championship and the highly coveted Invitational Tournament championship. The 2026 Rockville Bible quiz team has plenty of evidence to justify its place among the greatest ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing teams of the 21st century, but there is one team that has just enough to keep Rockville from climbing any higher: the 2022 Strasburg 1 quiz team. Rockville's greatest advantage over Strasburg 1 is depth. While Strasburg 1 had 3 quizzers in the Top 40, Rockville had 4 quizzers in the Top 100, including 3 in the Top 50, and Rockville's 128-point season average was also higher than Strasburg 1's 120-point average. Rockville also had an incredible Invitational Tournament championship run, defeating Central 1, Eastland 2, Petra 3, and Slate Hill 1 after suffering an early loss. However, when comparing the two, Rockville’s journey was just a bit messier. While Rockville’s 8-quizmatch undefeated run through the Invitational double-elimination bracket is nothing short of legendary, we cannot ignore why they were in the 1-loss bracket to begin with: a shocking, early-tournament upset by Strasburg 2. 2022 Strasburg 1 navigated their Invitational Tournament with more quizmatches and with a much cleaner, more dominant record that didn't require a miraculous, exhausting lower-bracket comeback. Another tiebreaker comes down to overall roster depth and composition. While Rockville's top 3 quizzers possess an undeniable legacy and absolute powerhouse stats, Rockville utilized a highly unorthodox 6-quizzer lineup where the bottom half of the roster was, quite frankly, riding the coattails of the top 3. When your sixth quizzer answers only 2 questions correctly all year, the team is relying heavily on the sheer willpower of its top-tier starters. 2022 Strasburg 1, on the other hand, fielded a tighter, more traditional roster where every single quizzer was a consistent, self-sufficient threat who didn't just contribute to a team bonus, but actively dominated the material on their own. In fact, if doing a side-by-side charting between the 2022 Strasburg 1 quizzers and the 2026 Rockville quizzers, the 2022 Strasburg 1 equivalent always outranks the 2026 Rockville equivalent. Therefore, although Rockville may have had the deeper roster and the higher-scoring season, Strasburg 1 had the stronger combination of elite individual talent, undefeated Invitational tournament success, and long-term legacy. Rockville is therefore technically tied for 3rd place among the greatest ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing teams (of the 21st century), but when the tiebreakers are considered, the 2022 Strasburg 1 quiz team earns the higher spot, leaving 2026 Rockville as a very close 4th place. Time will tell, however, if these 2026 Rockville quizzers can build upon their legacy (especially sophomore Meghan), which will create a stronger argument for bumping up 2026 Rockville into 3rd place and dropping back 2022 Strasburg 1 into 4th place.

5) 2025 Slate Hill 1

When all is said and done, when it comes to our 3-way tie for 3rd place, the 2025 Slate Hill 1 Bible quiz team loses all the tiebreakers, ultimately landing them in 5th place. I will summarize their year that landed them on this top 5 list, and then I will conclude with why I think they fell in their position as opposed to their other positions. Without further ado, the quiz team that lost the tiebreakers and landed in 5th place is 2025 Slate Hill 1.

Coached by legendary coaches Caleb & Kara Miller, the 2025 Slate Hill 1 quiz team consisted of 4 quizzers, and all they needed was 4 quizzers. Their top quizzer, Leland Zook, finished 17th place with 690 points, averaging 31 points per quizmatch. Not far behind was their 2nd best quizzer, Katie Umble, who finished in 21st place with 660 points, averaging 30 points per quizmatch. Their 3rd strongest quizzer, Taryn Zerby, scored 575 points, averaging 26 points per quizmatch, finishing 40th place. Their 4th quizzer, Ellie Fasick, scored 425 points, averaging 19 points per quizmatch, finishing in 78th place. Yes, this Slate Hill 1 quiz team had all 4 of its quizzers in the top 100. Yes, this quiz team had 3 of its quizzers in the top 40. This is just looking solely at this year's stats, too. Combining this year stats with previous years' stats makes this quiz team look even more impressive. Leland Zook is a 8-time Top 50 Quizzer, with 1 year perfect and 2 years near perfect, coming up 1 quizout short both years. Katie Umble is a 5-time Top 50 Quizzer, with 1 of those years perfect. Taryn Zerby is a 4-time Top 60 quizzer, with 3 of those in the top 40. Ellie Fasick is a 4-time top 100 quizzer, with 1 of them in the top 50. With 2 former perfect quizzers, a consistent top 60 quizzer and a consistent top 100 quizzer, this team was set up for success. This is a huge positive. On the negative side of things, however, this Slate Hill quiz team produced no perfect quizzers this year. This is a shame considering 2 quizzers on the team had a perfect year at least once before entering this year. In fact, none of the quizzers on this quiz team landed in the top 5, top 10 or even in the top 15 of all Bible quizzers. Blame it on more focus on team than on individual, if you must, but past championship quiz teams, like 2022 Strasburg 1, did indeed have a perfect quizzer, or even just a top 10 quizzer, leading them. For another negative, we have to address the elephant in the room - Katie Umble (no offense to Katie Umble). Katie had just spend the past 4 years quizzing for Bowmansville Mennonite Church. 3 of her Top 50 Bible Quizzer awards, including her perfect year, came from quizzing with Bowmansville. If Bible quizzing had a free agency, Katie joining Slate Hill would have been the free agency pick up of the year (Abby Mohler going from Petra to Strasburg would be a close 2nd). Now to be fair, Katie wanted to study at Messiah College, yet she desired to continue quizzing. It just made more sense to quiz for the next closest quizzing church, Slate Hill, instead of commuting back-and-forth with Bowmansville. Another Bowmansville quizzer, Jesse Yoder, did it about a decade earlier, so Katie could do it, too. At the end of the day, AMEC quizzing coordinator Fred Hertzler and AMEC quizzing pastor Jesse Johnson approved of Katie quizzing for Slate Hill Mennonite Church and quizzing specifically for Slate Hill 1. Therefore, no one had the right to contest or complain; Slate Hill played fair. Still, it feels cheap, almost like cheating, for Slate Hill 1 to bring in outside help when they already had enough strong capability from within their own congregation.

If you're doing the math, Slate Hill scored 2,350 points on merely just answering questions and quizzing out alone. Then add 14 team bonuses (the 2nd most team bonuses of any team in the top 5 of this list) and then some more for extra questions answered correctly by quizzed out quizzers remaining in the quizmatch. After 22 quizmatches in the season, Slate Hill scored 2,640 points, averaging 120 points per quizmatch, clinching the 1st place seed in League B. In the season playoff semifinal, Slate Hill 1 would not hold back versus Strasburg 3. With 3 quizouts and team bonus, Slate Hill 1 won 145 to 30. In the season playoff finals, Slate Hill would not dominate as much, but would still have a strong win, winning 100 to 55 versus Blainsport 3, earning their 1st championship of the year. This quiz team was strong all year. They were number 1 in the league all season. They started strong, and they finished strong.

Slate Hill 1 would continue the year strong going into the AMEC Tournament. During the afternoon of the AMEC Tournament, Slate Hill 1 would go undefeated in their round robin group, going 6-0 and clinching the number 1 seed and the bye for Group F. During the evening of the AMEC Tournament, Slate Hill 1 would earn their first win against Grace & Truth, who finished 2nd in Group C, with a 4-1 record, losing only to Rockville 1, a season semifinal quiz team. Slate Hill got their second win of the evening in quarterfinals versus Petra 3, the quizteam who lost the rare season quarterfinals to Strasburg 3 and who went undefeated in their round robin group. The quiz team's 3rd evening win would happen in the tournament's semifinals versus Petra 1, another quiz team who went undefeated in their round robin group. All this led up to the AMEC Tournament championship versus Blainsport 3. Yes, this is an encore of the season championship. This quizmatch, however, was much more entertaining than the season finals. Blainsport 3 came prepared, and they would not allow Slate Hill 1 to win as easily as they did in the season championship. This quizmatch kept going back and forth. After 13 questions, Slate Hill was winning 65 to 55. After 14 questions, Blainsport was winning 70 to 65. Going into the final question, Blainsport 3 had 3 errors and Slate Hill had 5 errors. Slate Hill could lose to their errors alone. On the final question, question 15, the quizmaster asks, "As many as were..." A Blainsport 3 quizzers buzzes in, but he cannot get the right answer. The bonus goes to Slate Hill 1 quizzer Katie Umble, who proceeds to think up the correct answer. The final score: Slate Hill 1 - 75 (5 errors), Blainsport 3 - 70 (4 errors). As if this close quizmatch could not get any more impressive, Slate Hill 1 won a contest, which overruled a decision made by all 4 quizzing conference coordinators!

Then came the Invitational Tournament. Before going to deep into Slate Hill's performance in the Invitational, a discussion of the team itself must occur first. See, Ellie Fasick could not attend the Invitational Tournament on Saturday, due to participating in a play, but neither could 3 quizzers from Slate Hill 2. Therefore, Slate Hill decided, with the approval of Fred and Jesse, to combine the 2 Slate Hill quiz teams into a single Slate Hill team. In theory, such a decision should not have mattered. No offense to Ellie, but statistically speaking, she was the weak link of the Slate Hill 1 quiz team. In a tournament where winning is all that matters, and a win is clinched at 100 points, and 105 points can be achieved with 3 quiz outs, when a quiz team has 3 solid quizzers very capable of quizzing out, a 4th quizzer really isn't needed. Slate Hill was definitely that quiz team. With 3 quizzers in the top 40, 2 of which had once been a perfect quizzer, Slate Hill definitely could win tournament matches, if not the whole tournament, with just 3 quizzers. Still, it's easier to win tournament matches with 2 quizzers quizzing out plus team bonus, so Slate Hill went the comfortable route by taking in the 2 Slate Hill 2 quizzers who could quiz at the Invitational. Early on, the decision paid off favorably. Slate Hill went undefeated in their round robin group, going 8-0 in Group B. Just like in the AMEC Tournament, Slate Hill started off the Invitational championship playoffs with a win versus Grace & Truth (poor Grace & Truth). They would follow up that win with another win versus MCA 2, a Wayne County team, placing them in the Invitational championship playoffs winners bracket quarterfinals. Then, for the third time in the quizzing year, Slate Hill would have to face Blainsport 3 in a playoff quizmatch. The 3rd time was the charm for Blainsport 3. Finally, Blainsport 3 had overcome Slate Hill for the win. Slate Hill would not end the Saturday quizzing on a sour note. Winning 2 quizmatches versus 2 Strasburg quiz teams, Slate Hill would get to see some Sunday quizzing. Then came Sunday morning, and Ellie is there, yet she did not quiz. Despite the fact that the play in which Ellie participated had completed its run, Ellie did not feel prepared to quiz, so she choose to sit out of Sunday quizzing, even though her coaches would have allowed her. Ellie's decision may have come back to haunt the Slate Hill quiz team. The finals of the championship bracket losers side, which could be considered the semifinals of the championship, would come down to a quizmatch between Slate Hill and Rockville 1. It was a close quizmatch, a quizmatch worthy of a championship, yet when all was said and done, Rockville 1 would come out victorious, winning 85 to 75, winning by a mere 10 points. Speculation will go on for years debating whether or not AMEC quizzing would have their first triple crown if Ellie could have quizzed that Sunday. Personally, I find it hard to believe that participating in an 8-week quizzing season and all-day local tournament (and all the practices that come with them) would render a quizzer unprepared for a quizmatch (or two or three), even if missing a day of quizzing, due to participating in a play. Instead, Slate Hill would have to settle with 3rd place in the Invitational tournament.

To conclude why the 2025 Slate Hill 1 quiz team lost the tiebreaker, 2022 Strasburg 1, 2025 Slate Hill 1 and 2026 Rockville all will win within a single year the season championship and a tournament championship. Slate Hill 1's tournament championship will be the AMEC Tournament, while both 2022 Strasburg 1 's and 2026 Rockville's championship will be the Invitational. The local tournament can easily turn into a tournament that anyone can win, yet the Invitational Tournament comes down to the top teams of each conference, so the Invitational Tournament championship has more weight than a local tournament championship. Furthermore, while Slate Hill did get to see Sunday quizzing during the Invitational, all the other quiz teams in the top 5 on this list, got to see the Invitational finals, and Slate Hill simply did not. Once more, the addition of Katie Umble felt like Slate Hill had to get unnecessary help, whereas the other quiz team has homegrown quizzers from within the congregation. Last but not least, the tiebreaker may come down to legacy. The other quiz teams and their quizzers will have more  success before and after its great year. Even with the 2026 quizzing year adding to every single quizzer's individual accomplishments, even with the 2026 quizzing year adding to all of them the achievement of  2-time AMEC Tournament champions and 3-time AMEC Tournament finalist (2-1 record in AMEC Tournament finals), these accolades look diminished in comparison to what 2022 Strasburg 1 and 2026 Rockville has done, both as as a team and individually. With Leland Zook and Katie Umble aging out of quizzing eligibility, this 2025 Slate Hill 1 Bible quiz team has little to no room to add to their legacy. Therefore, 2025 Slate Hill 1 has little to no chance to move up into the 3rd slot, or even the 4th slot for that matter. If anything 2025 Slate Hill 1 has to hold on tightly to the 5th slot, hopefully not to slide down any futher. Until then, 20025 Slate Hill 1 is the 5th Greatest AMEC Bible Quizzing quiz team (of the 21st century), but it cannot belong in the top 4. Nevertheless, if somebody asked that 2025 Slate Hill 1 quiz team to comment on ranking 5th of the Top 10 Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Teams (of the 21st century), every single quizzer on that quiz team would tell that person, "It is enough."

6) 2003 Petra 1

The 2003 Petra 1 Bible quiz team deserve their spot on this list for becoming the trailblazers of the double crown frontier. They were the first team (of at least the 21st century) to accomplish the double crown. They were the only team of the 2000s decade to achieve the double crown. They would stand unmatched for over 10 years, as for the next 10 years, then-ACC Bible Quizzing would not see another quiz team raise 2 championship trophies. If not for the fairly recent explosion in double crown quiz teams, 2003 Petra 1 would stand at the top of this list. 2003 Petra 1 was indubitably the best ACC Bible Quizzing quiz team for over 10 years, for the rest of the 2000s decade and even into some of the 2010s decade. Led by legendary quiz coaches Rich & Betty Esh, their 5 quizzers would go on to win both the season championship and the ACC Tournament championship, something unheard of that time. Although Petra 1 could not secure the triple crown, the Invitational performance still impressed. They went 3-1 in their round robin group, securing 1st place in their group, which qualified them for the double-elimination playoffs. Their first lost of the double-elimination playoffs came in the quarterfinals of the winners bracket, losing to Sand Ridge of Northwest Ohio, the eventual 3rd place quiz team of the Invitational tournament. After winning another 2 quizmatches, they would get their second loss in the quarterfinals of the losers bracket, losing to New Hope of Northwest Ohio, the eventual 4th place team of the Invitational. When all was said and done, Petra 1 finished 5th place in 2003 Invitational tournament (technically tied for 5th place with Reading, the previous Invitational champions). While a triple crown would have produced a more satisfying conclusion to year, 5th place place in the Invitational after a season championship and ACC Tournament championship is nothing to complain about at all. And all this before ACC Bible Quizzing got serious about their competition!

Many of the reasons that mention why the 2003 Petra 1 quiz team belong on this top 10 list, however, also brings up the reasons why they don't belong in the top 5 anymore. While their Invitational tournament performance could easily impress, it could equally become unimpressive. Among all the quiz teams mentioned in the top 5, 2003 Petra 1 has the weakest Invitational performance at 5th place. All the other quiz teams on this list will at least finish in top 3 of their respective Invitational. Also, as mentioned above, this Petra 1 quiz team existed in 2003, a time in which the competition part never got too serious. When the competition does not get too serious, it becomes quite easy for a quiz team who does take the competition seriously to excel to the top parts without breaking a sweat. If at any point quizzing got serious in 2003, it would happen at the Invitational (conference/state pride on the line, I guess?), which would explain why Petra 1 struggled at the Invitational compared to season and the ACC Tournament. If somehow possible to take every quiz team that won at least 1 championship out of their prime, put them in a spaceless and timeless dimension, and give them an infinite amount of time to study and practice the same quizzing material, it would not matter if setting up the tournament like the local tournament or the Invitational tournament, 2003 Petra probably would not make it past the quarterfinals. Modern-day Bible quizzing has become more serious in its competition (for better or for worse), and 2003 Petra 1 would could not and would not keep up with any top-caliber quiz team today. While 2003 Petra 1 definitely belongs on this list, they definitely no longer deserve a spot in the top 5 of the list. Still, I can emphasize enough has impressive it is that it took 23 years from when they had their remarkable performance run to actually boot them from the top 5.

7) 2017 Calvary Monument 1

In the original post, the 2017 Calvary Monument 1 Bible quiz team got an honorable mention, so they also only got 2 paragraphs - 1 paragraph explaining why they are an honorable mention and 1 paragraph explaining why they don't make the top 5. Now that the 2017 Calvary Monument 1 quiz team has an official slot on this top 10 list, they deserve a full breakdown of their team's performance in 2017. Just like with previous teams, the breakdown of the team's performance will go over individual season standings, team season standings, season playoffs and both tournaments.

In 2017, Calvary Monument 1 had only 4 quizzers, but the team only needed 4 quizzers. Calvary Monument 1's top quizzer, Nate Walls, finished 13th place, scoring 625 points, averaging 33 points per quizmatch. The quiz team's 2nd best quizzer, Luke Misciangna, finished 16th place, scoring 610 points, averaging 32 points per quizmatch. Yes, Calvary Monument 1 quiz team had 2 top 20 Bible quizzers in 2017. The team's 3rd best quizzer, Jake Wise, finished 75th place, scoring 385 points, averaging 20 points per quizmatch. Yes, this quiz team had 3 top 100 Bible quizzers. The 4th quizzer, Lucas Ritzman, barely missed the top 100. His 265 points, averaging 14 points per quizmatch, landed him in 104th place, 4 spots shorts of the top 100. The last 2 names, Jake Wise and Lucas Ritzman, should sound familiar. Yes, they are the same 2 quizzers who are also on the roster of the 2016 Calvary Monument 2 Bible quiz team, the 2nd Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century). Talk about legacy! Speaking of legacy, let's indeed talk about the legacy of these quizzers. In his 5 years of Bible quizzing, Nate Walls finished in the individual standings only 3 times in the top 50, with his 13th this year as his highest placing, yet he is a 1-time season champion, a 2-time season runner-up (yes, 3/5 of his quizzing career he was in the season playoffs final), 2-time ACC Tournament champion, 1-time ACC Tournament semifinalist and 2-time Invitational champion. In his 3-year quizzing career, Luke Misciangna landed on the Top 50 Bible Quizzers List only 2 years, with his highest this year at 16th, yet he is 1-time season champion, 2-time ACC Tournament semifinalist and a 2-time Invitational champion. To refresh you about what I said above, while Jake Wise has never finished higher than 75th in the individual standings, his teams are 2-time season champions, 1-time local tournament champions, 1-time local tournament semifinalist, 2-time Invitational champions and 1-time Invitational runner up. To remind you agian, Lucas Ritzmas has never even broken the top 100 in the individual standings, but being on the same teams as Jake Wise, he too is a 2-time season champion, 1-time local tournament champion, 1-time local tournament semifinalist, 2-time Invitational champion and 1-time Invitational runner up. See, what makes the 2017 Calvary Monument 1 Bible quiz team's legacy so interesting is that legacy is less about individual performance and more concerning team performance. The 2017 Calvary Monument 1 quiz team may be the epitome of the mantra that it's not the team with the best players that win, but it's the players with the best team that win.

Together, Calvary Monument 1 scored a raw score of 1,885 points. Add in 12 team bonuses, and Calvary Monument 1 finished with a grand total score of 2125 points, averaging 112 points per quizmatch, clinching them the 1st place seed in League A. In the season playoffs semifinals, Calvary Monument 1 won over Weaverland 1, 100 to 65. In the season playoff finals, Calvary Monument 1 would blow Bowmansville 3 out of the water with a score of 140 to -5, making Calvary Monument 1 the season champions. While a win is a win, and a championship is a championship, Calvary Monument 1's season makes them look weak in comparison to other top teams on this list. As stated above, by the end of the season, Calvary Monument 1 averaged 112 points per quizmatch. In comparison, all of the top 5 quiz teams on this list will end the season with a 120+ point average. Averaging 112 points next to teams averaging 120+ points looks weak. Their season championship performance does not help their case, either. Usually, a season championship finals become a battle of the best wits. Some of the closes season finals never had more than a 20 point lead. The 2017 season finals, however, could easily be the worst season finals ever. If paid attention to that final score mentioned above, Bowmansville 3 scored -5 points. Yes, Bowmansville 3 errored so much that they lost points. Thus, Calvary Monument 1 could have done absolutely nothing during the quizmatch and still come out the winner. Fortunately, Calvary Monument 1 did not do that, scoring 140 points, proving they knew the material. Still, Bowmansville 3 did not give Calvary Monument the chance to error, so nobody would ever know how Calvary Monument would have held up in a grittier situation.

The ACC Tournament performance sheds a negative light on the team. Things seemed to be going well for Calvary Monument 1. They went an undefeated 6-0 in in their round robin group, securing the number 1 seed with a bye. Their undefeated round robin record, however, would be the team's highlight of the day. Calvary Monument 1 would not win a single playoff quizmatch, losing their first playoff quizmatch to Carpenter 1. Carpenter 1 finished the season 10th place in League A, the same league as Calvary Monument 1, scoring 1420 points, averaging 75 points per quizmatch. I would not call Carpenter an above average quiz team; I would call that a just average quiz team. I know that the local tournament can easily turn into a tournament that anyone can win. I've seen at least twice a quiz team on the bottom half of their league finish the local tournament as a semifinalist. Heck, I know this personally, as my quiz team that won the ACC Tournament championship finished 6th place in our league. Still, the stats show that, since 24-team playoffs began in 2009, all but 4 of the ACC/AMEC Tournament champions have been the number 1 seed with the bye. Statistically speaking, Calvary Monument 1 was prime to at least advance 1 round in the playoffs, but they could not even do that. If including Calvary Monument 1 with the top 5 teams (of the 21st century), this is the worst tournament performance of them all.

Calvary Monument 1 had an impressive Invitational Tournament performance. Calvary Monument 1 marched through the winners' side of the championship bracket, never losing a single quizmatch on Saturday. Their 1 and only loss would come during the Sunday morning finals, losing to Bowmansville 3 90 to 65. Fortunately for Calvary Monument 1, the championship bracket was a double elimination bracket, so they had to lose 1 more time to be knocked out of the tournament. Even more fortunate, they did not lose a second time. In a rematch, Calvary Monument 1 would win over Bowmansville 3, 90 to 80, earning Calvary Monument 1 their 2nd crown of the 2025 Bible quizzing year.

The 2017 Calvary Monument 1 Bible quiz team has the honor of earning a double crown, a distinguishment that only 7 ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing quiz teams has ever done in all history (at least in the 21st century). When standing next to the 6 other ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing quiz teams that have accomplished the same achievement, however, the 2017 Calvary Monument 1 quiz team looks the weakest. 2017 Calvary Monument 1 could not bring any trophy from the local tournament, which all the other double crown winners have done. Of all the double crown champions, Calvary Monument 1 has the weakest season performance, having the lowest season point average of all double crown quiz teams. Quizzing a weak Bowmansville 3 in the finals doesn't help the outlook on their season, either. Fortunately, Bowmansville 3 would eventually prove themselves as a worth opponent for Calvary Monument 1 in the Invitational Tournament, winning a finals quizmatch versus them and losing the other finals quizmatch by a matter of 10 points. Still, Bowmansville 3 at the end of the season was not that quiz team just yet, so Calvary Monument 1 winning against them does little to nothing to make their season champion look impressive. Ultimately, though, a win is a win, and a championship is a championship, no matter the strength of the schedule. Calvary Monument 1 still have an accolade that only 7 other quiz teams have in all of quizzing history (at least in the 21st century). Also, do not forgot that this year may have consisted of some of the most difficult Bible quizzing material ever compiled. Studies show that the brain more easily memorizes narrative over even the most simplistic and easy logic. Half of this year's quizzing material was Pauline epistles, which have great logic and reasoning, but heavily lacks on narrative. When finally reaching the narrative half of this year's material, the stories bounced all over the place. On top of that, quizzers had to remember that, for the first half of the season, "Lord" alone was incomplete and had to be specified as "Lord God" or "Lord Jesus," but for the second half of the season, "Lord" alone was interchangeable with God. Then come tournament, to remember half of the material has "Lord" and "God" interchangeable and the other half had "Lord" alone as incomplete taxed the brain. Despite possibly the worst quizzing material ever, Calvary Monument 1 pulling out 2 championships looks like a miracle. That alone deserves Calvary Monument 1 a spot among the Top 10 Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Teams (of the 21st century)! In fact, the top 3 weaknesses of Calvary Monument 1 (low season point average, easy finals opponent, early local tournament exit) can probably be blamed on the difficulty of the material. Nevertheless, they stick out as weak, especially in comparison to the other 6 double crown quiz teams on this list, so they cannot make it to the top 5, but they do deserve recognition as the 7th Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century).

8) 2015 Bowmansville 2

Once a Bible quiz team has become the champion of the season and the champion of the Invitational Tournament, as well as the runner-up of the local tournament, there's little room to improve the following year, except actually winning the triple crown of Bible quizzing. Besides actually winning the triple crown of quizzing, the next best thing a quiz team can do the next year is match what they did the previous year. Unfortunately, 2015 Bowmansville 2 could not match what they did the past year. Fortunately, Bowmansville 2 came awfully close. Just see how close they came.

To call the 2015 Bowmansville 2 Bible quiz team the same exact quiz team as the 2014 Bowmansville 2 Bible quiz team would be inaccurate. Indeed, 3 quizzers from the 2014 Bowmansville 2 quiz team return for the 2015 Bowmansville 2 quiz team: Derick Weaver, Ethan Yoder and Devin Weaver. Brett Haller returns, but in a different way, for he aged out of quizzing, so he becomes the assistant coach to Bowmansville 2, with his mother Aubrey Haller as head coach. Erin Shirk winds up on Bowmansville 1 instead of Bowmansville 2 for unknown reasons. With Brett Haller and Erin Shirk out, in comes Lauren Haller and Savannah Brubacher. Little sister Lauren Haller fits perfectly as a replacement for big brother Brett Haller. She may have only answered 2 questions correctly in her rookie year, but in her sophomore year, she took off, scoring 565 points, averaging 30 points per quizmatch, landing her 24th place in the individual standing, which made her not only the top quizzer on her quiz team but also the 2nd best quizzer of all Bowmansville Mennonite Church that year! The decision to substitute Erin Shirk for Savanna Brubacher confuses me. In the prior season, her rookie season, Savanna got only 3 questions right. Now in her sophomore year, Savanna finds herself on the remnant of the Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century). Logic should state that a powerhouse team like 2014 Bowmansville 2 should remain in contact as is as best as possible, only filling in holes when absolutely needed. Heck, if Bowmansville would have stacked their teams merely based on the past year's individual standings, not only would Erin Shirk make the stacked team, but even Cody Ringer would have made the stacked team before Savanna Brubacher! Instead, 2015 Bowmansville 2 got Savanna Brubacher. Time would tell, however, for both Lauren Haller and Savanna Brubacher have a legacy that proves they belonged on the 2015 Bowmansville 2 Bible quiz team. Lauren Haller would become a 6-time Top 50 Bible quizzer, with her final year making her a perfect quizzer. She has quizzed in 4 season playoff finals (that's half of her career!), with a record of 2-2 in them. She also quizzed 4 Invitational tournament finals (that's half of her career!), with a 1-3 record. She is a 2-time ACC Tournament runner-up, too. Savannah Brubacher would become a 5-time Top 50 Bible quizzer, with her last year coming up just short of perfection, with a 635 score, averaging 33 points per quizmatch, landing her in 4th place. She has quizzed in 3 season playoff finals, with a record of 1-2 in them. She also quizzed 4 Invitational tournament finals (that's a majority of her career!), with a 1-3 record. She is a 2-time ACC Tournament runner-up and 1-time ACC Tournament semifinalist, too. Let's not forget the others on this quiz team! Just to refresh, Ethan is a 4-time top 100 quizzer, 3 of which are in the top 25, and Derick Weaver is a 6-time top 60 Bible quizzer, with 2 of them in the top 15! The 2015 Bowmansville 2 quiz team had the pieces for success (a.k.a. the quizzers); they just needed to put those pieces together to form the puzzle (a.k.a. the quiz team).

In 2015, Ethan Yoder and Derrick Weaver will flip-flop their positions as the quiz team's best quizzer and 2nd best quizzer. Derrick Weaver becomes the team's top quizzer, scoring 585 total points, averaging 33 points per quizmatch, landing him 14th place in the individual standings. Not far behind is Ethan Yoder, scoring 560 points, averaging 31 points per quizmatch, placing him in 19th place. Lauren Haller, who the previous year was the best quizzer on her team and the 2nd best quizzer in her church, is now the 3rd best quizzer on her new quiz team, scoring 390 points, averaging 22 points per quizmatch, falling into the 73rd slot of the individual standings. The bet on Savanna succeeds instead of fails. Savanna does not sophomore slump, but instead, she sophomore soars! Savannah scores 250 points, a 14 point average, making her the 4th best quizzer of Bowmansville 2 and the 115th quizzer of all ACC Bible Quizzing. Devin Weaver will retain his spot of bring up the rear of the quiz team. His 70 points, or 4 point average, puts him in an 8-way tie for 200th place. On a raw score of just answer questions correctly and quizzing, the 5 quizzers score a combined 1,855 points. Add in 9 team bonuses, subtract 5 points for a foul, and Bowmansville 2 finished the 2015 regular season with 2,030 points. Pause here and think about. Up to this point on this list, 9 team bonuses , which is only half their season, is kind of low. Considering the low amount of team bonuses, more often, most likely Bowmansville 2 had 3 quizzers quiz out, and then a 4th quizzer add in an extra correct answer for an extra 10 points. When Bowmansville 2 did earn team bonus, more often, most likely, got team bonus, got 2 quizzers to quiz out, and then maybe sometimes got a 3rd quizzer to get another question right to contribute another 10 points. Again, this is very unconventional for a quiz team on this list, but then again, perhaps that's why the 2015 Bowmansville 2 team is in the top 10 but not the top 5. Bowmansville 2's 2,030 points landed them 1st place in League A. That spot would put in a season playoff semifinal versus Gehman 4. Halfway through the quizmatch, Bowmansville 2 was up 80-0. Gehman 4 would make an impresive comeback in the 2nd half, getting both a team bonus and a quiz out, but during that 2nd half, Bowmansville 2 got 1 more right, giving them enough to win. Now Bowmansville 2 would face Calvary Monument 1 in the season playoff final for the season championship. The quizmatch started with each quiz team's respective Ethan sitting across from each other, and the match would end with each team's respective Lauren sitting across from one another. Bowmansville 2 took an early lead, and they kept extending that lead, until they won the final and the championship. By winning the season championship, Bowmansville 2 became the first quiz team to win back-to-back season championships since Maple Grove 1 did it in 2004 and 2005, and Bowmansville Mennonite Church became the first church to have 3 consecutive season champions, a feat unheard of back then and a feat that still has yet to be done again to this day.

Not only did their 1st place in League A clinch them a spot in the season playoffs, it also gave them seeding in the ACC Tournament. Bowmansville 2 took advantage of that seeding and finished 1st place in Group A, earning themselves a well-deserved 1st round bye. Bowmansville 2 began their ACC Tournament playoffs with a win versus Rockville 1. From there, they would win versus Blainsport in the quarterfinals and Weaverland 3 in the semifinals. All this winning led them to the semifinals, where they would face off versus Calvary Monument 1. Yes, the 2015 ACC Tournament final was an encore presentation of the 2015 season final. This encore presentation was a closer quizmatch. After 10 question, the match was tied at 50, but for the last 5 questions, Calvary Monument 1 took off and won the quizmatch. Bowmansville 2 would finish the ACC Tournament in 2nd place again, back-to-back.

Despite the different tournament format, Bowmansville 2 in the Invitational Tournament would yield the same results. Bowmansville 2 marched down the Winners Bracket of the Triple Elimination Championship Bracket, until they lost to Calvary Monument 2 in the semifinals of the Winners Bracket. In the 2nd Chance Bracket of the Triple Elimination Bracket, Bowmansville 2 won quizmatches versus Calvary Monument 1, Gehman 4 and Petra 2 to become the "champions" or the "winners" of the 2nd Chance Bracket. As a result, Bowmansville 2 found themselves quizzing the last quizmatch of Saturday versus Calvary Monument 2, the same Calvary Monument team that knocked them out of the Winners Bracket. Calvary Monument 2 would find the same success on Saturday evening that they found on Saturday afternoon, winning again, advancing Calvary Monument 2 to the Sunday morning finals, and putting Bowmansville 2 in the Sunday morning semifinals. In the Sunday morning semifinals, Bowmansville 2 found themselves versus Gehman 4, the same Gehman 4 they faced off against in the 2nd Chance Bracket on Saturday. Bowmansville 2 would find the same success, winning again, advancing Bowmansville 2 to the finals. Now remember this is a triple elimination tournament, meaning a quiz team has to lose to 3 times to be eliminated from the tournament. Going into the Sunday morning finals, Calvary Monument 2 remained undefeated. Therefore, in order for Bowmansville 2 to win the finals and the become the Invitational Tournament champions, they had to win 3 quizmatches in a row versus Calvary Monument 2. My gosh, they actually almost did it! In the 1st round of the Invitational Tournament finals, Bowmansville 2 won 100 to 50. In the 2nd round of the Invitational finals, Bowmansville 2 won again, 90 to 60. For the 3rd round of the tournament finals, it was the closest it has ever been in the finals. It got to the point that Calvary Monument 2 had to withdraw everybody but David to attempt to force a quiz out. After 15 questions, Calvary Monument 2 would win, thus becoming the champion of the Invitational Tournament. In this triple elimination tournament, all 3 of Bowmansville 2's losses would come at the hands of Calvary Monument 2, just at 3 different times: Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Going back to the finals, Calvary Monument 2's victory can be credited a little to their strategy, as opposed to just answer as many questions correctly as possible, but a lot can blamed on the nature of the triple-elimination format. Asking Bowmansville 2 to win 3 quizmatches consecutively (4 quizmatches in a row, if counting the semifinals versus Gehman 4) was asking a lot. Bowmansville 2 may have simply run out of energy by the 3rd round of finals. (Click on this sentence for a more in-depth critique of the format).

As mentioned above, and as soon to become apparent below, technically a 3-way exists for 8th Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century), for 3 quiz teams have participated in all 3 possible finals within a quizzing year, yet came out with only 1 championship. These 3 quiz teams, however, have won different championships. Thus, a proper ranking has to determine which championship holds more weight and which championship holds less weight. After much consideration, the season championship is the most impressive championship. As the 1st championship possible to win after the 9-month off-season, quiz teams have the most time to prepare for it. Considering the stability of the season also aids in making the season the easiest for quiz teams to prepare, as opposed to the instability of the Invitational Tournament. Since tournament questions have more material, tournament questions are usually overarching and straightforward. Season questions, however, have less material to work with, so they can come down to minute details, requiring more careful study and more thorough knowledge. Qualifying for the season playoffs requires facing off against more quiz teams than the tournaments. Since the season standings go by points scored, quiz teams can't just win, like in the tournaments, but they have to win big. The local tournament takes an endurance run of 1 day, and the Invitational Tournament takes an endurance run of 2 days, but the season takes an endurance run of 8 weeks. For all these reasons, the season championship looks the most impressive, so it has the most weight. Between this quiz team and that other quiz teams, Bowmansville 2 has the season championship. Therefore, the tiebreaker goes to them. Don't undermine the fact, however, that if considering the 2015 Bowmansville 2 quiz team virtually the same quiz team as 2014 Bowmansville 2 (after all, both quiz teams share the same 3 quizzers; 4 if counting Brett Haller's transition from quizzer to assistant coach), Bowmansville 2 quizzed in 6 consecutive championship quizmatches! Another one of the quiz teams will also have a similar success in back-to-back years, but they will see only 5 of 6 finals quizmatches. While tiebreakers work best within the year than comparing other years, even consecutive years, this feat Bowmansville 2 pulled off of competing in every final within a year twice adds more reason on why 2015 Bowmansville 2 is the 8th Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century)!

9) 2019 Bowmansville 1

After back-to-back season championships and 6 consecutive finals spanning over 2014 and 2015, Bowmansville Mennonite Church remained hot, but it took a back seat to the even hotter Calvary Monument Bible Church in 2016 and 2017 (and arguably 2018, considering Rockville had a handful of hot Calvary Monument quizzers on both of its teams). In 2019, Calvary Monument would cool down a bit, allow Bowmansville to once again take center stage under the spotlight.

No quizzers return from the 2014 Bowmansville 2 Bible quiz team, the Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century). From the 2015 Bowmansville 2 quiz team, the 8th Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century), 2 quizzers return: Lauren Haller and Savanna Brubacher. If any doubts remain on whether they deserved to belong to the 2015 Bowmansville 2 team, by 2019, both Lauren Haller and Savannah Brubacher have silenced any remaining doubts. Up to that point, going into 2019, Lauren Haller is a 4-time Top 50 Bible Quizzer, peaking at 9th, and Savannah is a 3-time Top 50 Bible Quizzer, peaking at 23rd. On top of the individual standings, they both have already seen 2 season finals (1-1 record), they both have been the runner-up in the ACC Tournament, and they both have been runner-up of the Invitational Tournament for 3 years, thanks in part to doing their part on the 2015 Bowmansville 2 team. Joining Savanna Brubacher is her sister Sierra Brubacher. For her first 2 years, Sierra quizzed on a different team than her sister Savanna. That paid off in Sierra's 2nd year, for it allowed her to finish the season perfect! Therefore, in her 3rd year, Sierra has earned a spot next to Savanna on the best Bowmansville team. Naturally, having to share the spotlight with Lauren and Savanna, she falls down to 96th place in the individual standings, but it is still her 2nd best year in her career up to that point, and she still stays in the top 100. Eventually, Sierra would close out her career in 2023, and she would finish it a 5-time Top 50 Bible quizzer, although she would never again reach that state of perfection that she reached in her 2nd year. Lauren, Savanna and Sierra would carry the team as the only veterans on the team, for the rest of the team is filled with 2 rookies: Emma Musser and Maggie Martin. Maggie Martin will quiz only 2 years, and in those 2 years, she will score a combined 175 points. Emma Musser, however, will go on to a more illustrious career. In her 6 years of quizzing, she will be a 4-time Top 50 Bible quizzer, peaking at 6th place. Not to mention her teams are 1-time season runner-up, 1-time local tournament champion, 1-time local tournament runner-up, 2-time local tournament semifinalist (yes, her teams have made it to at least the local tournament semifinals 2/3 of her career), 2-time Invitational Tournament champions and 1-time Invitational Tournament 3rd place (yes, her teams have been in the Invitational top 3 for half her career).

Specifically in 2019, Lauren Haller would lead Bowmansville 1 as their top quizzer, scoring 595 points, averaging 31 points per quizmatch, placing her in 18th place on the individual standings. Not far behind Lauren (by a matter of 20 points and 3 places!) was Savanna Brubacher, who scored 575 points, averaging 30 points per quizmatch, placing her in 21st place on the standings. Not far behind Savanna (by 35 points!) was Sierra Brubacher, who scored 540 points, averaging 28 per quizmatch, placing her in 34th place. As seen with so many quiz teams on this list, once again, 3 quizzers sit among the Top 40 Bible quizzers of the individual standings. If doing the math, however, it will soon become evident how much these 3 quizzers carried the quiz team, for their raw scores will account for 4/5 of the team's scoring! Emma Musser finishes in 112th place in the individual standings, with her total score of 285 points, or a 15 point average. In this 19-quizmatch season, Maggie Martin will answer a whole 4 question correctly, scoring 40 points, averaging 2 points per quizmatch. This stat makes Maggie the 2nd lowest scoring quizzer of these top 10 quiz teams, but that stat can be easily dismissed by explaining it's her rookie year. Together, their raw score totaled 2,035 points. Add in 7 team bonuses (the least amount of team bonuses for any quiz team on this top 10 list!), and their grand total is 2,175 points, averaging 114 points per quizmatch, putting them atop League A in 1st place. As a result, Bowmansville 1 would face off versus Weaverland 1, 2nd place in League B, in the season playoff semifinal, and they would come out victorious. As a result, Bowmansville 1 now found themselve pitted versus Strasburg 1 in the season playoff finals. Strasburg 1 would start off with a strong lead, and then Bowmansville 1 would make a valiant comeback, but Strasburg 1 would hold out to win a close quizmatch, with a score of 75 to 65. Although this was the 5th time in a span of 7 years that a Bowmansville Mennonite Church Bible quiz team would make it to the season finale, it wasn't exact the results they wanted.

As the 1st place in League, Bowmansville 1 gets seeding in the ACC Tournament. Bowmansville 1 puts that seeding to good use, going an undefeated 6-0, earning them a 1st round bye. Bowmansville 1 begins the evening playoffs strong, with wins versus Weaverland 1 (again) and Strasburg 3. Then comes their semifinal quizmatch versus Calvary Mounument 2. This quizmatch is not as strong. This quizmatch was close, all the way down to the wire. After 14 questions, the quizmatch was tied at 65 points! After 15 questions, Bowmansville 1 would come out victorious, winning 80 to 60, advancing them to the finals. The ACC Tournament finals would come down to Bowmansville 1 and Calvary Monument 1. This quizmatch was also always close. Any time 1 team took the lead, the other team would quickly catch back up and tie it again. After 15 question, Calvary Monument 1 came out victorious, winning 75 to 60. Although this was the 3rd time in 6 years that Bowmansville Mennonite Church quiz team made it to the ACC Tournament finals, it wasn't the results they wanted.

Up to this point, going into the Invitational Tournament, Bowmansville 1 has always reached the finals, yet Bowmansville 1 cannot secure a championship. Feelings of desperation can easily arise out of such a scenario, and that desperate feeling may soon come into play, which will become evident shortly. Bowmansville 1 starts off the Invitational Tournament strong, winning quizmatches versus Calvary, Maple Grove 1 and Logansville 1, thus reaching the quarterfinals on the winner's side of the triple-elimination championship bracket. In the quarterfinals on the winner's side of the triple-elimination championship bracket, Bowmansville 1 faced off versus Orrville. Here, Bowmansville 1 will experience their 1st loss of this triple-elimination tournament. Bowmansville 1 bounced back quickly and easily. the quiz team won quizmatches versus Petra 1, Eastland, Blainsport 2, Strasburg 1 (again) and Calvary Monument 2 (again), thus "winning" the 2nd chance side of the triple-elimination championship bracket. As a result, Bowmansville found themselves pitted versus Orville again for the Saturday evening finals. By design, the Saturday evenings meant to ensure that all but 1 of the quiz teams quizzing on Sunday morning had 2 losses. With Orville undefeated and Bowmansville with only a single loss, both of these 2 quiz teams had to quiz each other until 1 had 2 losses. During the Saturday evening finals, Bowmansville 1 manages to deal Orrville their 1st loss, but Orrville soon after gets their revenge and deals Bowmansville 1 their 2nd loss, thus setting the stage for Sunday. Before Bowmansville 1 rematches versus Orrville, they must have a semifinal quizmatch versus Calvary Monument 2 (again again). This quizmatch is clean on Bowmansville's side. Bowmansville 1 would come out victorious, scoring 105 points, thanks to Lauren, Savanna and Sierra quizzing out. Now Bowmansville 1 can face off versus Orrville in the finals for the championship. To recap, Bowmansville 1 had 2 losses, and Orrville had 1 loss. For Orville to become champions, they needed to just win once against Bowmansville 1. For Bowmansville 1 to become champions, they needed to win twice in a row. The 1st match is close, so close, after 15 questions, the score is tied at 65 points, forcing overtime. In overtime, Bowmansville 1 wins, 90 to 75. Now both teams have two losses. Another match must occur in order to give a team a third loss, knocking them out of the tournament, and the other team becomes the champions (yes, you counted correctly, Bowmansville 1 vs. Orville quizmatches happened 5 times in the 2019 Invitational Tournament). Now let's pause and discuss in-depth and in detail what happened in the 2nd round of the 2019 Invitational Tournament finals, which from hereon out be referred to as "The Lauren Haller Incident of '19."

 This other final match is also a close one, so close, after 12 questions, the score is tied at 65 points (again). On question 13, Bowmansville 1 buzzes in and answers correctly, moving the score up 75 to 65. On question 14, Orrville buzzes in, errors, the bonus goes to Bowmansville, the bonus is correct, and now Bowmansville 1 is up 85 to 65. Now Orrville needs team bonus, which they can get because they are only 1 quizzer away from it. For question 15, the question begins, "In what," and Lauren buzzes. She sits, she thinks about it a little, she gives a guess, and of course, it's wrong. Orrville gets the bonus, and of course, they get it correct. Before anyone can start cheering, an Orrville quizzer buzzes in and says, "I'd like to contest. They blocked us from team bonus." The quizmaster (representing North West Ohio) gets together with the 2 judges (representing ACC and Wayne County). After conferring for a while (perhaps too long of a while), the quizmaster simply announces "Congratulations Bowmansville 1," Orrville receives their 2nd place trophy and Bowmansville receives their 1st place trophy. Before getting into any color commentary, let's review the rules. Blocking team bonus (or even quiz outs for that matter) is a serious offense. If the quizmaster and judges determine this blocking was intentional, the team committing the block loses 20 points, the question is thrown out, and a new question is asked in its place. If the quizmaster and judges determine this blocking was accidental, or they are unsure of the intention of the quizzer/quiz team, they have the option to not assess a penalty, but to simply throw out the question and ask a new question (insinuating if it happened again, then the penalty would be assessed). Another rule that needs to be considered is that fouls cannot be contested, especially the foul of blocking team bonus/quiz outs. A careful investigation over the 30 questions asked between the 2 finals quizmatches reveals that, out of those 30 questions, 9 of those questions were buzzed in on the 2nd word: 7 from Bowmansville, 2 from Orrville. That's close to a third of them. Of the 7 Bowmansville buzzed in on the second word, they answered 2 correctly and 5 incorrectly. Of the 2 times Orville buzzed in, they answered 1 correctly and 1 incorrectly. Looking at each question individually, each one could go either way. Some were good buzzes. Orville buzzed in on "When Joseph," which is key phrase, but they got it wrong. Bowmansville 2 buzzed in on "who longed," which is a good buzz because "longed" was key, and they got it right. Orrville buzzed in on "what betrays," which is a good buzz because "betrays" is key, and they got it right. Bowmansville 1 buzzed in on "after fasting," which is a good buzz because "after fasting" is a key phrase, and they got it right. Others were not good buzzes. Bowmansville buzzed in on "order what," and order is definitely not key. Bowmansville buzzed in on "who too" and too is definitely not a key word. And of course "In what" is definitely not key. All these bad buzzes resulted in errors. Point is that both quiz teams were buzzing [too] early, so it's par for the match to buzz in on "in what." It's hard to judge whether that buzz was too early, and it's even harder to judge the intent (accidental or on purpose). The quizmaster and judges did the right thing. They remembered the rule that quizzers cannot contest blocking team bonus, and that was their decision. By simply announcing "Congratulations Bowmansville 1," they refused to acknowledge whether they thought the buzz was too early, they refused to determine the intention of the buzz (whether accident or on purpose), and they refused to acknowledge the contest ever happened in the first place. Ultimately, a win is a win and a championship is a championship, but it's kind of sad that Bowmansville 1 fought hard to make it to a 3rd final that year, only to have it end in controversy.

Again, a reminder that technically a 3-way exists for 8th Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century), for 3 quiz teams have participated in all 3 possible finals within a quizzing year, yet came out with only 1 championship. These 3 quiz teams, however, have won different championships. Thus, a proper ranking has to determine which championship holds more weight and which championship holds less weight. To refresh, the season championship holds the most weight, hence why 2015 Bowmansville 2 actually gets 8th place. To determine which quiz team gets 9th place requires determining which tournament holds more weight. After much consideration, the Invitational Tournament holds more weight. Whereas the local tournament can truly become an "anything goes, anyone can win" tournament, the Invitational Tournament comes down to the top teams from each conference. While the local tournament championship calls for the endurance of quizzing over the afternoon and evening of a single Sunday, the Invitational Tournament championships demands endurance over 2 days. The local tournament requires beating only quiz teams within the conference, but the Invitational Tournament requires defeating teams from both Ohio and Pennsylvania. The static  stability of the local tournament format allows for better preparation of the tournament, but dynamic changes brought to the Invitational make preparation harder. For all these reasons, the Invitational Tournament holds more weight than the local tournament. Since the 2019 Bowmansville 1 quiz team won the Invitational Tournament, and the last remaining quiz team to go to all 3 finals yet win only 1 won the local tournament, 2019 Bowmansville 1 gets 9th place, the higher placing. The controversial win of the Invitational Tournament championship does indeed put a damper on things, although a win is a win and a championship is a championship. That damper, however, should not overshadow all that Bowmansville 1 accomplished. Bowmansville 1 still made it to all 3 finals within the year. In all 3 finals, they faced 3 different quiz teams. Not only did they win 1, the 2 that they lost they kept awfully close. On one hand, the 2019 Bowmansville 1 Bible quiz team could have easily been a double crown winner, or even a triple crown winner, if a couple or few more question would have gone their way. On the other hand, this 2019 Bowmansville 1 quiz team could have been the first instance of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" years before Blainsport 3 in 2025, if it hadn't been for that controversial end to the Invitational Tournament. Since 2019 Bowmansville 1 finds themselves sandwiched between those 2 possible outcomes, it only makes sense that 2019 Bowmansville is sandwiched between the 2 other quiz teams who made it to all 3 finals yet won only 1 championship.

 

10) 2026 Slate Hill 1

 

The 2026 Slate Hill 1 Bible quiz team needs no introduction. That's because it's the same team as 2025! When a church has multiple quiz teams on this top 10 list, most often, those 2 quiz teams will share a couple or a few quizzers, but not all the quizzers, making it hard to to determine if indeed they are truly the same team from one year to another. Not so with the 2026 Slate Hill 1 quiz team! Indeed, legendary quiz coaches Caleb & Kara Miller reunited the same 4 quizzers to return for another year of quizzing. With the 4 same quizzers coming back for another year, coming off 1 of the top 5 best quiz team performances of all-time (at least in the 21st century), and with another year of experience under their belts, the quizzers individually and the quiz team as a whole were destined for greatness! With no need for introduction, let's dive into how Slate Hill 1 did in 2026.

Leland Zook retains his role as the anchor and pillar to this quiz team as their top quizzer. In 2026, however, he improves in total score, point average and final placing. He goes from scoring 690 points to scoring 715 points, from averaging 31 points per quizmatch to 33 points per quizmatch, and his placing goes up from 17th to 8th. Therefore, Leland Zook is now an 8-time Top 50 Quizzer. Taryn Zerby wins the award for the most improved quizzer on the team. She improves from scoring 425 points to scoring 700 points and from averaging 26 points per quizmatch to 32 points per quizmatch. Not only does this make Taryn Zerby the new 2nd best quizzer on Slate Hill 1, she is now the 13th best quizzers of all AMEC, a big improvement from the 40th place of 2025. Thus, Taryn Zerby is a 4-time Top 60 quizzer, with 3 of those in the top 40. Katie Umble ever so slightly improved, increasing her total points scored, from 660 to 675, increasing her point average, from 30 to 31, and increasing her placing from 21st to 20th. Give or take, Katie Umble performed the same in 2025 and 2026. Only Taryn Zerby surpassing her knocked her down to 3rd best Slate Hill 1 quizzer. Still, Katie Umble is a 5-time Top 50 Quizzer, which should not be diminished. Bringing up the rear again is Ellie Fasick, but do not dismiss that either, for Ellie Fasick improves, too. Ellie Fasick increases her total points from 425 to 460, her point average from 19 to 21, and her placing from 78th place to 60th place. Yes, this Slate Hill 1 quiz team had all 4 of its quizzers in the top 60, something no quiz team has ever done (at least in the 21st century). This stat too proves once again that this Slate Hill 1 quiz team was destined for greatness! Yes, again, Slate Hill 1 has no perfect quizzers, or none in the top 5, for that matter, but at least this year 1 quizzzer made into the top 10, and 3 made it into the top 20! Also, Katie Umble returning to Slate Hill for another year of quizzing makes it feel more home grown and less outside help. Even Jesse Yoder, the last Bowmansville quizzer to quiz for Slate Hill, returned to Bowmansville for his final year. Of course, though, what makes a Bible quiz team a top Bible quiz team is if great individuals can form a greater team, and that's exactly what Slate Hill 1 needed to do.

If doing the math, Slate Hill scored 2,550 points on merely just answering questions and quizzing out alone. That's a 200 point increase from the previous year. Then add 15 team bonuses, which is an extra team bonus from the prior year. Altogether, Slate Hill 1 scored 2,850 points, averaging 130 points per quizmatch. That's unheard of, for that's the highest point average since 2007 Petra 1, the quiz team that averaged 138 points per quizmatch! The 2,850 total points and 130 point average landed them 1st place in League B, which, surprisingly was only 15 total points ahead of 2nd place Strasburg 1. As a result, Slate Hill would face off versus Petra 3 in the season playoff semifinals. A win versus Strasburg 1 would advance Slate Hill 1 to the season playoff finals verses Rockville. In this season playoff finals, it would seem like Slate Hill 1 became their own worst enemy, for they racked up 5 errors, causing them to lose 5 points, and possibly even worse, cause them to slow down their buzzing. Rockville took advantage of Slate Hill's slow buzzing. Rockville won, 65 to 45. Slate Hill 1 would finish 2nd place overall in the season. Slate Hill 1 probably wanted that 2nd consecutive season championship pretty badly, but making it to the season playoff finals for 2 back-to-back years is still pretty impressive!

Finishing 1st place in League B clinched Slate Hill 1 seeding in the AMEC Tournament. Slate Hill 1 took advantage of that seeding, going undefeated in their group, Group E, and with it, clinching a 1st round bye in the evening playoffs. Slate Hill 1 began the evening playoffs with a win verse Blainsport 2, followed by a win verse Grace & Truth, 2 quiz teams who both finished in the top 5 of their respective leagues. All this led up to a semifinal quizmatch versus Rockville. This quizmatch was much more intense, for the score was always close. As a matter of fact, after 13 questions, Rockville led by a mere 5 points, 70 to 65. Unfortunately for Rockville, Rockville could not score on the last 2 questions, but Slate Hill scored on both, winning the quizmatch, 90 to 70. Up to this point, so many quiz teams have found themselves hitting walls against a common opponent, but this time, Slate Hill 1 would overcome! This all led to the AMEC Tournament finals between Slate Hill 1 and Calvary Monument 2. This quizmatch was filled with errors, so much that Slate Hill 1 ended up with 5 errors and Calvary Monument 2 finished with 4 errors. In fact, 5 of the last 6 questions were erred on. Despite Slate Hill 1 racking up more errors, they still won the quizmatch, 70 to 40. With that, Slate Hill 1 won their 2nd consecutive AMEC Tournament championship, making them the first quiz team to do so since Calvary Monument 1, who accomplished the same feat in 2015 and 2016.

AMEC Tournament champions Slate Hill 1's Invitational Tournament went much more smoothly than their season championship counterparts Rockville. They went undefeated in the seeding bracket with wins versus Petra 6, Waterway 3 and Calvary Monument 2, earning them the number 1 seed overall for the championship bracket! The championship bracket started just as smoothly as the seeding bracket, with wins versus Weaverland 2, Gehman 2, MCA 1 and Blainsport 2.  Then, in the semifinals of 1st chance side of the double-elimination championship, Slate Hill 1 found themselves facing off versus Rockville. The series was tied at 1 a piece, so the quizmatch could go either way. The revenge factor may have come into play, for Rockville got revenge from the AMEC Tournament semifinal, as Rockville won the semifinal of the 1st chance side of the double-elimination championship bracket, thus sending Slate Hill 1 to the 2nd chance side. Slate Hill 1 bounced back, with wins versus Central 1, Eastland 2 and Petra 3. This all led up to a rematch versus Rockville, for the 2nd time in the Invitational Tournament and the 4th time in the year. Of the 3 high-stakes quizmatches between these 2 quiz teams, this one was better than the season finals, but not as good as the AMEC Tournament semifinals. Between the 2 quiz teams, only a grand total of 4 errors were committed, of which only 1 bonus was missed (and to be fair, that question asked what town came after Samos). This quizmatch had the closest final score though, 80 to 65, in favor of Rockville. For the 2nd time this year, Slate Hill 1 had reached the finals, yet they could not follow through and pick up the championship. Rather, for the 2nd time that year, Rockville snatched the championship from their hands.

It feels a little odd to make the 2026 Slate Hill 1 Bible quiz team the 10th Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century) after accomplishing so many statistical feats. The Slate Hill 1 Bible quiz team had one of the strongest starts to the Bible quizzing season in Bible quizzing history, as they started with a 158 point average! The Slate Hill 1 quiz team had one of the strongest finishes in quizzing history, for they finished with a 130 point average, the 2nd highest point average in quizzing history (at least in the 21st century) and the highest since 2007 Petra 1, who averaged 138 points per quizmatch. This Slate Hill 1 team also had all 4 quizzers within the Top 60 Bible quizzers on the individual standings, another first in history! What good are stats, however, if they do not produce standings. 2026 Slate Hill 1 did not win a double crown, so they do not belong in the Top 7. Of the 3 Bible quiz teams who went to all 3 final within a given year and won 1 of them, each of those 3 quiz teams won a different crown. Considering each championship, the local championship has to be the least impressive, and since Slate Hill 1 won that one, they end up as 10th Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century). Not to be the party pooper, Slate Hill 1's year could be described as disappointing. Let's review. Slate Hill 1 started with a 158-point average. It did dip from there, but they always stayed in the top 3 of their league. By the end of the regular season, Slate Hill 1 had did something has never happened before (at least in the 21st century): all 4 of its quizzers finished in the top 60. Even the Top 5 Best Quiz Teams of All-Time (at least in the 21st century, prior to this year) may have had their top 3 in the top 40, but usually the 4th quizzer was somewhere between 75th and 100th, and the 5th quizzer, if applicable, was in the 100s somewhere. Slate Hill 1 managed to have all 4 in the top 60, and Ellie even missed half a doubled-up week! This is a recipe for a triple crown, or at least a double crown. As a team, Slate Hill 1 finishes 1st place in their league with a 130-point average, which is still impressive considering, again, it's the 2nd highest point average (of at least the 21st century) and the highest point average since 2007, when Petra 1 averaged 138 points per quizmatch. Slate Hill 1 wins their season playoff semifinal, advancing to the season playoff finals. Slate Hill 1 kept it close, but 5 errors, including an error out from their best quizzer Leland, did them in, leaving them 2nd place finalists for the season. Slate Hill 1 did turn it around in the AMEC Tournament with the championship, their 2nd consecutive one. So if they can't get the triple crown, they are still pretty strong candidates from the double crown, right? The Invitational Tournament starts off strong for them. They never lose a seeding quizmatch. Their first lost comes in the semifinals of the 1st chance bracket. They managed to crawl back to the finals, to face Rockville, the quiz team they faced in the season finals. The results were similar. Despite keeping it close, Slate Hill 1 could not secure the win, finishing in 2nd place. This team could have made history. With a triple crown win, they would have been indubitably the best quiz team that ever existed. Even with a double crown, they would have still had a strong argument for best quiz team that ever existed (they could have also been the 1st quiz team to win both tournaments' championship without winning the season championship). Instead, they finished 2nd in the season, 1st in the AMEC Tournament and 2nd in the Invitational tournament. If that's not the definition of disappointing, then nothing is. Perhaps this feeling of disappointment also justifies why this quiz team is the 10th Best ACC/AMEC Bible Quizzing Quiz Team (of the 21st century) and not higher.

Honorable Mentions:

• 2002 Paradise 2 (2nd place in season, 1st place in local tournament, 4th place in Invitational Tournament)
• 2007 Slate Hill 1 (1st place in season, 2nd place in local tournament, 4th place in Invitational Tournament)
• 2011 Petra 2 (1st place in season, 2nd place in local tournament, 4th place in Invitational Tournament)
• 2016 Calvary Monument 1 (2nd place in season, semifinalist in local tournament, 1st place in Invitational Tournament)
• 2023 Rockville (1st place in season, semifinalist in local tournament, 2nd place in Invitational Tournament)