Gateway Young Scholars' Bowl

The Gateway Young Scholars' Bowl (GYSB) is an elementary and middle school quizbowl tournament in the St. Louis area, founded in 2025 by Alex Dzurick. It is co-hosted by Rohan Woods School and John Burroughs School.

Genesis

Quizbowl activity for most Missouri schools is regulated by MSHSAA. The vast majority of both public and private high schools in the state are MSHSAA members for grades 9-12. In addition, a significant number of schools are either members for grades 7-12 or hold a separate junior high membership. However, in the St. Louis area, almost no middle schools/junior highs have MSHSAA membership covering their 7th or 8th grades. MSHSAA regulations prohibit competition between members and non-members, so it is not possible for a newly formed team at such a school to attend existing middle school events, such as WIMSEY. This situation created a need for a tournament focused on opportunities for non-MSHSAA member schools, and therefore was the impetus for the founding of GYSB.

Format

Named for the colors of the two MetroLink transit lines running through the area, the tournament offers two divisions: the Red division for teams consisting of 7th and 8th graders, and the Blue division for teams up through 6th grade. The tournament runs on an NAQT middle school set. As a tournament certified by MOQBA, each team in attendance is guaranteed a minimum of 7 games played.

Inaugural Tournament

The tournament's inaugural edition was held on May 3, 2025, at John Burroughs School and featured six teams in the Red division and twelve in the Blue division. Two schools without previously-existing quizbowl programs attended (Thomas Jefferson School and Wydown Middle School), as well as new middle school teams from schools who have previously hosted high school programs (Bayless Junior High and John Burroughs School). The remaining attendees represented existing elementary school programs from Missouri.

In the Red division, the home team John Burroughs was awarded the championship trophy, with second and third place both going to teams from Thomas Jefferson. In the Blue division, Columbia's Center for Gifted Education won first place, Rohan Woods took home second, and Hallsville earned the third place trophy.