More than 400 teams competed in the “World’s Largest Trivia Contest” at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point last weekend.

The Trivia 39 was put on by the university’s radio station, WWSP 90 FM, and has been running for the past 39 years. While many students participate in this 54-hour trivia competition, teams also have members from around the country and even international members.

According to Tracy Berg, student news producer for UWSP’s Student Television, eight questions are read on air per hour, and competitors have the length of two songs to find the answer and call in to the radio station. 

“Every question is worth 2,000 points, and that number is divided by the number of teams that get that question right,” Berg said. “The harder questions are worth more points because fewer teams get them right.”

Berg said the theme for this year’s contest was “Trivia Invasion,” and the contest was centered on the British invasion. 

Corey Scharrer, senior at Stevens Point and captain of the team that came in 33rd, “TFC 28: Jared Ate My Yellow Submarine,” said the weekend is unlike any other experience. He has been participating in the trivia contest for 23 years, since he was born. 

“The first 13 years of my life I played with my family,” Scharrer said. “I have been running it for the past 10 years with more help from my friends and less help from my family.”

Scharrer said the questions are mostly pop culture questions and can cover knowledge from any part of culture. 

“There are some pretty obscure questions,” he added.

One question asked at the end of the competition every year, he said, asks what player is on the baseball bat seen at the end of “The Shining.” 

But teams have to be prepared for all kinds of questions, and many teams prepare for the competition all year round by taking notes on everything they think could be used as a question.

“There is a lot of devotion to this competition,” Scharrer said. “We are not the best at taking notes like some of the others, but we are dedicated.”

According to Berg, teams make signs to advertise for their teams and put them up outside of their “headquarters.” The news station travels around the city interviewing and taping different teams to make a compilation of the event. 

Because the competition is so long, many teams work in shifts like Scharrer’s team. However, Berg said some teams do stay awake for the entire 54 hours. 

Headquarters for TFC 28: Jared Ate My Yellow Submarine consists of about 10 to 15 computers on the Internet at all times and at least four people awake to answer questions. Scharrer said his team had about 25 to 30 members who participated and 10 who were at headquarters the entire weekend. 

The winning team was “Network” with 10,035 points, followed by “Graduates of a Lesser God” with 8,900 points. Scharrer’s team earned 4,985.

Out of the 433 teams, only two earned zero points.