Best Individual Players in Ohio

BobGHHS · Post by **BobGHHS** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:49 am

Since whoever started a thread about the best players in Michigan, I thought I'd start one about the best in Ohio...

My choices:
1. Noah Rahman, Solon, Sr.
2. Zach Witeof, Tippecanoe, Sr.
3. Jim Hrdlicka, Garfield Heights, Jr.
4. Abbaad Haider, Copley, Sr.
5. Jon Geisinger, Garfield Heights, Sr.

Yeah, I'm quite biased towards the Northeast, with the exception of Zach. But for the record, half the state won't travel, so we don't see some of the better players until states anyways.

I think Noah is hands-down the best player in the state, with Zach not far behind. My guys compliment each other well, which is why we've been so successful. Abbaad is Copley's shining star this year, and perhaps their only star.

There's several other guys that could be on this list. Two of the guys from Fisher Catholic could easily be on this list. I haven't seen any guys from Moeller yet, but I heard they're fielding a monster team in the SW.

Its up for debate... Joe, Greg.... interested to hear your opinions...

zwtipp · Post by **zwtipp** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:25 am

I think that Noah is hands down the best player in the state. I hope to try and change this in the next few months by getting better, but until that happens (if it happens) he's the best.

BobGHHS · Post by **BobGHHS** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:42 am

Yeah, what's rather interesting though Zach is that I have seen you play only twice in the two years I've known you, and that match was basically Jack (with a little help from Zach and Richard) drops Garfield like a bad habit (Copley 04) and then you beat us on the last question at Solon last year...

It's really hard to judge how good people really are in OAC format, which makes it even more difficult to say who is good and who isn't... which is why the majority of players I would list play a lot of non-OAC format tournaments.

We'll find out in a few short months who the best players are, as NAQT states will show that.... OAC states is more about who the best 'team' is and who works together the best...

We'll see what happens.

jrbellas · Post by **jrbellas** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:52 am

I would agree that Noah is the best player in the state, both in breadth of knowledge and speed. To characterize Solon as a one-man show is unfair, however, and I would like to see some recognition for Noah's supporting cast. He may be the straw that stirs the drink, but they have at least one person who is good at lit and another that takes out the trash.

Fisher Catholic's best player is not a guy at all. Their captain and fastest one on NAQT tossups is a girl (don't remember her name) who was the difference maker at our tournament this year, and very tough at WVWC last week.

Findlay has one girl who also dominates their team. Walnut Hills is in the same situation, with a girl who is faster than Zach and beat him to several questions in a lightning round where we lost about 15 out of the 20 tossups.

Maybe this thread should be about who the best female player is in Ohio!?

I agree about Bob's OAC vs. NAQT assertion. In our state format, it is very hard to discern individual ability. Copley's teams were just that - teams - and therefore always rock on with OAC format. Maybe that is an indication of Sue's coaching style. However, I remember Copley teams in the past 10 years who had outstanding individuals, and these same people would win CASE's Celebrity Shoot (which is really ALL individual in the afternoon). So 2005 might be an aberration for Copley, hard to say.

Bob, I haven't heard ANYTHING about Moeller this year. What have you heard? Who did you hear it from?

Regarding Zach, he is improved from last year when I think he deferred to Jack (since Jack was the captain). He has always had speed (maybe too much) and only recently has he improved to the point where I would say he is top five in the state. Obviously, as a Senior he has been exposed to more material and had tough classes, like AP physics and Brit. Lit which has helped him mature into a complete player. And like many have said in other threads, experience is key. Players who play more get naturally better. Zach has now played in almost 90 tournaments in his career (mostly varsity), making it almost 600 matches against some great teams, and just by hearing that volume of questions he has improved a lot to get into that elite group of players.

What I would like to see is Zach less and his teammates more - if we have any hope of getting out of our region or even doing well at Copley, we need to have a team effort, not Zach trying to do it all by himself (hear that, boy?)

That being said, I would still take either Zach or Noah any day against Joel from DCC. What makes the Michiganders tough is that they have several good players to surround Joel. Noah has already beaten him head-to-head at CASE and Zach performed better at Buzzerpalooza than Joel did in the semifinal match (we negged more with our complimentary players however). Its just that pesky team thing!

BobGHHS · Post by **BobGHHS** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:04 pm

I think what makes the Michigan players tough is an overexposure to NAQT, which is much harder to be good at than OAC. Ohio players are spoon-fed OAC questions which (in my opinion) dumb them down ridiculously.

There were only 3 people on fisher's team when we lost to them, but one of the guys was excellent too, and he pretty much mopped us up.

Moeller I've heard is awesome once again from Ron Weisbrod, assistant coach at Saint Xavier.

I think Garfield is the exception to the rule about having good curriculum, because ours sucks. All that is offered is AP American History and AP English-Comp, and it is a stunning day when anyone gets a 3, let alone a four. Our guys work their tails off...

Like I said, we'll see what happens in a few weeks...