2014 NAQT Missouri Qualifier - March 1 at Mizzou

[ScoBo]

Cross-posted from this thread on the Missouri Academic Competition Message Board. That thread will be updated more frequently than this one.

The Missouri Quizbowl Alliance would like to invite all Missouri high school quizbowl teams to participate in the 2014 NAQT Missouri Qualifier, which will be held on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia on March 1, 2014.

The Missouri Quizbowl Alliance is an organization dedicated to providing high-quality quizbowl tournaments to all Missouri teams. Visit http://www.moqba.org for more information. As MOQBA's flagship event, this tournament regularly features a diverse field of teams from throughout Missouri, creating a championship atmosphere and recognizing the state's top teams for national tournament qualification. Jeffrey Hill and Alex Dzurick will serve as tournament directors of this official NAQT event, which will use untimed NAQT rules only modified where necessary to comply with MSHSAA requirements.

We are using an online registration form this year. Please complete the form at http://www.moqba.org/qualifier/register/ to reserve your spots in the tournament. Registrations will be processed in the order they are received through this form. This tournament traditionally fills very quickly, and a limited number of openings remain as several teams have already registered, so we strongly recommend that you reserve your spots now.

Format:
This tournament will be run in the twenty tossup/bonus format on NAQT Invitational Series #134. Games consist of twenty tossups worth ten points each followed by non-rebounding bonuses worth up to thirty points. Tossups will feature "powers" (additional points awarded for correct buzzes early in the question) and "negs" (five point deductions for incorrect answers before the question is finished).

The field is currently limited to the first 30 teams to register, though we intend to expand the field once we have confirmed that we have a sufficient number of staff. We are offering a $20 discount for providing a scorekeeper and a $30 discount for providing an experienced moderator, so if you are able to take advantage of these discounts, we would certainly appreciate your help as it will allow more teams to participate.

If the field fills, a waitlist will be formed on a first come first served basis, though we may allow waitlisted schools that are able to provide staff to enter the field ahead of other waitlisted teams. There will not be a separate junior varsity division, but schools are welcome to register multiple teams.

The tournament will feature a bracketed round robin and playoff, the exact specifications of which will be determined by the final field size. The field will not be divided into small and large school divisions, but the top-finishing small-school team (as well as the top four teams overall) will receive trophies, and an all-tournament team will be recognized.

The top fifteen percent of the field will automatically qualify for the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT), to be held in Chicago on May 30-June 1, 2014, and the PACE National Scholastic Championship, which will be held in the Washington D.C. area on May 24-25, 2014 (Memorial Day weekend). In addition, the champion of this tournament is guaranteed a spot in the 2014 HSNCT, and the top team that had not qualified at any previously-held tournament will also receive a bid to HSNCT. We encourage all teams to participate even if they do not plan to attend a national championship.

Beginning this year, the top small school team by NAQT's definition will no longer receive a special bid to HSNCT. Instead, the top 15% of small school teams will qualify for NAQT's new Small School National Championship Tournament on May 2–4, 2014 in Minneapolis, and the top small school team that had not qualified at any previously-held tournament will also receive a bid to SSNCT.

Pricing:
- Base fee for each team: $60
- Buzzer discount: $5 discount for each working buzzer system your school brings. Each system must be fully functional for eight players to receive the discount.
- Travel discount: $10 discount for every 100 miles your school travels to the tournament (one-way, as determined by Google Maps)
- The minimum entry fee is $25 per team.

Staff discounts:
Please let us know as soon as possible if you will be able to provide any moderators or scorekeepers. All staffers will be needed throughout the preliminary and playoff rounds since all teams will be playing. Staffers will be provided lunch.

- You will receive a $20 discount for each competent scorekeeper your school brings.
- You will receive a $30 discount for each experienced moderator your school brings. Moderators must be able to complete a 20 tossup/bonus game in 25-30 minutes to keep the tournament on schedule. We will reserve the right to choose our moderators.
- For schools providing scorekeepers or moderators, the minimum entry fee is $0.

Formalities:
Please complete the form at http://www.moqba.org/qualifier/register/ to register for the tournament. Check-in on the morning of the tournament will begin at 7:45. We will have a short team meeting around 8:30. The first round of tournament play will begin no later than 9:00. All teams will be guaranteed at least 9 games, ending around 4:00. Depending on the format, the top 4-6 teams should anticipate up to 4 additional games that should end no later than 6:00. If no small schools remain in contention for the overall trophies and the top two small schools are close enough in the standings, those two teams will play a small school final of up to 2 games, ending by about 5:00.

After the completion of the tournament, each school in attendance will receive a copy of the questions used.

Tournament information, including a list of registered teams, will be updated regularly in this thread on the Missouri Academic Competition Message Board.

We hope to see you in Columbia in March and wish you the best of luck as you compete this season. If you have any questions about the tournament, don’t hesitate to ask us at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Hill and Alex Dzurick
2014 NAQT Missouri Qualifier Co-Directors

[ScoBo]

Despite the threat of severe winter weather after the tournament, 22 teams made it to this. The teams were originally divided into 2 pools of 6 and 2 pools of 5. Prelim Stats

We then took the top 2 teams in each pool (8 total) to the championship tier. These teams were divided into 2 parallel pools of 4, which played a round robin for rounds 6-8. The top 2 in each played crossover games in rounds 9-10 to determine the top 4, and the remaining teams crossed over to determine 5th-8th.

The remaining 14 teams were ranked #9-22 by position in prelim pool, then record (byes count as wins), then points per bonus.

• Teams #9-14 went to a 6 team "Consolation 1" playoff pool, which played a full round robin to determine 9th-14th.
• Teams #15-22 advanced to the "Consolation 2" tier, and were divided into 2 parallel pools of 4, which played a round robin for rounds 6-8. The top 2 in each were scheduled to play crossover games in rounds 9-10, as were the bottom 2 in each.

Initial playoff pools (rounds 6-8 for the championship and consolation 2 tiers)
Final playoff pools (rounds 9-10 and carry-over game for the final championship and consolation 2 pools)
All playoff games (all round 6-10 games, including the Consolation 1 round robin)

All games (all games that counted toward record at some point during the tournament)

The round 10 championship bracket games were effectively a game for third place between Savannah and Thomas Jefferson, and an overall AND small school championship game between the remaining undefeated teams, Hallsville A and Richland A. Savannah won its game 460-135 to take third, with Thomas Jefferson taking 4th. Hallsville A won what was effectively the first game of a best of three final 395-215. Richland A then conceded the planned advantaged final to Hallsville A so that they could safely get home sooner, making Hallsville A the 2014 NAQT Missouri Qualifier Small School Champion AND Overall Champion!

The top 15% (4 teams) qualified for the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament on May 30-June 1 in Chicago. Congratulations to Hallsville A, Richland A, Savannah, and Thomas Jefferson for qualifying at this tournament. Hallsville, Savannah, and Thomas Jefferson are already registered for HSNCT, and Richland had already qualified at a previous tournament. Since this is the official NAQT State Qualifier for Missouri, we believe Helias B's fifth place finish will qualify a team from Helias for HSNCT by placing as the highest team that had not previously qualified!

Of our 22 teams, we had an impressive tournament-record 11 small school-eligible teams! The top 15% of small school teams (2 teams) have also qualified for the NAQT Small School National Championship Tournament on May 3-4 in Minneapolis. Congratulations to Hallsville A and Richland A for once again earning bids to the SSNCT! Pilot Grove has also already qualified and registered for SSNCT, which should mean that New Haven will receive a bid to SSNCT for finishing as the highest-placed small school not already qualified!

Since this tournament is Platinum-Certified by PACE, the top 25% (6 teams) qualified for the PACE National Scholastic Championship in the Washington D.C. area on Memorial Day weekend. Congratulations to Hallsville A, Richland A, Savannah, Thomas Jefferson, Helias B, and Helias A for earning bids to NSC!


Thanks to all of the 22 teams that ultimately made it today! The tournament could not have started earlier than originally scheduled or run nearly as smoothly and to planned completion without your assistance in eliminating possible delays throughout the tournament.

We also certainly would not have been able to complete 10 rounds by 3:00 without the incredible assistance of the entire tournament staff: Christina, Ciara, and Ashley from Tuscumbia; Sam, Haley, Shayden, and Amber from Hallsville; fellow Liberty Scholar Bowl alumni Chris and Julia Halsey, Diana Hilton, and Amanda Smith; Isaac Baumann and Daniel Raymon from Mizzou; Brandon Daake and Sawyer Magnus from SEMO; Gordon Arsenoff from WUSTL; and fellow MOQBA members Jacob Billingsley, Sam Haynes, Jason Loy, and Sean Phillips. Special thanks to Alex Smith and my brother Kyle for the tremendous help you also provided before and after the tournament on Friday evening and Saturday.

While we ultimately didn't need them to staff with our smaller field, we also must thank the generous coaches who offered to help: Scott Allen from Hallsville, Michael Flandermeyer from Lutheran High School of St. Charles County, Pete Kahn from Marquette, and Jared Pruessner from New Haven.

And finally, I must of course thank my co-director, Alex Dzurick. Without all of the work you did for this tournament, particularly in the few days leading up to it, there is no way this tournament would have run nearly as smoothly as it did.

The uncertainty about the weather has certainly had its constant shadow over this tournament over the last few days, and we sincerely appreciate the efforts of everyone in attendance to ensure that we could run a successful tournament under these difficult circumstances.

We appreciate any and all feedback anyone has about how this tournament ran. We're curious to know if the pace of the tournament seemed rushed or if you think a similar pace would be appropriate for future tournaments. If there are certain aspects of the tournament (such as the "on our way" texting, buzzer/question pickup information sheets, etc.) that you thought worked well and would like to see implemented at future tournaments, please let us know.

Thank you once again everyone for attending. We hope to see you all again next year, hopefully on a warm, sunny day!