Arkansas Quizbowl '25-'26

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

"My teammates and I have made lifelong connections and friendships and I'm so glad I joined this program" - Kenna White, Batesville
"Quizbowl has led me to meet some of the most incredible people in my life who I never would have otherwise" - Justin Han, Fort Smith Southside
"It also taught me that there is value in learning how to be good in anything." - Karson Johnson, Palestine-Wheatley
"It showed me that I really am better than everyone and I don’t have to listen to anyone because I’m smarter than all of them" - Jeffrey Robinson, LR Central (I am obligated to announce that this is satire and Jeffrey is not an egotist)

With the 2024-25 season at an end (no Arkansans at PACE or NASAT), the offseason, and thus preparation for the 2025-26 season has begun. The statistics project from last season, led by myself and Jackson McGinnis, was a huge success, I'm happy to report. We're bringing on some new faces to the initiative this year; namely, Kenna White (Batesville), Jacob Lewis (ASMSA), and Karson Johnson (Palestine-Wheatley) have volunteered to assist in the second year of our stats project, possibly opening the possibility of us recording junior high tournament results and a generally more comprehensive inclusion of players in the database (this year's individual scorer database is incomplete, with a few tournaments not recorded -- bear with us this year, that should certainly be much more exhaustive this season). That being said, here are my four months in advance rankings of the top Arkansas teams.

1. Russellville - Once again, the juggernaut stands atop the Natural State. The two-time reigning NAC champions return most of their firepower from last season, with Arkansas History Bee champion Ian Warnick covering nearly all history at a high level while Gidian Fuller is one of the best FA players in the state and Keegan Fuller owns mythology and is also a pretty decent generalist. Logan Greggs' departure to Arkansas leaves them in need of a science player, which they should have no trouble finding somewhere on their deep bench, and Sarah Shoptaw's graduation opens a spot for any of this team's talented generalists to fill in the fifth chair, probably rising senior Will Stump or one of the juniors Marley McClanahan or Jackson Burt. Either way, this team will once again be an absolute behemoth.

2. Fort Smith Southside - Once again, this talented Southside team reloads with a state finals berth eluding them this past year. Justin Han will probably be the best player in the state as a senior, and other chairs on this team are filled by veteran returner Schuyler Henehan and relative newcomer and geography nerd Henry Gilbert, as well as Josh Chung, Xin Li, and all but two of their team members from last season. The remaining players may have to battle for their spot on the A team with the incoming sophomores from a dominant state champion junior high team, with Katherine Apple, Lucas White, and Khang Nguyen undoubtedly having the ability to fight for time on this deep, deep roster. Coach Josh Adams has quite the backlog of talent on his hands, but whatever lineup they trot out will undoubtedly be frightening.

3. ASMSA - Defending 7A champions ASMSA return their elite duo of Jacob Lewis and Ridgely Bond, and also bring back solid role pieces Violet Dailey, KC Cavin, and Jacob Clingan, and will undoubtedly get contribution from transfer-ins due to the unique nature of their school (Jacob and Ridgely both arrived at ASMSA last year!). This team should be extremely tough to beat but is just slightly more top-heavy than Southside, thus being ranked below them.

4. Haas Hall Bentonville - Their streak was broken by Haas Hall Fayetteville, but Aaroosh Davalbhakta and Juan Quezada both return as seniors alongside two junior high all-stars tournament finalists in Davin Toy and Prajwal Bhagavatula, and returning players Ansh Kumar, Law Chouinard, and Ezra Moeller. Losing Reese Smith and Shruthi Nannapaneni hurts, but HHA Bentonville's M.O. is reloading, reloading, reloading. I have no doubt they'll be right back into form.

5. Bryant - They lose 4 starters from a senior-laden team, but their B team was decent at invitationals and they bring back their best player, Christian Nash. Their junior high team was strong this past year and they will definitely find a solid second scorer to help Christian out.

Please, don't let this thread get to 16 pages again.

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

Tracey Hickman of Murray State (OK) has informed us of Oklahoma's QB camp being open to Arkansans and following principles we have advocated for in this forum (read: they play normal good quizbowl). They will also have some of the best coaches from around the country giving presentations on common clues and answerlines. I know we have some Fort Smithians in this forum so I figured I'd quote it here:

Hey ya'll. Since there has been a lot of discussion about wanting to play more Pyramidal Quizbowl in Arkansas, I just wanted to stop by and promote Oklahoma Quizbowl Camp, which will take place in Tishomingo, OK July 20-24 this year. All Classes are taught by high level current and former collegiate players from Oklahoma and beyond.

More info here: https://www.oaac.org/quiz-bowl-camp

We are also looking at the calendar for next year and planning our pyramidal weekends, so keep a look out for events. Almost all are in Central or Eastern Oklahoma, and I will be directing some of them. UArk attended one of my collegiate tournaments this past year and I'm sure would be happy to speak to you about its logistics.

Just wanted to bump this. We are about three weeks away from the registration deadline, and I would love to see some new faces at our camp. Spend 4 full days just playing quizbowl and learning clues from some of the best players and coaches in the country, past and present. It's the best bargain camp in the country!

[The Favourite]

Thanks Michael! If anyone has any questions, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected].

I would be happy to disclose courses for this year and the instructor pool with you as well!

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

After some technical hijinks (read: me not knowing NAQT questions couldn't be used for interscholastic scrimmages after the fact, my bad guys), we are BACK with the planned duos scrimmage tournament thing. As this is just an informal event to kill some time, we will be using a cleared Novice set from the archives (obligated to tell y'all it's not either SCOP or RQBCo Novice from this year or years past, as those explicitly cannot be used for interscholastic competition, no matter how formal). We aim on holding the tournament Monday, June 16; sorry for the short notice, but this is the best date.

Tournament will be run on Google Meet via buzzin.live. Logistics will be sent via email to all registrants.

Register here.

[Jacksonmcginnis53]

Since my knowledge mainly spans the 5A-7A teams and mainly the 6A teams, here are my 6A teams ranked for next season:

1. Russellville: I mean no explanation needed tbh

2. Little Rock Catholic: I think this team is a very good team. Alex Reyes in his Junior year and likely a few added players, this team is poised to be a team that can steamroll through the regionals and state until they get to Russellville.

3. Benton: this team always seems to find themselves in this mix, even when they don’t seem to be at their best.

4: Greenwood: I think Dexter and Jack should be a good duo and could arguably make a run for as high as 2.

5. Marion: now maybe it’s bias, but Marion does return a few good players. Jude Johnson and Gabriel Livingston both are solid potential 4-6 PPG scorers, and will have incoming 10th grader and Junior High All-Star Preslee Graham. I think their ceiling is 4 and their floor is probably 8.

6. Searcy: Colin Poyner is good and I honestly have no clue if he’s a senior or not. But I mean they have a solid team and could always surprise some.

7. Sheridan: what a run they had this year, but losing a top 3 player in 6A and your next best scorer being 2.67 PPG scares me. But I could totally see them finding another Avery and being a top 5 team again.

8. Lake Hamilton: I honestly want to know what happened. This team this year beat a Russellville B team I think and I thought for sure would make state, but then they didn’t. Fluke perhaps?

9. Mountain Home: elite junior high team that could be as high as 5 or as low as not making it to state.

10. Van Buren

11. Jacksonville: they do have a junior high girl I think that was pretty good and could maybe start to see some success

12. Texarkana

13. Sylvan Hills

14. El Dorado

15. Pine Bluff

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

Well the class-specific power rankings are here. I suppose I'll throw my two cents in for 2A:

1. Hazen. I don't think it's biased at all this time. We return all of our scoring from last year's 2A champion team including myself who led the state in scoring through the AGQBA season. Combine that with gaining a junior high all-star freshman next year, and you get a team that only figures to improve from last year. Until we lose to a 2A team I don't feel much of a need to justify putting us here.

2. Conway Christian. Another disappointing first round playoff exit for Conway Christian, but their prospects are bright with Nathan Hill and Charles Dong both coming back alongside the freshmen from a dominant junior high squad that won their bracket in 2A junior high state. All their players from the 2025 team that finished second in regionals behind us return as well. This team should be one that is on everyone's radar headed into the coming season.

3. White County Central. They were one tossup away from making the 2A semifinals with their best player, Luke Jones, being a sophomore. Former junior high allstar Josie Scoggins will get a year better as a sophomore, and a good JHS team gives this team promise headed into the coming season; however, can they get over the Hazen hump? (For my sake, I hope not. )

4. Haas Hall Rogers. They lose their two best players to graduation, but John Wyman is a legitimate history player who this team can build around in the future as a rising junior. Throw in returning starter Gopal Menon and another junior and science bowl player Liam Zimmerman, as well as players from a junior high team that performed well in the Southside tournament wayyy back when (October?), and you get a team that should be able to reload to some degree and compete in 2A once again.

5. Parkers Chapel. Fresh off a heartbreaking 2A semifinals loss to yours truly, Evan Clark returns along with Major Brian and 2025 junior high allstar Reynolds Carter to form what should be a contending core. Their trash knowledge is terrifying to compete against and their teamwide generalism is something to watch out for, and Evan could be one of the best players in 2A in the coming year.

6. Izard County Consolidated (insane JH team from this past year, will be competing for championships soon)
7. Ozark Catholic (brings back 3 very capable starters from a team that won a playoff game this past year, don't be surprised if they crack the top 5)
8. Saint Joseph (state miss? junior high team was good however and they return brody)
9. Gurdon
10. Tuckerman

Please note that it is JUNE and these power rankings may be completely inaccurate.

[ctidwell]

All of y’all in Arkansas should come over to play Tennessee at some point this next season. White Station (in Memphis) should have two NAQT tournaments this next year, if y’all are interested in that. Naturally, I can’t be for certain, as I don’t live in Memphis. Good luck to all of y’all during the next season!
Go Vols,
Carson Tidwell

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

All of y’all in Arkansas should come over to play Tennessee at some point this next season. White Station (in Memphis) should have two NAQT tournaments this next year

We'll probably look into this as Hazen is only around an hour and a half/two hours away from Memphis and we need as much pyramidal experience as we can get if we're going to be competitive this season.

Go Vols

Not so much. Arkansas taking 2 this weekend

[ctidwell]

Gotta say that you’re probably right on that one…

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

I bought an Aloy jersey (big bro, ofc) for the occasion. Also lest we forget, other events are worth mentioning here

although Liam Doyle does frighten me slightly, him pitching to Wehiwa Aloy will be must see TV

[ctidwell]

Yeeeeeeeeah…
Let me just say that I was never a Nico believer.

[iHatePdub]

As someone who has been made fun of for wearing a tennessee backpack and countless hoodies to school, I can confirm that we will NOT be winning any games this weekend. See u guys in neyland next year tho, I'm sure that will be a fun game to watch.

User was reminded to add a full signature --- the mgmt

[Dexter]

Since my knowledge mainly spans the 5A-7A teams and mainly the 6A teams, here are my 6A teams ranked for next season:

1. Russellville: I mean no explanation needed tbh

2. Little Rock Catholic: I think this team is a very good team. Alex Reyes in his Junior year and likely a few added players, this team is poised to be a team that can steamroll through the regionals and state until they get to Russellville.

3. Benton: this team always seems to find themselves in this mix, even when they don’t seem to be at their best.

4: Greenwood: I think Dexter and Jack should be a good duo and could arguably make a run for as high as 2.

5. Marion: now maybe it’s bias, but Marion does return a few good players. Jude Johnson and Gabriel Livingston both are solid potential 4-6 PPG scorers, and will have incoming 10th grader and Junior High All-Star Preslee Graham. I think their ceiling is 4 and their floor is probably 8.

6. Searcy: Colin Poyner is good and I honestly have no clue if he’s a senior or not. But I mean they have a solid team and could always surprise some.

7. Sheridan: what a run they had this year, but losing a top 3 player in 6A and your next best scorer being 2.67 PPG scares me. But I could totally see them finding another Avery and being a top 5 team again.

8. Lake Hamilton: I honestly want to know what happened. This team this year beat a Russellville B team I think and I thought for sure would make state, but then they didn’t. Fluke perhaps?

9. Mountain Home: elite junior high team that could be as high as 5 or as low as not making it to state.

10. Van Buren

11. Jacksonville: they do have a junior high girl I think that was pretty good and could maybe start to see some success

12. Texarkana

13. Sylvan Hills

14. El Dorado

15. Pine Bluff

Jack was a senior last year.

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

Y'know what, way too early isn't early enough, so I'm going to give my top 5 in 3A as well.

1. Haas Hall Bentonville - I'm going to continue to rank them #1 in their classification until they give me reason not to. That finals game really could have gone either way, as them and Haas Hall Fayetteville played quite a few times through the season and nearly split their games (HHA Bentonville won at Rogers Heritage, regionals, while HHA Fayetteville won at Fayetteville, Southside, and state finals). Haas Hall Bentonville bring back two very good proven players in Aaroosh Davalbhakta and Juan-Andres Quezada, who will cover sci/math and history/CE respectively at high levels. Their other three chairs will also be formidable, with a ton of talent coming in from junior high in Davin Toy, Aditya and Advaith Raj, Prajwal Bhagavatula, and Ahaan Bhardwaj alongside returners from this year's team: Ezra Moeller, Rush Corbin, Ansh Kumar, Law Chouinard and Blake Martin; in short, look out for their B team as well through the regular season. Due to their nature as one of the nation's top academic schools and the wealth of talent to pull from for the QB program, this team will pretty much always be very good, and I have them ranked here before the season.

2. Haas Hall Fayetteville - The defending 3A champions have their own argument to be ranked #1, as they return 2025 allstars Andrew Simmons and Tyler Johnson for their senior year alongside Aniruth Satish, John Gretzmeier, Leo Yu, Caden Nguyen, Chance Heck, Dominique Fitz, Nathan Ma...etc, etc. This team will also have a solid B team, but it's the first five we're here to talk about. And their first 5, despite the loss of James Tanski, should be formidable and will compete for the 3A title. Battle of the Northwest in 3A should once again be incredible, and something we keep up with through the season. HHA Fayetteville's junior high did not have the wealth of talent I found for HHA Bentonville's, and that difference puts this team lower for me.

3. Mountain View - They have one of the state's best coaches in Allen Bishop and a solid returning duo of senior Adhi Anandaraj and James Nicholson alongside a melting pot of junior high kids and returning HS players for a supporting cast. Always competitive, MV should be a tough out in the 3A tournament, as they always are.

4. Lifeway Christian - Returning everyone sans Roman Laney from their 3rd place 3A run, this team should once again be competitive and another strong piece in a robust NWA circuit. Connor Nowlin could be one of 3A's best players and Kyle Fields is a solid #2. Pauline Peter, sister of one of the best 2A players in recent memory, Immanuel Peter, will immediately contribute, as will freshman Brody Paul. This team could knock off one of the top 2, but we'll see the likelihood of that happening early in the regional tournaments.

5. Central Arkansas Christian - Not exactly sure what their other 4 is like, but David Webster was top 20 in the allstars tournament as a sophomore and only figures to get better. I certainly could see this team finding their way into the semifinals given a favorable matchup, which will be hard to find in this top-loaded 3A.

Best players:
Aaroosh Davalbhakta & Juan-Andres Quezada, Haas Hall Bentonville
Andrew Simmons & Tyler Johnson, Haas Hall Fayetteville
Adhi Anandaraj, Mountain View
Connor Nowlin, Lifeway Christian
David Webster, Central Arkansas Christian

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

babe wake up new arkansas quizbowl poll dropped!