Ohio 2011-2012

[jgalea84]

Never too early to get the discussion started!

[Mr. Scogan]

Top 5 predictions
1.) Olmsted Falls (a very strong B team with probably the best science player in the state perhaps?Returning Sohan and Marty, plus a strong core of underclassmen, they will be very good.)
2.) Warren G. Harding (Returning I think their whole A team who made the playoffs this past year, including Michael Coates, who finished 8 overall individually scoring wise at the HSNCT, this team will make some noise and I personally think they're a lock to make OAC States once again)
3.) Northmont (I think Northmont will be an extremely competitive team this coming year. Whether I think they can win a State Title in either NAQT/OAC remains to be seen.)
4.) Sycamore (that is if they're returning Artur Meller and if they travel)
5.) Solon (Supposedly they're sending players to ACE Camp and I guess they had a really good sophomore last year to complement Nishanth)

Teams that I think will field competitive squads: Walnut Hills and St. Charles

[Alliance in the Alps]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Olmsted Falls and Harding at the top. Harding does return their entire A team.

Northmont seems it will mostly be the Sam Blizzard show, but he'll be tough for most teams to beat.

Sycamore does return Artur.

Solon and Walnut Hills both only graduated one person, but Solon is making more efforts towards improvement. As for Solon since I know them best, yes, the second-highest scorer on the team was a sophomore, and so was the kid with 30+ PPG on the B team at HSNCT. There was a person or two who didn't attend HSNCT who performed well individually at some tournaments, so there's that too. I'm looking forward to see how their efforts pay off.

Also, I'd watch out for South Range. Jarret informs me of how they're doing every once in a while, and one person on that team (who was a freshman) is getting really good from what he tells me.

[jgalea84]

I believe Beachwood returns most of the scoring from their #2 small school in the nation team, and they should be very, very good as well. Definitely capable of advancing out of the OAC NE regional.

[Madagascar Serpent Eagle]

Yeah, Olmsted Falls, Harding, and Northmont will be the top three in some order. Harding has the potential to be number 1, but I know that both Sohan and Sam Blizzard will put in lots of work over the summer, and I'm not sure if Harding will match that. If Michael's teammates contribute they'll definitely be set up for a lot of tournament wins, but if it's just him I'm not sure if they'll be able to pull off victories over Northmont and Olmsted Falls consistently, despite his deep real knowledge of history. Beyond that, while Sycamore does return Artur, I don't think they'll attend any tournaments and won't be allowed to go to OAC state, so I doubt they'll improve to the point where they can compete with the top three. If David et al. return from Solon I imagine they'll still be good, probably for fourth - I'm pretty sure he outscored all his teammates in the games when I played them at the DII ICT scrimmage this year. Walnut loses only me and returns all the rest of our states and NSC teams, so that combined with our academics will keep them competent at worst, but I don't think they'll be far above competent. Will's going to ACE though, and last year Stuart knew anything about history I didn't, so they might be able to pull an upset if they put their minds to it and don't decide that since I'm not there anymore to yell at them they should start going on neg sprees. I just don't see them putting in any work without me standing over them with whips and playing time removal. Copley loses...everyone (with the possible exception of Eddie?)...so I don't expect them to be that strong, and looking at teams from this year, Hudson loses Matt, Brush loses Andrew, St. Charles loses Greg, and St. Ignatius loses Matt and Pat, so it should be really wide-open.

[Mr. Scogan]

I wouldn't be surprised to see a possible surge in the Central Ohio circuit this year; teams that I'll make note of include Olentangy (notably Liberty), Delaware Hayes, Bexley and Dublin Scioto. Olentangy High and Liberty for some time now has had some competitive academics team (though its usually for In the Know, however I guess they did go to OAC things in the Columbus area recently), likewise with Delaware Hayes and Dublin Scioto. This past year, Hayes sent 10 kids to Tippecanoe, and even though they had a rather disappointing performance, they had a good player in Jim Brennan, whose going to be a Junior this upcoming year. He was pretty good on ITK too. In a somewhat similar boat is Dublin Scioto High School, who went 5-5 at NAQT states in their first ever TU/B event, they return Arjun (Class of 2014) who was 13 in individual scoring in the playoffs (afternoon rounds) at NAQT States. In addition to a good performance at NAQT States, they were within a few questions of beating Walnut Hills on Brain Game.

[blizzard]

As of right now, we have six players at Northmont, with no one other than me scoring more than 5 ppg at the HSNCT or NSC. We lose pretty much all our science knowledge with Emmanuel graduating.

I think it will be us, Harding, and Olmsted at the top. Olmsted seems the most mysterious because I don't know how Sohan and Marty will do without Jim and Mike, while Harding keeps everyone. Harding and us seemed pretty close last year, as we were 2-3 against them. However, I don't really know anything about Beachwood and who they return, so they could be up there.

After that, I can see Solon, Walnut Hills, and Sycamore (if they do anything) all doing well.

[Excelsior (smack)]

Beyond that, while Sycamore does return Artur, I don't think they'll attend any tournaments and won't be allowed to go to OAC state

It wasn't that there was some sort of administrative action preventing them from attending this year; it's just that literally everybody on the team had something else to do that day. Assuming that doesn't happen, they'll probably appear at OAC state next year. After all, for schools like Sycamore that are out of touch with the circuit, OAC state is basically the ultimate goal.

I've suggested to Artur that he become a hobo next year; not sure if he'll do that, though.

EDIT: why has my signature disappeared what is happening
EDIT 2: phew crisis resolved

[Madagascar Serpent Eagle]

Beyond that, while Sycamore does return Artur, I don't think they'll attend any tournaments and won't be allowed to go to OAC state

It wasn't that there was some sort of administrative action preventing them from attending this year; it's just that literally everybody on the team had something else to do that day. Assuming that doesn't happen, they'll probably appear at state next year. After all, for schools like Sycamore that are out of touch with the circuit, OAC states is basically the ultimate goal.

I've suggested to Artur that he become a hobo next year; not sure if he'll do that, though.

EDIT: why has my signature disappeared what is happening

I was under the impression that they were going to be banned or otherwise censured for not showing up. Regardless he should take up the tradition of Hamilton County hobos.

[Excelsior (smack)]

I was under the impression that they were going to be banned or otherwise censured for not showing up. Regardless he should take up the tradition of Hamilton County hobos.

Oh. That is entirely possible.

[Alliance in the Alps]

I forgot about Beachwood. I hope they compete more next year, and if they do, they'll be quite the force to reckon with.

EDIT: I'll also work with OSUAT to keep the Columbus teams in the circuit. I know there's lots of potential there, as Tom pointed out.

[djones]

I would say that Olmsted Falls is the team to beat right now. Sohan and Marty are very good, and I would guess that they would be complimented by two solid replacements from the B team.

After that, I think Northmont and Harding are very even. There were 5 close battles between Northmont B and Harding this year, with Harding prevailing 3 of 5 times, including in the 5-4 game at HSNCT. With them returning 4 seniors, I would put them second right now.

As for Northmont, Sam is going to be a monster next year, and after a 17th place individual scoring at HSNCT and 15th place scorer (overall standings- albeit against weaker competition in the playoffs) at NSC as an 8th grader, the sky is really the limit. We have a rising senior that I have some hope for and another freshman who I think I can develop into a solid player given that she seems pretty committed. The 4th starter spot (and JV team) is completely up in the air right now, with 2 seniors and a sophomore in the mix. With that being said, Sam can probably carry us by himself if needed. Sam and the Amos sisters will be at ACE camp next month, so I am hoping to develop the girls a little bit there- plus my outgoing seniors are taking a good mentor role to the new students, so that will definitely help.

Aside from those three- I would bet Solon fields a very solid team, given that they return a solid varsity player. Like Copley, they always seem to reload quite easily given that they have a large crop of smart kids to pull from. I wouldn't count Copley out either despite the loss of all of their main scoring in Saajid and Jackson. Korosa doesn't win state title after state title without knowing how to rebuild.

SW Ohio will be problematic, as I see Walnut being way down and really doubt Sycamore goes to any tournaments despite having a really good player. Given the anger of the committee given their bailing on the state tournament two days before, they will likely get a similar or harsher ban that the one they had a few years back for blowing off state, which might further discourage their participation.

Aside from that, the state will really be a crapshoot. Tippecanoe and St. Charles always seem to produce good teams, and Beachwood and a few other NE teams always seem to throw a few surprises out there.

[OFallsJC]

Beachwood returns their two top scorers from HSNCT in Scott (43.72 pp20th) and Lizzie (30.39). They also keep Anshika, who only played three and a half games but had 25.68 pp20th, so I'd be surprised if they aren't at least in the top 4 or 5 in the beginning of the year. No one has mentioned Hawken yet. I know they get people back but I'm not sure who. They could be well within the top 10 in the state. I suppose the same could be said about a whole group of NE teams though.... Any of Brush, Hudson, Green, Aurora, St. Ed's, St. Ignatius, Firestone, and North Olmsted could come out of (relative) nowhere like Brush did this year, especially since so many teams are losing talented seniors. OF will have enormous holes to fill, as Mike and I had almost all of our lit, fine arts, biology, geography, and trash buzzes. They do know stuff about lit and bio though, so that's encouraging.

[Mr. Scogan]

No one has mentioned Hawken yet..

That's because instead of going to TU/B events (save Solon and Olmsted Falls competitions this past year), they're playing QuizNet and other atrocities. I don't think they've been to Regionals in a few years, and they probably aren't intending on doing so either this coming year. They do know a lot of stuff though, I just don't think they can hang with the upper echelon of teams in Ohio, let alone the Northeast.

[OFallsJC]

http://www.naqt.com/stats/team-performa ... m_id=31145

They had 17.82 ppb with 3 players at Solon and they return at least Eric, their top scorer. We played them at regionals this year and I would have been very willing to bet that they wouldn't finish worse than fifth at OAC states if they were in any other region.

[Mr. Scogan]

http://www.naqt.com/stats/team-performance.jsp?team_id=31145

They had 17.82 ppb with 3 players at Solon and they return at least Eric, their top scorer. We played them at regionals this year and I would have been very willing to bet that they wouldn't finish worse than fifth at OAC states if they were in any other region.

Well I'll be. However I think as with the case with Beachwood (this didn't really affect them though), St. Ignatius and Hudson, unless they travel more, whats in the cards is in the cards, and they probably won't beat any state contender teams this year. I wouldn't mind being proven wrong here, but they can't be "hermits" of the TU/B circuit.

[MahoningQuizBowler]

Hawken will not contend for a TU/B state title until they change coaches.

Like others, I see Olmsted Falls, Harding, and Northmont leading the pack. South Range shows promise, and the fact that they put together two playoff wins in the small school division of HSNCT this May is encouraging. The young players are already showing their skill; hopefully that will continue.

With so many graduating, THIS is the time to really push to reach out to new teams and let them know that, with just mediocre effort, they could be in the top 10 of the state.

If Dublin Scioto continues where they left off at NAQT State, they will surprise some people.

[Madagascar Serpent Eagle]

I played Hawken on Sunday at Solon, and they knew some stuff. They just got unlucky sometimes, letting me steal 30 on a bonus that people who play lots of quizbowl would know easily and people who don't would have no hope of knowing. They seemed like a pretty nice group of people and their school is good from what I hear, but I was talking to them later and encouraged them to come to NAQT states and they didn't even know what it was. Until that changes, they won't be able to compete with the top teams. If it did, that'd be great.

[swwFCqb]

I played Hawken...they seemed like a pretty nice group of people and their school is good from what I hear, but I was talking to them later and encouraged them to come to NAQT states and they didn't even know what it was. Until that changes, they won't be able to compete with the top teams.

They actually have a former player and current assistant coach (I believe) who has started posting on here (and it would be nice to see you on the Ohio boards if you're reading this), so maybe if he gets exposure to this stuff he can try and get the school out to some quality events. I know they regularly attend OAC events and am pretty sure they have hosted Chip Beall events each of the past couple years, but they go to very few legit events and have even only showed up at CWRU for the past couple years to play trash only, which is pretty disheartening. They're one of these schools that have a lot of talent year after year but underachieve because they don't practice or play enough TU/B. Hopefully that'll change around sooner rather than later, because they could be an elite team with a little guidance, but I fear that Greg is right in saying that a head coaching change would have to occur since the current guy (I can't think of his name right now) seems to be firmly in the old school thought on quizbowl.

[OFallsJC]

Does Sycamore keep more than just Artur? His teammates scored well at states too.

[Excelsior (smack)]

Does Sycamore keep more than just Artur? His teammates scored well at states too.

Of Artur's teammates at state, Soham, Pinar, and Clayton remain for the coming year. They all seem to be interested in improving, but that doesn't really help if they don't go to tournaments.

[StC2011]

Some info about St. Charles in the upcoming season: We lose our top 4 players, me, Matt, Steven and Lex. Our 5th, a junior named Josh, played with us at OSU Fall and OAC regs/states. He will probably be the best player going into next year, but there are another two or three players around his level and a few other kids are attending camp. I think there will definitely be a drop-off from this year, but the team should still be respectable.

State-wide: This year is pretty wide open at this point. OFalls, Harding and the Sam Blizzard show seem to be the top tier, but after that it appears to be anyone's game.

@Jasper: you mentioned getting involved in central ohio leagues. You might want to talk to Alex Connor/Dr. Vandermeer about the league St. Charles plays in during the fall (Buckeye 8 is the name I think). It could desperately use some competent readers and/or editing on the questions, which are old questions from the St. Charles tournament.

[Boeing X-20, Please!]

While I was ranking teams in the Iillinois thread, I thought I should stop by here and lend an outsiders' thoughts to your discussion.
Let me preface this by saying I do not know much about the remaining talent in the Ohio circuit, as the excellent slew of players such as Jim Coury, Joe Nutter, and Brandon Williams graduated. However, from what I saw at ACE Camp, I can pretty firmly say Olmsted Falls will likely dominate for most of the season. They seem to be very organized and driven, and a few of their players performed really well. Sohan, in particular, was dominant in a few smaller categories and very good in some larger ones and although he's not Jim Coury, he should be able to fill a similar role and I have no doubt that the rest of his team will be able to back his abilities to a point where they will consistently be the best team in Ohio.

[DrCongo]

While I was ranking teams in the Iillinois thread, I thought I should stop by here and lend an outsiders' thoughts to your discussion.
Let me preface this by saying I do not know much about the remaining talent in the Ohio circuit, as the excellent slew of players such as Jim Coury, Joe Nutter, and Brandon Williams graduated. However, from what I saw at ACE Camp, I can pretty firmly say Olmsted Falls will likely dominate for most of the season. They seem to be very organized and driven, and a few of their players performed really well. Sohan, in particular, was dominant in a few smaller categories and very good in some larger ones and although he's not Jim Coury, he should be able to fill a similar role and I have no doubt that the rest of his team will be able to back his abilities to a point where they will consistently be the best team in Ohio.

Sohan and Marty both were impressive at ACE. I agree that OF is the team to beat next year in Ohio, but that's given my limited knowledge of how good other returning Ohio players are.

[svartak]

As of right now, I have absolutely no idea who the best team in the state will be next year. Based on last year, I think Harding, Northmont, and Beachwood will be very strong. Harding returns their entire A team. Michael will be even better next year, and if his teammates study hard over the summer, they will be a force during the year. As for Beachwood, Scott and Lizzie were both quite impressive at HSNCT. Northmont obviously has huge potential in Sam Blizzard, and I think that team's success will largely depend on how much work he puts into it. Mr. Jones' post about sending kids to ACE Camp tells me that they're working on finding kids to supplement Sam, which will make them a very strong team. Another team to watch out for is South Range; Jarret's been working with them and this year could see the beginning of their rise to dominance.
As for OF, Marty and I return and we both went to ACE Camp. Brad will be a nice addition to the A team, and between the three of us we've got a good amount of history and science knowledge. We're still working on filling the huge lit, fine arts, and geography holes left behind by the departure of Mike and Jim.

[Mr. Scogan]

Does anyone know if North Canton Hoover returns anyone? They seem to be real threats in OAC. Also, if Cuyahoga Falls traveled just a little bit I reckon that they'd be somewhat competitive judging off the fact they've been in the money for the third straight year on Brain Game (If I'm correct). Archbishop Carroll in Dayton is another team that appears to know a lot, including a rising junior(?), based off Brain Game and judging how far they got in Northmont's OAC tourney. A lot of "what ifs" or "if only's" from the naked eye seem to be an underlying theme concerning the zero activity a lot of these schools do in TU/B circuit.

[djones]

Carroll will not be much of a threat at all. They play adequately well on the easy OAC we play in our league, but got beaten badly by competent teams at regionals on difficult questions. They did OK at our OAC tournament last year, but the field outside of a handful of good teams was relatively weak since most of the good teams played the NE mirror, so I'm not sure how much I would take from that.

Zach, their rising junior, won a state geography bee in elementary or middle school and would have the potential to be a really good player in a structured program, but he got smacked around in quiz bowl geo by Blizzard last year, so he isn't even able to carry their dominate area in the canon. They have no real knowledge of the canon because the Northmont tournament is the only event they play each year outside of league and regionals. (They have won the league tournament to qualify for regionals the last couple of years after Northmont / Tipp are barred from playing because they are already in). I even offered their coach a free spot at FKT two years ago because we had one spot open, and he wasn't interested in playing for free at a school located 15 minutes from their own.

[Mr. Scogan]

Carroll will not be much of a threat at all. They play adequately well on the easy OAC we play in our league, but got beaten badly by competent teams at regionals on difficult questions. They did OK at our OAC tournament last year, but the field outside of a handful of good teams was relatively weak since most of the good teams played the NE mirror, so I'm not sure how much I would take from that.

Zach, their rising junior, won a state geography bee in elementary or middle school and would have the potential to be a really good player in a structured program, but he got smacked around in quiz bowl geo by Blizzard last year, so he isn't even able to carry their dominate area in the canon. They have no real knowledge of the canon because the Northmont tournament is the only event they play each year outside of league and regionals. (They have won the league tournament to qualify for regionals the last couple of years after Northmont / Tipp are barred from playing because they are already in). I even offered their coach a free spot at FKT two years ago because we had one spot open, and he wasn't interested in playing for free at a school located 15 minutes from their own.

Wow, this is really disheartening to hear that their program is in a position where there is so little motivation to even travel 15 minutes to a tournament that was free for them. I'm somewhat surprised to hear this because their coach seemed to be very down-to-earth and I guess somewhat intrigued about "improving" when we played them at Northmont.

[penforprez]

Top 5 predictions
1.) Olmsted Falls (a very strong B team with probably the best science player in the state perhaps?Returning Sohan and Marty, plus a strong core of underclassmen, they will be very good.)
2.) Warren G. Harding (Returning I think their whole A team who made the playoffs this past year, including Michael Coates, who finished 8 overall individually scoring wise at the HSNCT, this team will make some noise and I personally think they're a lock to make OAC States once again)
3.) Northmont (I think Northmont will be an extremely competitive team this coming year. Whether I think they can win a State Title in either NAQT/OAC remains to be seen.)
4.) Sycamore (that is if they're returning Artur Meller and if they travel)
5.) Solon (Supposedly they're sending players to ACE Camp and I guess they had a really good sophomore last year to complement Nishanth)

Teams that I think will field competitive squads: Walnut Hills and St. Charles

This is generally my view of things this year. I suspect Northmont will be better than people think. I have no empirical evidence to that effect; it's just intuition.

I was saying to Michael Coates the other day that last year was very exciting because we had so many good teams going at it every week. As a moderator who reads every week, it was so exciting for me to read so many good playoff matches last season. Last year was a blast for me, and I've seen everything. I also told Michael that this year will be equally exciting because we really don't know what's going to happen. It's like a Dallas cliffhanger--we've shot J.R., now we need to figure out who did it.

I believe Beachwood returns most of the scoring from their #2 small school in the nation team, and they should be very, very good as well. Definitely capable of advancing out of the OAC NE regional.

Beachwood was very impressive in the small school playoffs at HSNCT. I read several rounds for them, including the final. They had a very strong group. There was no beating George Mason in that final; GM just had it going. But if Beachwood travels more, they will be a force to be reckoned with. Greg has talked to them about that before, and that's a push I want to continue. As I learned from many years on the Missouri circuit (where people are far more stubborn), you have to be really persistent to get teams you want to go places. In quizbowl, as in life, persistence pays off.

[Mr. Scogan]

I don't know about anyone else, but this year seems to be going as many thought it would. If Hawken and Beachwood get into traveling more, they could perhaps break open the field a little bit.

[penforprez]

I don't know about anyone else, but this year seems to be going as many thought it would. If Hawken and Beachwood get into traveling more, they could perhaps break open the field a little bit.

But they never do, and I doubt they ever will, especially Hawken. Still, sometimes you have to keep trying. :)