Bright and early on March 15, the CF High School Math League Team, which includes Thomas Coyle, Angel Zheng, Samuel Coyle, Mitchell McManus, Kristopher Kehrberg, and Isaiah Wildenberg, competed virtually at the state tournament. The team was very lucky and ended up with no technical issues; however, since there were a lot of technical difficulties with other schools, the awards got pushed back. “While the state tournament seemed to have many tech difficulties for other schools, the CF Team had a smooth time, and it was a ton of fun for us all,” Isaiah Wildenberg stated.

The state competition for the math league holds a math bowl competition before they start the official competition. The math bowl consists of 10 individuals who competed the week before on March 8. The first-place individual from every division gets to compete in this invitational event, and Samuel Coyle was the first person to ever get to compete from our school. “For me, mathematics will always be a community effort, and it is due to our school’s great math team community that I was successful,” Sam Coyle explained. In the math bowl, there were ten questions for each individual to finish in a certain about of time. At the end of the time limit, they held up the board they had written the answers on so the judge could add the point if they got something right. Each judge would focus on 2 people making sure they aren’t using a calculator or other resources.

During the individual event Tyler Quinlan, the coach, supervised the Cannon Falls Team. Since state was virtual, each competitor got to choose which event to compete in, allowing them to focus on the things they want to work on. After the two individual events, the team event occurred. During this event, the mathletes get to use their calculators to solve more difficult questions as a team. After that, they had a huge break before awards.

In total, 40 teams competed in the state competition. There were 11 teams competing in Class A and AA, and 18 teams in Class AAA. The Cannon Falls Team got 8th place, earning a total of 22 points. “Our team worked really hard to prepare, and I’m proud of what they accomplished. Competing against teams of eight with only six members is such a challenge, but everyone did their best and I am so thankful for their commitment to the team,” Quinlan concluded. The team did great, and it is incredible that they managed to compete at the state tournament this year despite the hardships they faced.