| 11/14/2026 |
The BEAST III at Bayless
details
The Bayless High School Scholar Bowl program is pleased to announce The BEAST III (Bayless Extraordinary Academics and Scholars Tournament) to be held Saturday, November 14, 2026 at Bayless High School (4532 Weber Road, St. Louis, MO 63123). This tournament will be a qualifier for the 2027 NAQT High School NCT (Atlanta, GA), the 2027 NAQT Small School NCT (Rosemont, IL), and the 2027 PACE NSC (Rosemont, IL).
QUESTIONS: We will be using the NAQT IS-249 set. It is your responsibility to ensure that your team has not previously heard this question set and will not compete in any other tournaments using this set. This set is also assigned to these Missouri tournaments:
11/14 - Clever Invitational (Clever, MO)
FORMAT: Games will consist of 20 tossups and up to 20 three-part bonuses. There will be 15 point powers, no penalties/negs for incorrect tossup answers, and bonuses will not rebound. There will be no math computation. Tossup timing: 5 seconds to buzz, 3 seconds after buzz to begin a significant answer, 7 seconds to complete answer. Bonus timing: 5 seconds to answer. Moderators will use an “Answer?” prompt on bonuses when one second remains. Overtime will be “sudden death” tossups until the first correct response. One 60 second timeout per team per match. Rosters will be limited to a maximum of 6 players; schools are encouraged to register multiple teams. Rosters will be submitted in advance, but will not be finalized until during check-in the morning of the tournament. Players may not change teams during the tournament.
LOGISTICS: Team check-in will begin at 8:00 AM in the Bayless Auditorium lobby (4532 Weber Road, 63123). A scorekeeper meeting will take place at 8:20 AM, and a moderator meeting will take place at 8:30 AM, both in the library/tournament HQ. The introductory team meeting will take place in the auditorium at 8:45 AM, with games beginning immediately following in the main building. Teams will play five morning games, break for lunch, return to the auditorium for morning awards (top fifteen medals and books) and afternoon schedules, then play five more afternoon games in ranked brackets. The top four afternoon teams will play an 11th game to determine final 1st-4th place rankings. The top four teams will receive trophies. If past iterations of this tournament are any indication, games should end in the 4:00 PM hour with the possible exception of the 1st-4th place games.
REGISTRATION: To register, please use the NAQT registration system at THIS LINK. This tournament’s field will be initially capped, and future expansion in groups of 6 to a hard cap of 48 teams as the waitlist fills is highly likely (so please add yourself to the waitlist). Please only register “A” and “B” teams initially. On or before October 5th, “C” teams and beyond may be added to the waitlist. To facilitate potential expansion of the field, your help in providing experienced moderator assistance would be greatly appreciated. Once we start working through the waitlist, we will prioritize promoting "A" teams to the field, with first preference going to “A” teams willing to provide skilled moderator assistance.
FEES, DISCOUNTS, and PAYMENT:
Base Fee: $80 per team
Multiple Team Discount: - $15 per subsequent team from school.
Moderator Discount: - $10 per moderator.
Working Buzzer Discount: - $5 per working, 8 person buzzer set (limit 2)
Minimum fee per team: $50 dollars.
Payment by check can be made out to “Bayless School District,” preferably mailed before the event to: “Bayless Scholar Bowl; c/o Bob Efken - 4532 Weber Road; St. Louis, MO 63123.” You may also bring payment with you on the day of the tournament.
CODE OF CONDUCT: We are committed to ensuring a safe and welcoming atmosphere for this tournament's competitors, coaches, staff, and spectators. In addition to all applicable MSHSAA, school sportsmanship, and personal conduct policies, participants must abide by the conduct policies set forth by NAQT and the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence's Code of Conduct. By registering your team, you are confirming you, your players, volunteers, and spectators will abide by these policies.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to me at befken@bayless.k12.mo.us.
We look forward to seeing everybody on Saturday, November 14th, 2026. COME SLAY THE BEAST!
| Bayless |