2026 IHSA State Championship Tournament
The 2026 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State Championship Tournaments ended the fortieth State Championship Series conducted in Scholastic Bowl by the IHSA. It was the thirty-fifth season in which there were separate State Championship Tournaments held for small schools (Class A) and large schools (Class AA). This was the fifth year both tournaments were held at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois. The tournaments were held Saturday, March 21st.
This state series was the second to be written under the guidance of head question editor Adam Silverman.
Elmwood and University (Normal) provided volunteers to assist with hosting duties. Equipment was furnished by Buzzersystems.com.
Classification
The IHSA State Championship series would be split into two separate tournaments for small schools (Class A) and large schools (Class AA). After continued debate in the IHSA regarding all sports & activities, enrollment classifications would now be determined on an annual basis rather than the previous two-year cycle. For 2025-26, small schools were schools smaller than 450 students, and large schools larger than 450.01.
Advancement
Teams were assigned to one of eight sectionals within each class. Coaches then seeded the top 8 teams in their sectional. The IHSA then assigned the seeded teams to one of four regionals (1 with 8, 2 with 7, etc), with the remainder of the teams assigned to a regional geographically. The winners of the regionals would advance to their respective sectional tournaments, where they would play a three match round robin to determine a winner. The determination of the geographic boundaries of the Sectional was arbitrarily decided by the IHSA Office.
Regional tournaments were held on Monday, March 9th, and Sectional tournaments were held on Saturday, March 14th.
Tournament Format
Each round was comprised of 24 toss-ups and accompanying bonus questions.
In the State Championship Tournament, teams were randomly assigned to pools of four, and played a three match round robin. The winners of each pool advanced to the Championship Match, and the runners-up in each pool advanced to play for third place. Ties were broken by head-to-head results or total points scored among tied teams (in the event of a three-way tie).
The top four teams earned trophies and medals for team members, coaches, principals, and activities directors.
CLASS A
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| State Champion: | ||||
| Runner-Up: | ||||
| Third Place | ||||
| Fourth Place | ||||
POOL #1
Johnston City swept their pool going 3-0. Pleasant Plains went 2-1 to advance to the 3rd place match.
| Round | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pleasant Plains | 450 | Cumberland | 180 |
| Johnston City | 370 | Elmwood | 210 | |
| 2 | Johnston City | 340 | Cumberland | 310 |
| Pleasant Plains | 420 | Elmwood | 270 | |
| 3 | Pleasant Plains | 370 | Johnston City | 310 |
| Cumberland | 330 | Elmwood | 210 |
POOL #2
Keith Country Day swept their pool going 3-0. New Berlin went 2-1 to advance to the 3rd place match.
| Round | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westmont | 350 | St. Teresa | 260 |
| Keith Country Day | 420 | New Berlin | 390 | |
| 2 | New Berlin | 540 | St. Teresa | 240 |
| Keith Country Day | 320 | Westmont | 310 | |
| 3 | Keith Country Day | 400 | St. Teresa | 220 |
| New Berlin | 390 | Westmont | 250 |
Third Place
| Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Berlin | 470 | Pleasant Plains | 120 |
Finals
| Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Country Day | 340 | Johnston City | 240 |
CLASS AA
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| State Champion: | ||||
| Runner-Up: | ||||
| Third Place | ||||
| Fourth Place | ||||
POOL #1
Walter Payton swept their pool going 3-0. Metro-East Lutheran went 2-1 to advance to the 3rd place match.
| Round | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IMSA | 460 | Springfield | 290 |
| Walter Payton | 620 | Metro-East Lutheran | 210 | |
| 2 | Metro-East Lutheran | 390 | Springfield | 250 |
| Walter Payton | 520 | IMSA | 290 | |
| 3 | Walter Payton | 500 | Springfield | 210 |
| Metro-East Lutheran | 430 | IMSA | 300 |
POOL #2
Stevenson swept their pool going 3-0. Sandburg went 2-1 to advance to the 3rd place game.
| Round | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandburg | 470 | Bradley-Bourbonnais | 270 |
| Stevenson | 550 | Dixon | 270 | |
| 2 | Bradley-Bourbonnais | 350 | Dixon | 300 |
| Stevenson | 570 | Sandburg | 260 | |
| 3 | Stevenson | 570 | Bradley-Bourbonnais | 260 |
| Sandburg | 430 | Dixon | 360 |
Third Place
| Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metro-East Lutheran | 360 | Sandburg | 290 |
Finals
| Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Payton | 420 | Stevenson | 390 |
NOTES
- The Class 1A consolation match featured two schools from Sangamon County & the Sangamo athletic conference - New Berlin & Pleasant Plains
- The Sangamo athletic conference also featured two schools in the IHSA top 4 in 2018 - Williamsville & Maroa-Forsyth
- This is the first IHSA State Finals since 2001 not to feature Auburn (Rockford, IL)
- This is the first tournament since 2000 to not feature either IMSA, Uni-Lab, or Auburn in the top 4
- Albeit a private school, Metro-East Lutheran, with an enrollment of 219 students, is the smallest school to ever qualify for the Class 2A State tournament
- Metro-East Lutheran is the smallest school ever to win a top 4 trophy in Class 2A
- Walter Payton's championship is the first by a Chicago Public School, and the first by any Chicago school in the Class 2A title game
- This is the first tournament to be overseen by Mike Laudermith
- This is the second tournament in three years to have first-time State champions crowned in both classes
- This is the third straight year to feature a southern Illinois school in the Class 1A state championship
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