2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Current and historical discussions of the best teams and players across the nation, along with question sets and tournaments. The board-run national polls also take place in this forum. Region-specific discussion live under this forum.
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Immobilizer418
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2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by Immobilizer418 »

Hello all,

At the request of a certain duck-possessing quizbowl player (though I've been told it's apparently a goose), I'm making this thread as a place to shoutout players and teams both Nationally and in your own circuit.

If you wish to contribute and you're looking for an example on what to say, you can find last years post here: viewtopic.php?t=27066

I will be posting one of my own later on this week when I have time to synthesize my thoughts.

Happy posting everyone!
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by Somewhere in the Stratosphere »

Arkansas Shoutouts:

- Alexander Tenace and Batesville High School Charter's quizbowl team for representing Arkansas well at HSNCT, finishing one win away from a playoff spot. Alexander was also an HSNCT allstar.

- Central High's Siddharth Sridharan for finishing near T100 in IPNCT as a sophomore and finishing T60 in science and math.

- Alexander Reyes for being the 6A MVP as a freshman, him and his LR Catholic team should be on the up for the next three years.

- Coach Johnny Barham for bringing Rogers Heritage to the 7A Finals in his first year at the school. He's the best quizbowl coach in AR history and I don't think it's disputable.

- The AGQBA board for making a conscious effort to make AR quizbowl of higher quality by securing a question contract with the LIQBA.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by A2718 »

Here are just a few of many people, both from Texas and the nation as a whole, who I was really impressed by this season (obviously this is going to be very skewed in favor of people who I talk to a lot, and I chose only to include people who I’ve played against, played with, or watched in person):

Texas: Cole Hartung is in my opinion the top history player in the country and has been since roughly his sophomore year. Despite being a notable carder, he has incredibly deep knowledge of all sorts of history as well as other categories like VFA and literature as one of the country’s top generalists. Additionally, he has also been my teammate for just over two years now and has been a great team captain. It’s pretty sad to say goodbye to the most iconic figure of Kinkaid QB, but hopefully he will continue his quizbowl career at college at Georgetown. Bryce Cruise is an incredible generalist who is also insane at literature and has been a ton of fun to play against for two years. All of Strake A has been super impressive this year as in previous years, especially sci player Max Chen. Needless to say, the same goes for St. Mark’s, who took our Texas state title this year and proceeded to do really well at SSNCT, HSNCT, and PACE. I think almost every HS quizbowler knows this at this point, but literally all their players are insanely good at this game, and they work really well together. Overall, I’ve been playing in the Texas circuit for 2 years now and it’s clear to me that even though we’re losing a lot of seniors, we'll bounce back and continue to be one of the top circuits in the country.

Other: Moving on to players from outside of Texas, it’s pretty much undisputed that Rohan Ganeshan has been the best HS quizbowl player for the last 3 years or so and one of the best (if not the best) players to player quizbowl at the HS level ever, so instead I’ll just mention that he’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and is definitely the most humble player I’ve ever met. Rohan Kher and Charles Young are also two of the best players in the country and made up the core of one of the best teams ever. A less recognized player is Camden Williams, who was the number one all star at PACE and is in my opinion a t3 generalist in addition to being great at pretty much every category. Omkar Marathe is undoubtedly a top lit player (somewhere in the t3) as well as a solid generalist. TJ is another team filled with great players, including Deven Hagen, Chris Yoo (a top lit player), Ryan Zhang, and several others on both their A team and their other teams. Rising seniors Aatreyo Bhattacharyya and Tanay Bodducherla are really good and, together, cover pretty much the entire distribution solidly. I expect Mira Loma to be one of the teams dominating the 2024-25 season. Vikram Narasimhan is the best current events player I’ve met and was ranked number one in CE at IPNCT. Travis Johnson also deserves recognition as a great specialist, this time in the category of literature. Rachel Ezrielev, a key part of the RM A team that placed second at PACE, is really good at lit, in my opinion also a candidate for t3 literature. Yaj Jhajhria is an immensely underrated top generalist who performed really well at IPNCT. Although I never played against them, I know that Hastings as a team is very well balanced (by design I believe). In particular, I’d like to mention Hazel DePreist-Sullivan, a top humanities player this year whose insane knowledge impressed me at both nats, and Benny Feldman, who I think might best be described as a generalist as well as a very nice person. Winston Churchill, another great balanced team, has managed to knock us out of contention at PACE two years in a row. Finally, Robert Wang is a top generalist who I believe will be returning next year to lead Livingston.

I probably forgot some people but it’s fine so I’ll end this by saying thank you to everyone for making this qb season really fun.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by SilverSheep4833 »

I'll probably limit this to the Northeast for now, as there will already be a lot of people I want to shoutout. I may not get to everyone here, but all of you (not just in the Northeast) are incredible people and have made the past two years of my life so much better. With that being said, let's start with my teammates.

In addition to his amhist and worldhist prowess, Benny Feldman has become a very strong chem and bio player over the past year. I did not expect him to be powering sci over St. Mark's, but he just has it like that. I may tease him about being a UChicago econ major who can't get econ questions, but his ss is actually pretty good. He's also a great captain and team/club leader, really putting in immense effort to get us support from the school. Who let this man on the David Riley conference tho.

Owen Linder is an NAQT demon. His "feature-based", as he calls it, geography is formidable, and he was EATING the 2/2 at HSNCT. He's a very solid eurohist player, and his improvement on AFA and OFA this year has been colossal. By his own admission, he has no knowledge of classical music, but after writing an obscene amount of cards (and not missing a day of review for over a year), he's been able to hang with the best. Perhaps most importantly, he's been the main architect of our spreadsheets. I won't discuss them in detail here (although I believe my teammates have explained them), but the first allowed us to coordinate our coverage as a team of specialists, while the second was a major motivator of our improvement since January.

The goat himself, Jacob Goldman-Wetzler (jgw) has at times been a silent carry for us. All knowledge is fake, but his is the realest you can find on our team. A great deal of his phys and osci knowledge is from papers he's read, and his involvement in rationality-focused spaces allows him to randomly pull pss. Outside of the game, his research for his Regeneron project on information retention allowed us to improve our carding methods, another huge part of the team-wide improvement mentioned earlier.

Barring very extraneous circumstances, I will likely never play with these guys again, but the time we've spent as a team over the past two years has been amazing, and I wouldn't trade them for anyone else.

Onto the other Northeast teams making up my top 5:
- Livingston is just insane. Between their insane HSNCT run, their top bracket finish at PACE, and their regular season dominance, everyone in the region (and many people outside of it) know how good they are. Robert Wang, my NJ TRANSit comrade, has breadth and depth that few other players can match. He's best known for history, but his religion is better than mine, and he's even taken lit off of me before. Speaking of lit, Sophia Wu has been one of my biggest motivators to improve in the category. Every time I played them in the regular season, she'd beat me on lit. I'd study, think "surely this time will be different", and he'd do it again. Sophia, and Livingston as a whole, has kept me from ever growing complacent - every time I thought I was the best, they'd show me I was wrong. Also a great FA player btw. Kevin Zhang has my respect as a fellow jötunn of myth, and he's gotten some insane buzzes over me, while Lelun Li knows more about luminosity than any other player.
- Hunter can never be kept down. After something of a slump in the second half of the regular season, they came back stronger than ever for great runs at both nationals. Evan Schleck is another one of those players with both wide and deep knowledge (I think his PACE stats speak for themselves), while Matthew Kohn is one of the region's strongest sci players. I don't know too much about Fahian Joy or Maggie Sun's categories, but I've seen some very impressive buzzes from both of them. I also want to shout out Dune Joerg, who came up from the B team for a very solid HSNCT performance. Some people will say that Hunter never had a slump, but I think it's more impressive that they recovered from one so well.
- Belmont is good. Andrew Gao and Gregory Zeldovich (another myth dawg), both freshmen, have always been strong performers, which I think is well-known. Krikor Hachikian's VFA is very strong, while Julian Halpern-Smith is another player I don't know too much about, but he gets his buzzes. Andy and Greg have three more years of high school quiz bowl ahead of them, and I expect them to only continue to climb.
- Lexington is a team made up entirely of freshmen, but that didn't stop them from rising to be one of the strongest in the Northeast. Benny has called them the "next Hastings" in regards to their dynamic and broad strength. Shishir Bharadwaj's lit/FA, Alvan Hossain's hist, and Aadi Pudasaini's sci are all formidable, while Melody Zou, in addition to being a strong myth player, has done a fantastic job captaining this team. Like Belmont, they have nowhere to go but up, and between the two of them, the MA circuit will be scary.

Shoutouts to other teams and individual players:
- I still don't know what Darien's A team is, but whatever combination they put together is always strong. Everyone on this team is a great player and a great person.
- High Tech randomly beats us too much. They also disappeared for months and then popped off on SCT with only half their A team.
- Sky Hong, another member of NJ TRANSit, is both a terrifying sci player and a strong generalist, as well as an amazing friend. Soloing PACE takes a great deal of willpower, but she showed up and was a top 6 individual player.
- Emma Byron from Bronx Science, also my teammate on NJ TRANSit, is a strong hist player and generalist, and is the only person I've met who loves public transit as much as Owen.
- Travis Johnson is good at lit (I don't need to tell anyone this).
- Max Lin. The boy. A Westchester legend. No longer confined to the depths of the NAC, he played his first year of good quiz bowl and quickly made his mark on the circuit, eventually being a top 4 individual player at HSNCT.

I'm going to end this post here, and I'm really sorry if I didn't get to mention you or profile you enough. I hope to do at least one more of these posts, hopefully including more than just the Northeast, but the chance of me actually doing something I say I will is quite low, so I apologize in advance. Love y'all.
Last edited by SilverSheep4833 on Mon Jun 10, 2024 7:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by sleepycellist »

Immobilizer418 wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2024 10:39 am Hello all,

At the request of a certain duck-possessing quizbowl player (though I've been told it's apparently a goose), I'm making this thread as a place to shoutout players and teams both Nationally and in your own circuit.

If you wish to contribute and you're looking for an example on what to say, you can find last years post here: viewtopic.php?t=27066

I will be posting one of my own later on this week when I have time to synthesize my thoughts.

Happy posting everyone!
time for my own shill post. i’ve not been in this community for super long but i would at least like to think that i know the community fairly well. i’m surrounded by some of the best that push me to work harder and also wanted to say thank you to people in the community for that. now onto the actual shill…

first some crazy seniors:
nobody reading this needs to be reminded how unbelievable rohan ganeshan’s quizbowl skills are but his ability to persist in studying, even in his last year, has been inspiring. not to mention the brightness and support he brings to this community when helping younger/more inexperienced players and cheering them on. he’s also one of the most kind hearted people i’ve ever had the pleasure of calling friend.

chris yoo has proved, despite a rockier season, to be one *crazy* lit main. watching the growth even over the past year has been absolutely astonishing, as shown by many shared late night study sessions, “chris why are you reading a whole set in one day”s, and the time he pours into poring over packets and buzz points.

and we can’t go without shouting out ace blair and their insane run at hsnct (we missed you at pace) in addition to their dogged perseverance with this activity to finish off the season on the right foot. pranav aiyar and dwij bhatt each will both be similarly missed in ilqb next year (and their voracious cookie consuming habits). not to mention, bryce cruise and cole hartung are both insane history mains. soren gjesfjeld and brielle rach have been pillars of ilqb for years. jc’s seniors, most notably kevin wang, rohan dalal, and fa man / fellow rice krispie enjoyer jeffrey xu will be dearly missed.

next some teams to watch out for next year:
mira loma goes without saying. despite having to miss pace, they retain everyone but elyas and with that 8th place finish at naqt, they’re definitely a team to watch. aatreyo bhattacharyya has been working hard to curtail his negging habits and study more consistently, which has been endearing to watch behind the scenes. not to mention, all the work that tanay bodducherla and nicki munkhabataar put in.

strake jesuit also retains everyone. max chen is one spitfire of a science main (even if he can’t hear me ask said question ever) and justin wang is one of the most elite american history players that i’ve ever met (his ability to teach clues is actually incredibly impressive). khang le’s fine arts knowledge is similarly just as jaw dropping.

tj, perhaps more affectionately called the evil empire of quizbowl, still retains their absolute powerhouse named deven hagen in addition to some breathtaking younger players (notably aarushi kanigcherla, sophia guo, anthony zhao, rohan singh, abigail lee, aaryan sumesh) despite graduating a lot of their seniors who will be missed greatly (grace liu, alec riso, alan fan…to name a few).

belmont is also a team to be watching out for. speccing the belmont-kinkaid tiebreak, it was incredibly close and extremely impressive to watch the knowledge andy gao and greg zeldovich (in addition to their teammates) have amassed over the years. knowing they still have 3 years to go is a scary thought…especially when they’re already playing college quizbowl.

now as for my fellow illinois teams:
william fremd will still be amazing with its retention of the absolute dynamo that is omkar marathe. as someone who’s had the (mis)fortune of having had to and will continue to have to play against him regularly, the both depth and breadth of his lit knowledge is absolutely ridiculous. anvith vanukuri and steven long also both deserve some praise.

in addition, waubonsie valley, although not at very many tourneys, will rapidly grow to be a mainstay of illinois quizbowl under rishi sunak’s best doppelganger, vikram narasimhan. an insane ce, hist, and farmpss player and an immensely hard worker, i know that program will succeed under his care for one more year.

last but not least, barrington must be pointed out. despite losing charles and rohan, they still remain strong with (notably) lynda ma, kaitlyn leonard, and william yao.

now just some overall crazy non seniors i haven’t *already* shouted out here (but only one liners-ish to keep this short)

ali hamzeh’s unparalleled rise in quizbowl is an absolute marvel, in addition to his delightful presence.

camden williams is one of perhaps the most underrated generalists and an obscenely talented and hard-working player.

evan schleck had a preposterous number of powers at pace, in addition to being a very very nice individual.

in addition to being a pleasure to staff and see sreekar vajjha at tournaments. he’s an extraordinary player, dropping an impressive number of powers against tj at an online tourney.

and special thanks to my own team (even if they’ll never see this): especially charlie doehring, jonathan detoro, and alex zhang. alex has had insane growth over the past year and worked so hard to grow. charlie’s incredibly real knowledge comes in clutch in any close games and it’s impressive how much he actually knows. jonathan detoro has been a real one…it’s been a pleasure playing w you for the past 3 years and i’ll miss your lit support immensely.
Last edited by sleepycellist on Mon Jun 10, 2024 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by arjunvivekraj21 »

I’m gonna shout a couple of people from Minnesota

From Eden Prairie: I’d like out to shout out to Vineel z Panyala, he’s been our lead captain and has taught me so many things about leadership. I’d also like to shout out Aish and Aaron who both were our captains this year and did a pretty good job. I’d also like to shout out our freshman who made this year a big blast and are really good prospects for the future of EPQB!

From Wayzata: Lucas (wayzatas coach) is someone I really enjoyed communicating to all year and he has done an incredible job at wayzata. I’d also like to shout out Richard Lin and Abhinav for being awesome teammates with me at MCQUEEN and Nithin, Sriram, Ananth, Ritvik and Owen have been really nice people to communicate to!

From Minnetonka: Andy has been a character in MNQB and is proud winner of the Acronym title in Minnesota! I loved talking to him at every tournament and online as he’s very passionate about quizbowl!

From Hudson: Aaron Marchand has been a mentor that has taught me a bunch of things. Before hsnct I was very stressed out due to many problems within the team and I was able to talk to him about a lot of problems and let out my stress at HSNCT which made it even more of a blast! I will always be grateful for that :>)

From everywhere else: Owen Riley has been a fun person to talk to and many of his tournaments have been fun to staff/play. Reily Melville is a former Minnesota player and has contributed to many of the Minnesota polls and he always goes into a bunch of detail which I have always loved. Amory Kaufman was a freshman from providence who beat wayzata at a tournament so he’s pretty cool. Nat from DLS is an underrated generalist who has been really good all year. Samir Sarma was an EP player I always looked up to since freshman year. Ai Xing, Luke, Avery Isaac and Vineel all staffed SOAR and made the tournament run beautifully and I will be very grateful for that!
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by bennyfeldmn »

I think my yap-about-whos-good-at-quiz-bowl battery is kinda drained for the year so this is just gonna be a spitball of my most random takes/observations from nats. for more in-depth Northeast shills visit my really long post at the bottom of this thread

My most in-depth analysis, I want to highlight the come-up of a dear friend and teammate, Hazel DePreist-Sullivan. I have played so much quiz bowl with her and heard her absolutely chef up time and time again and the amazement hasn't worn off. I'd contend that she is probably the most improved player in the entire country over the past 18 months (and Hastings as a team probably), going from this on IS-215 18 months ago to this at PACE NSC. I could go on for uh. much much longer. but I wont! or i will another time idk. But shoutout to Hazel!

My favorite friendly rivals, Livingston. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't euphoric to beat them at PACE (check out that livestream game btw it was sick) after a year of intrigue and only playing them full one other time. Though the goat Sophia Wu leaves, Arav Kaushik is a perfect successor of a lit player to fill her spot and make a run with Mister Wang and the rest of the core. I do think they'll be the number 1 team in the country next year, they just probably need to sharpen up in non-Bobby categories going into next season.

Ngl, i thought Hunter was actually cooked this year. But jesus their nats performances were AMAZING. Don't make my mistake and doubt them next year, as Evan Schleck returns, meaning this team could do anything.

Non-Northeast, vaguely qb-related thoughts, rapid fire:

Shoutout to Innovation Academy for absurd drip and good vibes
Shoutout to Richard Montgomery for the most nonchalant and chill assasincore playstyle, which just seems to break us in-game.
Shoutout to Heights, and specifically Bryce Cruise, for kinda appearing on the nats scene and having amazing sportsmanship and a humble attitude (also love the dog merch)
Shoutout to Johns Creek who I'm not gonna lie are kinda the most random team ever but their build is insane and it was a pleasure finally running into them at PACE (even tho we got killed)
Shoutout to TJ for all being super nice and cool people despite being from evil TJ (oh and also TJ C got t4 PACE by transitive property)
Shoutout to Barrington for winning a lot but also keeping things super grounded and classy, which likely stems from the philosophy of Jeff Price, an amazing coach and even better guy.
Shoutout to all of the Riley Panelists I had the privilege of talking with Saturday night, it was an amazing discussion and I recommend y'all check it out when PACE releases it!
Shoutout to St. Marks for traveling around the country with us to 3 nats and also splitting the true SSNCT crown at PACE. Love their playstyle.
Shoutout to Strake for coming to Prison Bowl that one time and winning randomly. Y'all are hilarious and also solid throwers of a football.

I think that's it?? I'm definetly missing people but it's been an awesome nats season and really great to get to know everyone listed and not listed above. High School wouldn't have been the same w/o qb, so thank you all for making a great community. I plan to staff/work whatever I can nats-wise in the future so feel free to say hi there or online!
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by CabbageHugs »

I've been out of touch with the circuit for most of the season, but I tuned in for the fervor of nationals. I feel inspired to maybe play next season, but also very intimidated by some of the fellows, fellas, and fellees from this year.

Despite having no finals, NSC had a lot of exciting results. It was nice to see RM A actualize their potential at both nats losing only to Barrington, Buffalo Grove, and St. Marks when it counted. Their bonus play at PACE was impressively consistent (never dropping below 18) and second only to Barrington. Josh and Rachel will be missed but Andrew Zhao has impressed and I've heard the streets (Greg Zeldovich) say "Nam Dang is a dawg."

The sparse concerns about Barrington losing key contributing 3rd and 4th players were killed at HSNCT and then defecated on at NSC. While new role players did sufficiently step in, Rohan and Charles really ascended to a new level in terms of knowledge depth but especially coverage, where gaps often plague teams of one or two stars. They showed hints of mortality during the regular season but when it mattered most they were practically untouchable. Maybe true for every era of quizbowl, but against their contemporaries of the last two years (myself included), Charles and Rohan dashed any delusions that they could successfully contend.

I was super excited to see Hastings kill it at PACE. I'd admit I was not familiar with "1066 A" when I first played them at Prison Bowl but they had(have) great energy and it has been awesome to seem them flourish as a team. Big shoutout to Hazel DePriest-Sullivan who has always been a powerful powering transfemme, perpetually gagging and inspiring us all. Definitely dripped out alongside Benny in Reston.

Kinkaid had a rough draw at both nationals. They had to play Barrington in the 3rd round of HSNCT playoffs and then the criminally underrated Heights. At PACE, even though they beat St. Marks, they unfortunately lost to 2 DMV demons in RM and their PACE rivals, Winston Churchill. Ali and Cole are known to be some of the best, if not the best, at what they do but I also think they're one of the few teams that would do noticeably better if the nats content became much harder so hopefully we'll see Cole and then Ali kill it in college.

No surprises that Rohan Ganeshan's Buffalo Grove was once against formidable at HSNCT. I thought it was interesting that the 3 BG playoff losses combined to a total 30 point margin. Also, that of 5 playoff wins, 4 were against DMV teams and 1 against Central Virginia's Maggie Walker. It almost feels unnatural that Rohan will be playing with an established team next. It would seem more appropriate if he played with the quizbowl team of some Caribbean institution handing out semi-fraudulent medical degrees (with a few good apples who drop clutch powers sometimes) but it will be fun to see what Rohan can do on a full team.

TJ partly beat themselves at both nats. I personally think brackets should be altered slightly if possible to prevent same-team matches early in a nationals tournament. Both to prevent knocking each other out and also collusion (maybe relevant to PACE?) TJ B would have faced A in the prelims if they hadn't forebodingly lost to Heights, and then TJ B's Anthony Zhao's standout game from a standout tournament handed TJ A their first lost in the playoffs. The TJ graduation/PACE conflict once against took its tax, this time more consequential and across more teams than last year. TJ A was the better of 2 teams to beat Barrington at PACE, and a carried loss into superplayoffs would have almost forced Barrington to play at least an advantaged final. It's hard to say if Ryan Zhang could have singlehandedly swung the full-packet loss to Johns Creek but I can't imagine the very close half-packet tiebreak between the two teams would have had the same result if both Chris Yoo and Ryan were playing. Even with many, many good players graduating, next year should still be promising across the program. Besides consolidating the remainders of A and B into a strong team (maybe Deven, Aaryan, Anthony, and Abigail?), C and D also quietly had very good performances at PACE, with C beating Canyon Crest and Hastings, and D being the strongest JV team by far. D's Matthew Ryan played his second tournament at NSC and had 23 powers.

I'll end by thanking everyone for making this year's race to second place exciting (/JOKING) and it'll be fun to see what happens in the post-Barrington era of dominance. To any teams I didn't write about and actually care, I apologize for not being familiar with your game, I was not super plugged in this year.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by chris_astewte »

Time to talk about Oklahoma because IT'S THE BEST STATE WOOOOOO!!!!!

For my own team: I first have to thank Mr. President Cassidy McIntyre for cleaning up on the vfa I don't know and allowing me to tune out every bio question. I wish you many slays and good buzzes playing at OU. Collin for letting me tune out all the lit and afa at hsnct and being one of the biggest quizbowl demons ever becoming a legit lit player in like a year and a half. Go be good at ICT or I'll heckle you. Avery for having played with me since freshman year and always coming up with the clutch poetry buzzes when it counted, and my goat, Joel, it's incredibly sad to see you go. I'll forever miss all the most random real knowledge buzzes from a youtube video you essentially have memorized, and all the sci-fi trash buzzes. You better slay at ssnct for ossm.

THE B TEAM, THE B TEAM: I'll never not be impressed with the growth of, essentially, 4 first year players. Alex moved to the US from Vietnam last summer and he already knows more about Oklahoman geography than I do (perhaps a lack of touching grass on my part). Ari became scary good at lit in a span of about 3 months. Brooklyn consistently beats me to painting questions at practice and her love of art and Joan Didion as a freshman is truly inspiring. Maya has probably the realest myth knowledge of anyone in Oklahoma, in addition to being a Percy Jackson kid, and will forever be my goat for powering a hist tu at HSNCT because of a historical fiction book she read.

Classen: My We're OK teammates Sreekar Vajjha and Charan Pratapaneni are some of the best and funniest people in Oklahoma. Sreekar never ceases to impress me with his real bio knowledge and whatever other good buzzes he can manage. Charan quickly became a formidable player who is incredibly dedicated to the game and will likely have some very random great buzzes at NASAT for Oklahoma Orange. There are other Classen players who I interacted less with over the year such as Pranav, another person going to ossm and Oklahoma Orange player, Amasha, Meghna, and Milla. People should keep an eye out for Classen because they want to eclipse their already impressive finish in what will be, really, their third year as a team. All they need is the Yeat tu at hsnct, trust.

Other notable Oklahoma people: Morris are looking to best their t-8th at ssnct next year with Keyton "Frankenstein buzzer" Tiger-Harjo, McKinley, and Ean who consistently played close games against us. Of Redlands, Keira Flenniken :grin:. My OU goats Oliver Wu and Zac Bennett for hosting consistently good tourneys, and Zac as the de facto representative of Oklahoma across the collegiate qb sphere—also the Oklahoma Orange coach, whether officially or not. Thanks for inviting to Booster Shot, likely the most grueling, but fun qb experiences I've had (only used to hs NAQT length, not long question :sad:).

Oklahoma quizbowl is easily in the best place it's ever been and this is hopefully just the beginning with likely even more collegiate, hs, and ms teams playing good quizbowl next year. I hope to see you all in N147.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by cemeterysummoning »

I was admittedly out of it for most of this season, and as a result I was not locked in to the more competitive analysis aspect of this activity, so I don't really know "what" is "what" anymore -- therefore, I'm going to be dedicating this post to the amazing human beings that make this game possible, whose presences make this game worth playing a thousand times over.

Abigail AuYeung, for being the certified gourmet cookie baker (seriously, she's really good at baking!) and for just getting it a lot -- I don't think I could've made it through this year without you.
Andrew Gao, for being the sheets demon (™) of quizbowl and for being behind so many well run and enjoyable online tournaments (and also for making really good cookies! Abigail, you have a competitor). I'm looking forward to many impromptu trips up to Belmont next year (please don't get too annoyed if I pop into one too many practices).
My teammate, Gus Vanskike, for sticking through all of the highs and lows of HSNCT with me; I'll miss playing together with you next year, for sure.
Azura Gollamudi, for being a silly goober (?) and just being a really nice human being. She also knows so much about many cool things, and I think that's very cool of her.
Vikram Narasimhan, for being a certified gentleman in quizbowl. I'm sad that I didn't get to know him better before this year, but he's really an amazing person to talk to. It's a shame that his school administration prevents Waubonsie Valley from going to national tournaments, because y'all, he's really really good at history and CE (source: IPNCT).
Alan Fan, for being an awesome teammate and the better half of the UNSTOPPABLE "AAA Insurance." It's always a joy seeing and talking to him at various tournaments in the area, and I will forever renew my "Alan Fan Fan Club" membership card as long as I'm alive.
Ethan Linn, for being comedic relief (/j) and for being a reliable teammate (dw -- I've forgiven you for making me play 6 or so rounds solo). He's also really good at history, y'all. I'm glad that we'll both be in Boston next year, and I hope to see him around in the circuit.
Anwen Kelleher, for having this genuine and sincere respect for most things literature and art that's rare to see nowadays. Our interests really intersect in a lot of ways, and writing that festivus packet with her was so much fun -- she has so much deep-seated knowledge for cool and (sometimes) obscure art movements, authors, and whatever the heck Zaum is.

Of course, how could I write a shillpost without a mention of Bobby Wang? 🪁

And lastly, I know he's not a player, but I really want to thank Joe Feldman for forcing me to stay in this game (/hj) by introducing me to the joy of logistics and statkeeping, for showing me that quizbowl isn't just about winning games or getting points. It was a needed shift in perspective, and this guy really, truly made me believe that I belonged in this game, for making me believe that I was enough. That was just enough to keep going.

I'm sure there are many tens of hundreds of other people I should thank, so I'm sorry if I missed you in this post. But, thank you, everyone, for keeping this activity alive, for continuing to play and be wonderful teammates and opponents and online friends and the like. I'm not exactly sure that I'll miss the high school quizbowl community next year, but there's a lot in here that led to my development as a person over these three years, and a lot that I'd have sorely missed if I never started playing. So, thank you, everyone, from the bottom of my heart. I'm excited to see what comes next.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by Bhagwan Shammbhagwan »

CabbageHugs wrote: Tue Jun 11, 2024 11:54 am TJ A was the better of 2 teams to beat Barrington at PACE
I understand you're trying to spotlight your team, but this seems somewhat unnecessary (and a little bit rude).
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by robby_redford »

given that i don't think i'm ever going to be able to top the 3500-word yap session that i dropped last shill season, i'm going to force myself to keep this brief. with that in mind, here are my top seven shills of the year, themed like the human souls from UNDERTALE (i relapsed so hard into fandom it's funny).

Bravery: it takes an immense amount of balls to solo as many tournaments as sky hong has this year. yes, she capped off her run with a crazy solo run at PACE where she nabbed a scoring prize and the respect of the entire community, but less people know that she's been pulling out crazy solo runs at almost every tournament she's attended. i counted something like four? jesus. that's more tournament's she's attending solo than a lot of my friends have attended, period. she's not only a crazy soloist, she's one of the best science players in the region, impressing at all difficulties from the crappiest a-set to the most devious open. i might have only gotten to know her last summer (the troupe endures), but i'm glad i did, because she's an amazing friend on top of being an amazing quizbowl player, always rolling with my insanity and contributing her own. with her going on her generalist arc, expanding into other cats, AND her general arc, rebuilding her club, sky is going to GO PLACES next year, and i'm excited to see it happen. i'm damn proud to be the (and bobby) to her NJTRANSit.
Justice: evan schleck saw every single comment myself and my hastings friends made about the hunter slump and the hunter rebuild year and threw them all in our faces with one of the most insane HSNCT and PACE runs i've ever seen from the northeast. this man. this absolute specimen. the regular season was rough on him and hunter, with tough losses across the board, but leave it to evan to wipe the slate clean by leading the PACE field in powers and demolishing me on my beloved history in our match-up. the hunter empire is strong, and is going to be stronger than ever with evan leading it next year. with coverage on basically all of the cats save for science, and an insane depth of knowledge in basically everything he touches, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who could beat evan in a duel. you'd be even harder pressed to find anyone who could beat his team. and honestly, he deserves that spot in the sun.
Patience: arav kaushik has been putting up with my bullcrap for two years now, and lowkey that's a bigger achievement than any nats title. this guy is thorough as hell in everything he does, whether it be leading livingston b to its best ever showing, writing like, a wholeass quarter of both CARD sets, or just being on a team with a bunch of loud type a's and still having the aura of a king. on the quizbowl front, he's been improving at a steady pace for the entire year, grinding away on qbreader and realknowledgemaxxing to amass a base of literature knowledge unparalleled by almost anyone in the club. in his other categories, the endless writing grind he's on can make him buzz on basically anything he fancies - a true, unspoken generalist. he's a standing man, through and through, and it's going to be a pleasure being on livi a with him next year.
Perseverance: every punch ace chun took this year, in quizbowl and in life, was returned to sender. they are, without a doubt, one of the most resilient people i know, coming out of a months-long scottie-induced slump to lead their team to a t8 finish at hsnct like it was no sweat. through all that, they were still able to take the time to be an amazing friend, giving me the boosts i needed to keep going when i was at my lowest and inspiring me with their own insane tenacity. every time they were knocked down, they got back up, carding and clawing their way to the next tournament. rinse, repeat, top 8 at nationals. (all from the 6-4 single elim bracket, may i add!) never bet against ace chun. bilkerbingus forever. 🪁🔒🚀🏀⚒️
the next three shills aren't individual players, and some aren't even players at all, but they still deserve shoutouts and we could learn a lot from them.
Integrity: joe feldman, for every goofy or silly thing he does, is a quizbowl man through and through. his dedication to running as much good quizbowl as possible, as well as possible, for as many people as possible, has inspired me since i was in freshman year, and will continue to inspire me as long as he keeps doing it. what joe has done for quizbowl, both in the northeast with his tournaments and outside the northeast with his set, is done out of genuine belief and devotion to the game, and i think that's really neat. whenever i feel down on quizbowl he is either there for me to look up to or on the phone with me telling me not to give up. he's saved my ass countless times because he expects the best, in quizbowl and in life, from himself and from the people around him. and to him, you can't deliver the best if you're down in the dumps.
Kindness: punit pujara is one of the purest quizbowl parents i've met. he's always at tournaments to encourage every player he meets to put their best foot forward and to play quizbowl with their heart just as much as they play with their buzzer. hell, i've seen him encourage players to beat his own kids before. it's pretty funny. this guy has more heart than the entire circuit put together, and lowkey, if it weren't for him and people like him i would not love this game as much as i do today. he might be decades removed from actually doing quizbowl, but we could all afford to be a lot more like him in our everyday lives and at tournaments.
And capping off this yap post with determination, where do i even begin with the entire hastings quizbowl team? i've witnessed the insanity of benny, hazel, owen, and jacob firsthand since they started playing quizbowl, and i've never met a team more dedicated to greatness and to the game than these four. a lot has been said (mostly by themselves) about their individual strengths, but having been lucky enough to be their friends in addition to their quizbowl rivals, i can honestly say that they are some of the most hardworking and dedicated people i knew, both in and out of the game. watching benny, who, by the way, is a great friend and one of the only people who i actively enjoy talking about quizbowl with, and the team go from our first game to our sendoff has been a trip and a half, and i'm so excited to see what they will cook up in college and beyond. shoutout, of course, to my NJTRANSit comrade, hazel depriest-sullivan, who has already been mentioned thirty times but still needs a shoutout anyway because holy s**t, she is a legend. ten thousand years for all of you, you crazy bastards.🐩
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by Yaj »

I feel the need to participate in this this year before I leave this game and perhaps become unable to see some of these amazing people as much anymore.

First off, my teammates. They’ve been incredible and absolutely deserve recognition for being responsible for most of our success this season, especially since I’ve been on a prolonged break from studying for quite a while now. Claire incredibly manages to cover such a wide amount of the distribution for our team basically alone with near-perfect accuracy—I think her neg count all season is in the single digits. Tsuidrew is one of the best VFA and european history players out there and it feels kind of crazy that we’ve been playing quizbowl together for four years now. Alex is one of the cleverest, funniest, and funnest people I know in addition to being a beast at chemistry and science in general. I don’t think quizbowl this year would have been half as enjoyable without him and I’m glad we were able to do it all together.

There are many other great players and teams from the Southern California circuit (which is sadly often overlooked by the rest of the country) who deserve some recognition. Olympian has had an incredible season, turning a strong team at the district level into a nationally-competitive program in the span of a year, all while persevering through personal setbacks. They’re some of the best people you’ll meet and their members will continue to dominate at Berkeley, I’m sure. Conner Feng has continued to impress as the lead scorer on Del Norte, but Jack Bruvold deserves shouting out as becoming probably a top 15 overall literature player over the course of last summer to disappointingly little fanfare outside of our region. Outside of being cool people in general, Santa Monica are a consistent and balanced team who proved formidable at HSNCT. David and Sid from La Jolla are super cool people and their team will go far next season. Rahul, Adarsh, John, and Tyrus from Westview, Westview, formerly Rancho Bernardo, and Los Pollos Hermanos respectively are the best open teammates ever and I’m sad I couldn’t spread our love for Pakistani fried chicken some more with y’all after BBBT.

Outside of SoCal, there’s some others who I’d like to mention. The amount of work Ganon Evans puts into quizbowl never ceases to astound me. In particular, he did a phenomenal job spearheading set production for this year’s NSC and SHOW-ME More. It was a joy to play the former and work on the latter and I learned a lot from him in the process. Cole and Ali of Kinkaid are simultaneously some of the best specialists and generalists in their own right and are also really funny people. Barrington is obviously very, very good at quizbowl and they were some of my favorite people to talk to at nationals. Additionally, Rohan is probably one of my favorite writers and it’s been a pleasure to work with him on CALISTO—he has this incredible ability to consistently turn interesting and novel ideas into fantastic questions. Any interaction you have with Andrew Gao is going to make your day a better one. He also writes some of my favorite questions, probably because our aviation-adjacent interests align so much. Abigail AuYeung is one of the nicest people you’ll meet and very generously offered me a cake pop at the NSC. Thank you to Wang for trying his best to take a picture of our team in Reston and also to Alan Fan for successfully figuring out how to use the camera and taking it. Looking forward to more fun times in Seattle.

Thanks to everyone who made this season great, even if I may have forgotten to mention you here. It’s bittersweet saying goodbye to the HS game, but I hope to stay with this community going forward and am excited to see what else is in store for the future.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by bankrolcha »

Gonna plug some GA teams/players that have impressed me throughout the season

Johns Creek: Def slept on most of the year. All of them improved a ton and became top specialists in their respective categories. They put up the most powers of any team at PACE (and 2nd highest ppb) and are easily a top 10 (almost def top 5) team in the country. They have insane coverage across the board w/ very few holes. Super balanced team as well. All of their players had 20+ powers (1 or more per game) and 30+ ppg at PACE. J all around goats.

Innovation Academy: Had very impressive performances at both nationals (t5 at HSNCT). Adhav Ravikumar, their leading scorer at HSNCT, is a top-5 science player --47 powers at HSNCT. They return their lit and fa specialists Krish Chinta and Lucas Ardelean, who improved tremendously this season. Also, shoutout to Varun Venkatagiri for being a history demon (with some super clutch buzzes during HSNCT playoffs) and the best 3-point shooter in GA quizbowl.

Lambert: Improved very fast after a rebuild year. Manu Sankaran quickly became one of the best lit/fa specialists in the country. Their second scorer at PACE Sanjay Shanmuga Perumal provides additional coverage in lit and is an elite RM specialist. They were hurt by their lack of science coverage, but if they can plug this hole, they will definitely be a top 10 team in the country next year.

Chattahoochee: Very good team w/ an impressive HSNCT result (t21). Their science player Ibrahim Mohammad is super underrated. He put up 24 powers at HSNCT and often beat me and Rohan Dalal (Johns Creek sci) in sci scrims. Tarun Devi, their B team sci player is also a goat (probably t-25 sci in the country).

Milton: Made playoffs at HSNCT and beat us at GATA State. Their lead scorer Darren Kellis is an underrated generalist who deserves some recognition.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by chartong »

I don't typically contribute to these types of posts but now that my high school career is (finally) coming to an end I figure it's probably time that I reminisce on my high school career and the four years I spent as both a player and a community member. I have a number of individuals I'd like to thank (more on that soon) but I'd first and foremost like to thank the community as a whole for propping me up at times at which I felt like I had no one to support me. Despite my fairly boisterous persona both at in person tournaments and online I'm actually pretty awkward in real life and have some difficulty making friends, so being able to be a part of a community filled to the brim with welcoming people is a blessing I'll never fail to cherish. I'm actually quite grateful that I started playing at the height of COVID lockdown as it allowed me the unique opportunity to discuss the game with people from all across the country (and the world), many of whom I still count among my closest friends, and sharpen my skills against the very best at the numerous nationwide tournaments that were hosted during that year of lockdown. Anyways I'd better get on with it before this post transforms into an overly sentimental college essay.

First off I'd like to thank the goat Ali Himzeh who is not only among the most talented quiz bowl players I've had the pleasure of playing with (and I assure you I've played with many) but also someone I'm very grateful to count among my closest friends. I've learned more about Lebanon from you than I ever could from Wikipedia (and I still never fail to neg Lebanon content first line at quiz bowl tournaments... sorry about that). As I pass the title of venerable Kinkaid quiz bowl czar on to you I just ask that you at least try to recruit new people next year... you never know when you'll find a diamond in the rough. And also to listen to Blake as he is the legal sovereign of the Kinkaid quiz bowl stock dominion. Green links forever tho.

I'd like to thank Arthur Gayden for giving my first real shot as a writer for DART II (even if my submission was lackluster at best) and for of course being among my closest friends today. We've come a long way from me sliding into your DMs asking you to play Vishal Rameshbabu's ill-fated history packet submission tournament. My only advice is to hunker down in the Anki mines if you want any chance of updating your trophy cabinet you bum.

Thank you to all of the moderators/staffers who took time out of their busy weekends to work for less than minimum wage reading sweaty high schoolers poorly-written trivia questions in repurposed Algebra I questions (Dennis Ugolini, Jason Thompson, Rob Carson and Ganon Evans are amongst my personal faves.. seriously Jason, consider doing ASMR or something, your voice soothes me). I know you'll never read this, but thank you Dr. Richard Parr, EdD for taking up the reins as quiz bowl coach/sponsor after noted HSNCT-winning coach Ted Curry stepped down in 2021. You fail to get enough recognition for the work you do in keeping our club running, from guaranteeing that we have an (occasionally) quiet place to run practices to engaging in copious praise in the faculty-wide quiz bowl email chain you consistently updated after every one of our tournaments, good or bad. Seriously, I can't thank you enough for the good work that you have done and will continue to do.

Thank you to Rohan Ganeshan for not only being the greatest (and most humble) high school quiz bowler of all time (no glaze, oldheads BTFO) but also one of the kindest and friendliest people I've had the pleasure of meeting. Those moments when you'd slide into my DMs to talk about anything from Groger Ranks to college or anything else you had on your mind are quite special to me so thanks for that and please go easy on me in college. Thank you to Bryce Cruise for teaching me a lesson in humility at HSNCT that was so necessary that it needed to happen twice. I've always admired the way you led your team, taking your foot off the gas so as to allow your teammates to grow, something I was evidently too self-centered to do myself, lol. Thank you to Abigail AuYeung for providing me with a steady stream of sweet treats and thus enabling my crippling addiction to fasting during quiz bowl tournaments. Finally, thank you to @pumpkinplaytime on instagram for consistently providing industry-leading cat content at a reasonable price (free).

No thanks to Wang for being old and stinky and reusing to pay the (very reasonable) rent in my head. Additionally, no thanks to Omkar Marathe for constantly attempting to derail our nats plans with his nefarious plots and schemes.

p.s if you're planning on playing quizbowl at Georgetown next year please do not hesitate to contact me, we're gonna need to assemble the avengers if we wanna take down those snobs at Harvard.

Ali Hamzeh wrote:Cole Hartung is in my opinion the top history player in the country and has been since roughly his sophomore year.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by mrpotatokid »

First off, I would like to thank everybody in the community for being so welcoming and nice and helping to make this past year a great first year of high school quizbowl. I have some people who I particularly want to shout out for their amazingness, so here goes:

Padraig Finan and Haughton Neppl are my two oldest friends that I've made while playing this game. Both of them are simply incredible people and unbelievably good players. Their skills and dedication to the game are extremely commendable and continue to push me to be a better player to this day. Thank you for the many years of friendship and support. P.S. You should let me win one of the Nerf gun fights one of these days.

Clete Reinberger is crazy good at SS and also just one of the nicest people I've met while playing quizbowl. His willingness to talk to a lowly freshman from Idaho while at IPNCT is something I will always be grateful for. I really appreciated his kindness and encouragement, and they are gestures that I will not soon forget.

Karthik Krishnamurthy is a super nice guy and great player who has done a lot to help grow the Pacific Northwest circuit in the past couple of years. He also has been able to revive Westview (OR)'s program and even lead them to a nationals appearance and top 100 Groger ranking, which has been very impressive to see. His presence in the circuit will be sorely missed.

Bryce Cruise and all of the Heights people are incredibly nice and really really good at this game. I've always admired Bryce's team-building skills and how unified the program has always seemed in their dedication to improvement. It was really nice to see all of the hard work pay off with great performances at both nationals.

Grant Han is one of the funniest people I know and an insanely good history player. I always know I'll have a good time when Grant is in the room because he immediately starts goofing off and I instantly crack up. He also pretends to be scared of me for some reason, which helps my confidence even though he routinely kicks my butt.

It was so great to finally meet Pranavkrishna Bharanidharan in person at IAC Nats after talking online for a long time. PK is very nice and talked to me a lot it seemed, which was great because I've always looked up to him and his amazing quizbowl skills. Watching him play a history or geo packet is quite the experience because the packet always ends up completely destroyed.

Sreekar Vajjha is a kick-butt incredible player who's always had a crazy ability to get insane first-line buzzes that terrify me to the core. Sreekar is the true definition of a generalist, being really really good at whatever subject he decides to buzz on, whether that ends up being history, science or lit. He's also very nice and puts up with me talking to him on occasion, which is very much appreciated.

Various other assorted shout outs to Neev Saghal who I would talk sports or IAC schedule issues with any day, Raphael Rothstein who is very good at history and was nice enough to talk to me at IPNCT which was awesome, Parker Jelke who dominates Roman history questions in a way that will always petrify me and is one of those rare people who actually watches baseball and Colin Crecelius, who will never read this but is someone who I have greatly appreciated being a wonderful teammate and friend.

Long live all of you nerds.
Last edited by mrpotatokid on Wed Jul 10, 2024 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by Texas Über Alles »

I'd like to open by thanking the entire community for creating a warm and inviting place that has truly become one of the defining experiences of my time in high school. Beyond just playing, I have had so much fun writing questions, interacting in-person with people at tournaments, and just chatting through discord and these forums. There have been a countless number of moderators, scorekeepers, writers, editors, and other people who have put in countless hours to help make quiz bowl so amazing. Shout out to all of y'all.

However, a few people do deserve special shoutouts:
First off, my own teammates, who I feel are constantly underrated. I've played sports with Owen Gibbs for 8 years and this was our final hurrah. He's excellent at Jazz and had so many critical buzzes in random places across the canon. Brayden Ferrell deserved his 12th place in RMP scoring at the NSC (which was entirely RM and included best buzzes on 2/5 Greco-Roman myth questions) and was also a rock sitting next to me on physics and math. For someone who didn't start quiz bowl until a year a half ago, his rise is quite remarkable and I look forward to seeing what he can do next year and beyond. Last but not least of my teammates, James Allen, a freshman entirely new to quiz bowl who went 2/2/0 in an elimination game late in the HSNCT playoffs. His high-level geography knowledge frequently shocked me. And finally, my coach Mr. Johnson, without whom none of this would be possible. He introduced me to quiz bowl three long years ago and was crucial in getting us institutional support and in helping the development of the entire program. He is retiring from teaching this year and I wish him all the best. Heights High School will not be the same.

I know we got them near the end, but it has been an honor to get repeatedly smashed by Cole Hartung and Ali Hamzeh. There are times playing them when you watch in awe at how quickly they are able to buzz in their respective subjects. When they start rolling, I'd just know they couldn't be stopped and that it was time to move on to the next game. Yet despite being so dominant, they are extremely nice and fun to talk to. Cole and Ali are great people and I always looked forward to seeing them at tournaments.

This shoutout goes to the entire Seven Lakes team. Y'all were the first Texas team I ever met at an in-person tournament (HSNCT 2022) and we've met so many times since. Every game we'd play I'd go in hoping to get just 1 or 2 lit questions off of Aditya Khambekar. It's crazy to me that he has 2 years of high school eligibility left; the Seven Lakes team will be in good hands. And then Keerthana Krishnan, present at that very first game we played in 2022. It will be so great having her on my side of the buzzers next year at UT.

The old saying goes “As is often the case, Strake graduated 75% of their A team, but as is often the case, they retain a strong roster with only two seniors.” That will not be the case for this coming year. They graduate nobody from a lineup that was already scary. Maxwell Chen should go into next year as the best science player in the country and his supporting cast is strong, especially in history. Max with the dual partnership of Justin Wang and Khang Le should strike fear into the hearts of all who come before them. The banter will also be legendary.

It's felt like we constantly ran into Thomas Jefferson at tournaments (and I guess we did, playing TJ teams 7 times across the last 4 nationals) and they are incredibly fun to be around. Do not let Chris Yoo tell you differently, he is an incredibly good lit player who can also go out of category to get some absurd buzzes (just look at the last 5 of tossups of round 12 at the NSC). Deven Hagen is cracked, I think we all knew that. His mom is also so incredibly sweet. And then Alec Riso and Abigail Lee also deserve a shoutout for being good at quiz bowl, but more importantly, their killer basketball skills HSNCT Saturday.

Given that they knocked us out at HSNCT and essentially did the same at the NSC, I should feel resentment towards Livingston, yet I don't at all. Robert Wang is a ton of fun to play against, even when he's crushing your hopes and dreams through sick history buzzes. His teammates were also fun to meet at Nats.

Ryan Smith was the first person to give me a chance to write and edit (for SITH I and SITH II respectively) and his occasionally questionable takes distract too much imo from the great work he has been able to do in PA and leading his team at the national level. I think Downingtown can make a great leap next year.

That's everyone specific I had in mind. But there are so many more people than just the ones I named here that have helped make my quiz bowl experience as amazing as it has been. Thank you so much to everyone who has been able to positively impact the community in whatever way you could. I look forward to continuing my involvement with quiz bowl in college and beyond.
Bryce Cruise
Heights ‘24
UT Austin '28

“Knowledge is a competition to you, and you always feel you have to win it.”-Anonymous teammate
creinberger21
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by creinberger21 »

Appreciation post for the greatest guy in quiz bowl: Noah McRedmond.

Noah is a senior from the nasty Nati. He’s played at CHCA for 4 years. He has the highest ppg in school history, but more importantly he’s is unfathomably kind.

I have no way of describing the ways he’s changed my life. All of them transcend the game in indescribable ways.

May I, composed like you of Eros and of dust, beleaguered by the same negation and despair, show an affirming flame.
Clete Reinberger
CHCA 2024
Valencia College 2024-
Lover of Theme Parks and Public Transit
Immobilizer418
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by Immobilizer418 »

This post is totally not delayed, did not involve rage quitting after the "save draft" button reloaded me deleting all of my progress, and was not completed under duress. I promise... sorta

Without further delay, I'll begin with the Illinois Circuit, since that's the area I'm most familiar with.

Barrington was back again this year with some absolutely ridiculous performances. They won both Nationals, broke the H-M limit on Illiac and (nearly) won HSNCT undefeated. Charles Young and Rohan Kher are arguably one of the best, if not the best, duo in the history of HS quizbowl. Additional shoutout to strong non-seniors Lynda Ma and Kaitlyn Leonard, who I'm certain will be keeping Barrington a force in IL for years to come.

Playing Buffalo Grove in IHSA State Finals this year has to be my personal favorite game of the year. Shoutout to Rohan Ganeshan for being not only the G.O.A.T but legitimately one of the nicest people to talk to. Not only does he absolutely own the HSNCT cumulative power record (beating the previous record he set last year) but he also now owns the single game power record! Absolutely the most amazing quizbowl player I've ever met.

William Fremd is another great team in this area, powered by the amazing Literature specialist Omkar Marathe, history main Pranav Aiyar and generalist Dwij Bhatt. I would be lying if I didn't say that Fremd constitutes the most chaotic team I've seen, but they also are one of the most fun and interesting group of people you can meet in this sphere. Watch out for Omkar next year - I have it on good authority that he's going to be a force to be reckoned with in both IL and Nationally

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, my team and IMSA didn't get to have (what seems to have become a recent phenomenon) a rivalry game at IHSA Sectionals this year, however I still want to shout out some amazing players on their team. Stephen Walsh is one of the best History-based generalists I've met in Illinois, and the curator of some of the best memes you'll find on the ILQB discord. Nathaniel Huang is also legitimately one of the nicest people I've ever met, and one of the best FA players in the state this year. Word on the street is that IMSA is working on a high-quality housewrite that has all their players studying - watch out for them next year!

Although I never did get to play them, I've had quite a lot of fun scrimming against players from UniLab this year. Shawn Syedis an absolute goat at History and RMPSS. They scored a well-deserved 8th place at PACE this year, and I'm sure they'll be a strong force in IL again next year.

Another team I (sadly) didn't play this year was Hinsdale Central home to another of the nicest quizbowlers in Illinois, Abigail AuYeung. Big shoutout to her for being a great friend and one of the most amazing Lit-based generalists in this state (as well as arguably the best baker in quizbowl). Looking forward to getting carried on POAST

Additional shoutout to Soren Gjesfjeld for seemingly being WV kryptonite in online tournaments, and also being an amazing person to talk politics with. Looking forward to keeping it up haha

Moving outside the Illinois circuit now (In alphabetical order by state):

CA: Mira Loma, led by Aatreyo Bhattacharyya and Tanay Bodducherla are an absolutely amazing combination of players, and are both amazing people to talk to. ML had an absolutely insane run at HSNCT this year, and both Aatreyo and Tanay made IPNCT finals! Shoutout to Aatreyo in advance as well for when he inevitably also carries me on POAST.

LA: Shoutout to Johnny Zheng of Caddo for not only being very very nice to talk to during whatever weird nonsense was going on with IAC flag-bearing introductions but also for being an overall great presence in HSQB. i wonder if he has a teammate who can get 2nd at IPNCT next year to keep the Caddo streak going /j (some very very impressive performances year after year from them, looking forward to seeing how Caddo does at nats next year)

MD: "HI ACE BLAIR" is one of the nicest people i've met in QB. From DMs to NHBB, they've been a great person to get to know. Montgomery Blair had a very very strong 8th place finish at HSNCT. Looking forward to seeing what they do in the NEQB collegiate circuit. From "probing the Sunak allegations" at NHBB this year to being another writer on Venetian, it has also been a great pleasure to meet Kevin Peng this year.

MO: Camden Williams is an amazing player and an amazing person. i enjoyed getting to meet him at IPNCT and watch him demolish PACE and NASAT. From playing him at NASAT, i'd also add that Yrwin Batan is an absolute demon. Between Ace and him, MIT quizbowl has got some good intake.

NJ: Robert Wang is very good at quizbowl. I think that much is probably clear by now. Absolutely amazing run at Nats, it was an honor to be eliminated by him at NHBB. Looking forward to the rematch at some point (jk). Shoutout as well to Olin Bose, who for some reason got stuck with me for 6 rounds during NHBB. It was great to get to know you as well!

OK: Sreekar Vajjha was one of the nicest people I met at IPNCT, and it was great to get to play him at NASAT (don't look up the stats of that game /j). I'm looking forward to him in the years around as Oklahoma continues to develop.

PA: Travis Johnson is a very very nice player and quite good at literature. I would suspect that Great Valley is going to be a force next year, keep an eye out.

TX: Ignoring the fact that I walked past him thinking he was Padraig Finan (another very good player), Ali Hamzeh has been an amazing person to get to know and an absolutely insane player. Along with Cole Hartung(great hist player), who also made it into the IPNCT finals he one, Kinkaid comprised one of the absolute strongest teams this year, and a true challenge for anyone. Looking forward to seeing what happens next year.

VA: it's been great to get to know the TJ players, Deven Hagen (who has been great to talk politics with) and Chris Yoo (who will also be carrying me on POAST). They had quite a run at nats, and I'm sure they'll remain right up near the top again next year.

It's past midnight where I am right now, so I apologize if I missed something here or for any unintended grammar errors or typos.
Last edited by Immobilizer418 on Tue Jul 02, 2024 12:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
Vikram Narasimhan
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by 3errs »

I told myself almost one month ago that I was gonna write NorCal (and extended) shoutouts. I completely forgot. So here I am now, in July, thanks to some timely reminders on Discord. Better late than never!

First of all, gotta recognize my teammates Grant Han, Maggie Liu, and Alex Ma, as well as all of BISV Quizbowl. Massive thanks to y'all for your commitment, knowledge, and vibes you bring to the team. We made it through two seasons already, only two more to go and even more expectations to break. Special shoutout to Basis NHBB legends Max Guo for providing our HB team with some INSANE clutch buzzes in tournaments and Lily Zhang’s impeccably strange sense of humor and even more random, where-did-that-come-from buzzes on RMPSS and lit. You’re all funny, kind, and all-round amazing people, and I couldn’t get through the year without you guys.

Also, an even more special thanks to our advisor and coach, Mr. Ross, who put up with our dumb antics and deeply unserious practices every week. We'll miss ya next year!

In NorCal, I'd like to mention the folks at Mira Loma, especially Aatreyo Bhattacharyya and Tanay Bodducherla for their insane QB skills. It's a treat just getting to watch their process and playstyle, and we at BISV have definitely learned a lot from our losses and conversations with them. They are going to go really, really far next year and will absolutely dominate both NorCal and the national scene. I absolutely love the vibes of the ML underclassmen Nicki Munkhabataar and Elijah Guenthner, who we had the pleasure of meeting at HSNCT. They've both put up insane amounts of work to make a name for themselves in the HS scene, and I can't say it's gone to waste. ML is an absolutely stacked club, and I am so, so hyped to play them next season.

Mission San Jose grads Kerry Xu and Joseph Wang led a super impressive run at HSNCT this year to T21. At regionals we almost always had close and down-to-the-wire matches over the past two years, so let me be the one to say that we will definitely miss Kerry and Joseph's presence in the NorCal scene.

Pranavkrishna Bharanidharan is the definition of an absolute stud and extremely hype dude. He seems to shred any geo or history packet to pieces with complete confidence, and I admire him for that. He's an incredibly nice person online, where we had mainly talked, as well. I cannot wait to see how PK ups his game next year, and playing him will be a blast as always, as our gameplans are always somehow messed up by his insane depth in geo/hist.

For some more IAC-oriented shoutouts now,
I couldn’t write this without mentioning my good friends Robyn Miller (McMinnville, Ore.) and Teddy Fellrath (New Albany, Ohio) for being great players and great people. I absolutely love NHBB nationals every year because of you guys. Good luck to Teddy at IGC this year, and good luck to Robyn in her upcoming inaugural season for McMinnville HS QB. I’m excited to eventually play Mac in a west coast regional! Our group meetup next year will be the most money I think I’ve ever spent at a Pizza Hut, I fear.

Ethan Li (TJHSST) is an insane earth science nerd. The depth of his knowledge is incredible, and the fact he manages to put that into both great geo AND science standings speaks even more about his skills. I met this guy at IGC 2022, and in our bowl rounds, he walked us off on a tossup on Salto province that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. His vibes are just outstanding too, and his optimism and smile make him genuinely a great person to be around.

I have seen and played Roman Gagliardi (Darien, Conn.) almost every single year at IAC nationals since 2021, and it’s been a hell of a ride. Roman has legitimate, genuine, non-mickey skills in geo and it’s amazing to just watch him cook in a round and usually smoke the competition. His improvements every year continue to impress me, and seeing him at the top of a prelims table every year always has me praying to not be seeded in the same room to have a chance of advancing.

My “protégé” Yanlin Huang (San Jose, Calif.) has an extremely bright future in quizbowl and Maddenbowl geo. He is cracked beyond belief, and his skills are beyond mine in so many ways. I am so, so, so excited to be able to watch how his play style adapts to a tough (geo-wise) HS circuit next year.

Many thanks to Hadrien Orban, Kritanu Saha, and Aviran Roy of Princeton, N.J., for recreating Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima with us at NHBB nats this year.

And Bobby. Come on. Infectious personality and unbeatable optimism right here.


Thanks to the entire HSQB scene for providing such a fun and unforgettable year. Here's to another, even better 2024/25!
Evann Tu (they/them!)
Captain & President, BASIS Silicon Valley '26

T-65 HSNCT '24
2nd JV USGC '24
3rd MS IGC '22

"Really good at geography" -PK Bella Vista
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by Thomas G »

Shoutouts to some of the great quiz bowlers from across the country who I have enjoyed meeting and playing with:

'24 seniors:
Ethan Linn (MD) - From our insane team in Rome last summer at IHO to Centennial to history bowl chaos - a great player who always makes every game more interesting.
Alec Riso (VA) - great science and myth player from TJ who I have now played many times - 2nd in IAC science Bee to top the 2-3-4 from the DC area. I wish you luck in college quiz bowl and hope we can play again at ICT.

Great players and teams to watch for this coming year:
TJ - Deven, Aarushi, Abigail, and Anthony are great players individually and together with very high upsides. I have played TJ so many times last year and enjoyed these games. TJ is sure to regain the VHSL state championship and should be a top contender in all national competitions.
Janani Gollapalli (VA) - Best non-TJ player in VA - great NASAT captain and excellent performances throughout the year. Also, Janani is one of the nicest people in quiz bowl. I am excited to see what Lightridge can do next year in the DC area and at nationals.
Tate Osbourne (AL) and Alabama Cyber Tech were three of the most riveting games I have ever played (TQBA and HSNCT) - all three within 25 points. Tate can power almost any subjects (barely missed a 225 PPG round at IPNCT), and Leo can pick up any VFA tossups. ASCTE should have another strong performance at SSNCT and HSNCT this year.
Darien (CT) - With Rajiv and Maya Pujara returning will be one of the top teams in the Northeast. I have enjoyed playing Rajiv and Darien and hope they can go far this year at HSNCT.
John Augustyn (IL) - Great performance at IGC last month and always one of the top generalists in the country.
Sean Pastalaniec (TX) - Excellent history and geo player who can rack up individual points - sure to be another top scorer this year at HSNCT and IAC nationals.
Anish Raja (GA) - Excellent geo player (as shown in IGC) and great middle school player. Anish is certainly somebody to watch for at IAC nationals as a sophomore.
Haughton Neppl (DC) - Great history player and generalist in middle school through freshman year - sure to be a great player in the years to come.
Padraig Finan (WA) - Another excellent rising sophomore - sure to be another top individual scorer this year.
Evan Schleck (NY) - Insane performance at history bowl nationals - 400-point MOV and over 170 in the 4th quarter. Evan and Hunter are sure to be a national contender again this year.
Thomas Glotfelty
James W. Robinson Secondary '24
Virginia Tech '28
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Re: 2023-2024 Post-Season Shoutout thread

Post by Alphajet »

My god I'm late to the party here... I didn't realize this thread existed but here we are! The last four years really flew by, and it certainly wouldn't have been the same without all my teammates and friends in Quizbowl who made it possible. Coming into the game freshman year without knowing anyone, I'm sincerely glad to have met and played with, against, or even just hung out with you all at whichever tournaments I've had the chance to attend. Without further ado, I'd like to extend my thanks and congratulations to those who have really made an impact on me.

Starting with my fellow TJ teammates, honestly, I'm not sure I would have fallen into this game so hard without the endless support of you guys, between all the highs and lows. You guys put up with a lot from me, the club, and everything else.

Starting with the seniors,
Alec Riso, Grace Liu, and Dylan Cheng, you guys were there in freshman year, when most of us had just started, and it's been incredible to see all of you guys grow and start to dominate your respective categories. Alec and Dylan, you two are some of the best science players I've ever met, and I'm so glad I got a chance to play with you and not against you. To Grace, you are absolutely terrifying on fa, and your growth into afa is one of the most impressive I've ever seen. Thank you guys for being there, playing with me since the start, and going on to do amazing things.
Chris Yoo... no matter how much self-deprecation or nerd-denial may spew from your mouth, you are still an incredible lit main, and you carry so much knowledge in so many other categories as well. Your growth as a Quizbowl player was electric and explosive, and I'm honored to have been able to call you a teammate, even if it was never in an official capacity. Our duos run was pretty good.
Ryan Zhang, your growth and grind, your passion Quizbowl also cannot be understated. It's been wonderful (and more than a little scary) to see you blossom into a dominant FA player, find new passions, and just get ridiculously good at the game in general. I'm sure you're off to do amazing things.
And finally, Samuel Li, the one person who actually got me to study at all senior year. I don't think words can really describe how amazing its been to play with you at our two last ever high school tournaments, running the FA gauntlet at both HSNCT and PACE NSC. Your passion for the arts always shines through whenever we're talking, and you are an amazing person. I still hold that you're sneaky crazy at vfa, the world just hasn't acknowledged it yet.

To the underclassmen,
Deven Hagen and Anthony Zhao, you guys are ridiculous. Skill is one thing, but your passion for the game, whether its playing, scouting, or recruiting, its truly inspiring. I know I got shadowed by you two quite a bit, but its been an honor to get a chance to play with two of the best history players I know, and I know you all are going to do amazing things, both in Quizbowl and History Bowl. Its been an honor.
Aarushi Kanigicherla and Sophia Guo, you two are bright, positive lights in the club, and I'm so incredibly appreciative of what you guys have done for TJ Quizbowl and for me, and I'm truly grateful for the times we've spent together, on a team or otherwise. You guys are gonna do amazing things in whichever categories you decide to study. This isn't goodbye, and I hope you all keep in touch.

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To the wider community, while I may not have talked with all of you as much, I still cherish the memories we've made. I want to take this section to shout out a few people from other schools that have made Quizbowl that much better for me.

From Blair, Ace Chun, the actual better half of "AAA Insurance", has been an amazing person to have gotten to know. It was awesome to get a chance to play with you, something I never thought I'd ever get the chance to do. You have so much passion for literature, learning, and fine arts, and I love getting to talk about it with you.
Alongside Ace, Gus Vanskike has been another incredible player and an exceedingly kind person. I'm glad to have gotten the chance to talk with you more, even if it all occurred after the Quizbowl season had ended.
I want to congratulate you guys on an incredible T10 run at HSNCT, sticking through some really hard times to put up an incredible result. I look forward to hopefully seeing you guys around, online or elsewhere.
This wouldn't be complete without shouting out my chaotic friends over at Winston Churchill, especially Kevin Peng and Alvin Guo. You guys are both incredible players and bring incredible energy to each round. I love playing against you guys, even if it ends in a loss. The rounds are wild, fun, and an great time. If you guys continue playing Quizbowl, I have no doubts you will do amazing in the college circuit.
Richard Montgomery, the first school I got to know outside of my own in Quizbowl. I still remember the online scrims in freshman year, and all the way to where we are now. Josh Fan and Rachel Ezrielev are two amazing players, but more importantly, amazing people. I've loved hanging out with you guys at the tournaments we've both attended, and I hope to see you two around. Despite those two graduating, I know the team will be in good hands with Andrew Zhao and Nam Dang, both of whom are incredibly talented people.
Also, from St. Andrews, Ethan Linn is an absolute joy. An incredible history player, I'm always scared whenever I have to face you. Despite how scary you are in game, you're also an incredibly friendly presence who lights up a room.

Outside of the DMV, Abigail AuYeung is one of the most amazing people I had the pleasure of getting to know this year. An incredibly motivated player, amazing baker, and outstanding cellist. I've loved getting to chat, often not even about Quizbowl, and hopefully that continues in the future. It was also a pleasure to get to know Lynda Ma at both HSNCT and PACE, I do wish we had gotten more chances to talk. I wish all of you luck in future seasons of Quizbowl.

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That's all from me. Thank you all for making playing Quizbowl one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I look forward to seeing you all around.
Alan Fan
TJHSST '24
UW '28
big fan
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