“We think, ‘Oh, we’re not going to be able to do it.’ And then we’re kissing Reuben, and it’s like, ‘Yeah, apparently we could do it,’” Nicholas Merchant said.

Nicholas was part of the Kahootlers, the winning team  in the Artsfest-sponsored competition called the Hunt. The team of  Otto Brown, Sam DuBose, Nicholas Merchant, Marc Mulligan and Reuben Slade also won the Hunt in 2017.

The Kahootlers were the first team to ever get two wins in the history of the Hunt, no small feat.

“We each had our own strengths and then, because we had done it three times before, we had the experience of competing,” Sam said.

 Freshman year, they didn’t have the experience. Not only were they at the bottom of the high school totem pole, they didn’t have any experience handling tasks.

“So we get this big list of tasks and we’re, like, ‘Well let’s just start doing them,’” Marc said. “But this year was different because we came in like knowing that we could do every single task.”

This year, the team pulled out all the stops to complete every task. One task was to wear a school-appropriate outfit to school made out of anything but clothes. The Kahootlers chose to wear nothing but undergarments and garbage bags. Otto, in particular, took this task to the extreme. 

“He walked through the caf’ like a politician,” Nicholas explained. “It was like he wanted absolutely everyone to see him.”

Otto even went to visit some administrative offices.

 “I think that would have been a lot more awkward last year or sophomore year — definitely freshman year,” Otto said. “So, I think having this, being a senior in doing this, you know, it was a lot of fun.”

But Otto was not the only Kahootler to go for it in a task.

“You really just have to like throw yourself in. It was one of the tasks like you think, ‘Oh, I would never wear makeup to school,’” Marc said, “but I did — last week.”

According to the Kahootlers, the hardest tasks were not the ones that flaunted public humiliation. The worst was to take an exercise class. 

The boys had Reuben’s mom teach them a yoga class, and she was determined not to go easy on them.

“I was dripping sweat,” Marc said.”I don’t know, I can only speak for myself. It was very, well, it was a lot.”

To say the least, the Kahootlers gave it their all.

“We just really went for it and didn’t hold back,” Reuben said, “and, yes, that was easier as seniors, but still we didn’t need to win. We were in it for the fun.”

Saying goodbye to the Hunt, the Kahootlers would like to thank Nicholas’ parents for consistently hosting, everyone who helped keep the Hunt fair, and their fans.

“To our fans, we thank them for their support, especially this year, for all of those Instagram follows. It was a legend at the school.” Otto explained, “And I know it sounds cheesy, but I think, you know, when you come together as a group with a common goal in mind, you can pretty much do anything.”