55 Years of the World’s Largest Trivia Contest

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s 90FM is hosting its annual trivia contest this year from April 11-13, featuring 54 hours of live trivia. This year marks the 55th anniversary of the world’s largest trivia contest.  

This year’s theme is “Trivia 55: No Limit,” with retro elements that look toward the future while remembering the past. 

Registration for the contest starts on April 7^th through the 10^th from 3pm to 7pm or April 11^th from noon to 6PM. The registration fee is 40$. Students who live in UWSP resident’s hall can join their hall’s team for free. 

Teams return each year to play, with some having started playing as far back as 1970. Participation is not limited to Stevens Point; people from around the globe take part in the trivia contest. 

Frank Ross, a UWSP student and News Director at 90FM, has been participating in trivia for as long as he can remember. “There is nothing better than taking part in a tradition that is half a century old,” Ross said. “There’s nothing else like it.” 

David (DAC) Coulthurst started playing trivia when he was 10 and played for 40 years before transitioning to co-write nearly 450 questions for the contest since 2023 with Alex Neupert. “To me it’s like a second Christmas. It is when family and friends get together,” Coulthurst said. 

Jade Shaffer, a student volunteer, described participating in trivia as a unique experience. “I’ve absolutely loved doing trivia every single year,” Shaffer said. “You feel like you are part of something a lot bigger than yourself.”  

The contest is entirely run by volunteers. Anyone who wants to volunteer can and those who do get free food, and experience in the station. There are still volunteer positions open for the running questions on Saturday and Sunday morning and scoring music sheets.  

Ross encourages students to visit 90FM: “Check it out, even if you haven’t been around the radio station much, poke your head in to see what’s going on.” 

The bond between the campus and the community only grows stronger during the trivia contest, with running questions, the trivia stone, and a team parade. The students volunteering get to interact directly with the community.   

The money made from the contest goes directly back to the station, providing funding for equipment and scholarships. 

Jim (Oz) Oliva, has been volunteering for the trivia contest since 1979. He remembers writing his first set of questions in spiral notebooks and stacks of legal pads.  

“I mean a lot of teams I know, players I know, met their husbands, they met their wives, they met their best buds, their best friends—the best group of people to hang around with when they were going to school here and playing trivia,” Oliva said. 

As excitement builds for this year’s event, participants can look forward to a weekend filled with challenges, long nights and the chance to create new lifelong memories