Minnesota 2022-23

[PunaEkka64]

With the season a couple weeks ahead of us, I decided to write something because I no longer have Reilly or Samir to rely on to get a forum post out.
**Teams aren't ranked within their tier.

Wayzata A
Wayzata A
They have coach Lucas, making them impossible to beat. They also have the funniest twitter (probably cause no one else even puts up a fight). They do lose Cameron Weiner but keep Ai Xing and Leon Luo, who are really funny in their own right (at least when Leon's tweets don't get deleted) so I think the twitter dominance will continue. Their quizbowl players are ok, ig.

Upper Tier
Mounds Park A
Anthony is good. Irondale was ranked ahead of MP A last year but we do lose Xander so I'm not sure who's better. Since Anthony is one of the best if not the best CE/Geo player in the state, I think Mounds Park will be better than Irondale on NAQT sets while Irondale will be better on mACF. I feel like this is said every year but if MP can provide their generalist with supporting specialists, they can move to the same tier as Wayzata A.

Irondale A
Irondale has had a tough time trying recover from getting rejected by Wayzata on Valentine's day. I thought we made up at hsnct but then they gave me covid, so I don't know what to believe. Irondale A also spends more time complaining about the NAQT distribution and writing than actually studying for quizbowl, so I think Irondale A will continue underperforming on NAQT sets.
Edit: As of 1:36 pm on August 9th, 2022, all our complaints about NAQT have been validated, we are now a PACE only team. Mia on top .

Northfield A
Allie is good. If Allie continues to improve at the rate she did last year, I wouldn't be surprised to see Northfield upsetting teams many would rank ahead of Northfield, especially Irondale A because I know how much ("how little" is probably better wording) I've studied over the summer.

Minnetonka A
Inba (Hist??) is good and Jerry might be the best science specialist that doesn't play for Wayzata. John Hultgren is very good on the CE and misc stuff in the NAQT distribution. John played a big role in every game they beat us last year and he will be extremely important if they hope to pull off upsets at NAQT tournaments.

St Paul Academy A
Behind their two best players, Colin and Asa, SPA put up some great performances coming 3rd at League Playoffs, 4th at RATRACE and 3rd at Snow CAT (without Colin). They also won League Division II beating Irondale and Mounds Park to do so. Hopefully, we will see more of SPA A at its strongest this year.

Mid-Tier
Wayzata B
They have Aiai (History) who is the probably the best generalist in state and definitely the best player in the big three subjects. I would say they'd be the best team in state if Richard Lin (being a gremlin) weren't dragging them down. There is a chance Aiai's supporting players can help her overcome Richard and compete with teams in the upper tier.

Hudson A
Hudson is very a interesting team. Last year, they over came their unfortunate circumstances (being from Wisconsin) and upset Irondale A and in a much more impressive feat, Wayzata A. They keep Aaron Marchand, who was probably their best player (definitely their best on NAQT), Matthew Collinson and Graham Close, only losing Lily Van Allen.

Eden Prairie A
I'm not sure who will be on their team next year but considering how large and historically strong of a program EP has, I'm sure their A team will be at least a mid tier team if not stronger.

Wayzata C
Wayzata has a ton of good underclassmen to fill this team and I believe they will perform quite well.

Honorable Mentions
Burnsville A
They've been a very good team in the past, being one of the few to challenge Wayzata, EP and Mounds View back when a 12 year old ran the state. Unfortunately, they've not seen the same success since the return of in-person quizbowl for some reason. Hopefully we see them performing well once again.

Saint Agnes A
They've been a good team for the past few years and I think they'll continue to perform well this year.

[miamc]

I think Irondale's going to win it all this year (not biased)

[Halinaxus]

I may be taking my forum-posting talents to South Beach (of the Wabash River) this weekend, but I'm still a Minnesotan for a few more days, so here's my preseason top ten.

1. Wayzata A

The Trojans were human last year, suffering shocking losses to Hudson and St. Louis Park at Gopher Fall and league playoffs, respectively. However, they were still the best team in the state for the bazillionth straight year, and that's not going to change in 2022-23. Science whiz Emily Liu, history/geo/ce god Sam Buan, and mACF lord Anuk Dias are gone, but Wayzata returns Minnesota's top generalist in Nathan Wu along with science/geo/ce beast Samarth Ram. They will likely get further science coverage from Aneesh Swaminathan, and history player Rick Qian figures to move up to A team as well. That foursome gives Wayzata A the state's top returning players (according to last year's postseason poll) on every subject except religion/mythology and trash. They are, as usual, in a class of their own.

2. Irondale A

The Knights did indeed lose Xander Pichner to graduation, but the rest of their A team will be intact for a third straight year. Puna Ekka is, at worst, the fourth-best generalist in Minnesota, and longtime teammates Lily Thai and Arnou Thammarak are among the top five players in the state in fine arts and religion/mythology, respectively. Irondale has a deep pool of talent from which to select a fourth player (generalist Barbara Danku and former middle school powerhouse Cy Treuenfels seem like the frontrunners right now), and they continue to benefit from the strong program at Edgewood Middle School. Throw the fact that their new coach is the president of PACE, and Irondale has a squad with both an elite present and a bright future.

3. Mounds Park A

The Panthers return everyone from last year's team that placed highly at a litany of tournaments, including second at GINVIT and fourth at SOCIAL, Run for the Roses, and NAQT State. They also tied for eleventh in the Open Division at SSNCT, knocking off nationally relevant programs like Alabama Cyber Tech and Tower Hill along the way. Anthony Troullier has a strong case for being the second-best generalist in the state right now, and he's especially deadly at history/geo/ce (even winning the current events title at IPNCT last year), which plays very well in NAQT-dominated Minnesota. As Puna mentioned, Mounds Park's weakness is Anthony's lack of support. Their PPB tends to be lower than that of the other teams at this level, and they are very vulnerable when he has a bad game.

4. Wayzata B

This is probably too low for Wayzata B, but I felt #2 was too high and Irondale and Mounds Park are so similar in skill that I didn't want to split them up. Rick and Aneesh are probably gone to Wayzata A, which only leaves about twenty other great players that would be A-teamers for any other program. Quiz bowl veterans Ai Xing, Leon Luo, and Sidarth Gazula figure to lead this team, perhaps playing alongside future star Richard Lin. As usual, Wayzata B should be a good bet against anyone other than Wayzata A.

5. Minnetonka A

The Skippers were among the most improved teams in the state last year, parlaying an undefeated run through the (admittedly very weak) online league division into a fifth-place finish in the playoffs before turning in even more impressive performances at NAQT State and HSNCT (where they were the only non-Wayzata Minnesotans in the playoffs). I do think Minnetonka overperformed a bit last spring (they were statistically among the weakest teams in the HSNCT playoff bracket), but they did knock off Irondale twice and Mounds Park once during their run, and even came within five points of Eden Prairie A at NAQT State. What's more, they return all four players and could look to add Andy Petouvis, who played very well on Minnetonka B last year. After a brief downturn, Minnetonka is back among the better teams in Minnesota.

6. Northfield A

The Raiders also had a very strong spring last season, when Allie Hoffert absolutely annihilated RAFT III at Gopher Spring, then proceeded to place 12th in individual scoring at HSNCT. Allie is easily the best literature player in Minnesota outside of Nathan Wu, and is a nationally elite rmpss player in addition to providing solid generalism in subjects like history. The main concern I have for Northfield entering 2022-23 is their seemingly neverending search for a science player (and, more broadly, supporting specialists so Allie doesn't have to do everything). Owen has shown he can turn novice players into stars in as little as a year, though, so this team might look very different by the time 2023 rolls around.

7. St. Paul Academy A

The Spartans are an interesting case, because while they were quite impressive when they had their full squad last year, those performances came at RAT-RACE (speedchecks lul) and league (lightning rounds lul), and they either didn't attend or played short at every other regular season tournament. However, St. Paul Academy's SSNCT and HSNCT performances have made me a believer. Colin Will's consistent (if neg-prone) scoring is enough to lift SPA into the top ten, and Asa Zirps gives them a better second scorer than the teams ranked below. I don't think St. Paul Academy will go 12-0 at league again, but I do see them having a really solid year in the upper midfield.

8. Eden Prairie A
As with Wayzata B, I've probably dropped EP down too far. That said, the Eagles do have a bit of a rebuild on their hands. All four players on last year's Eden Prairie A have graduated, along with a number of other contributors. This team is now in the hands of players like Lucas Wagner, Eleanor Finne, and Vineel Panyala, all of whom have played on EP A before but never as top scorers. I would not be surprised if Eden Prairie drops down to the midfield this year (something that hasn't happened in at least a decade), but I would be surprised if they stay down for more than a year. There are a ton of promising young players on the EP roster right now, especially with last year's brief revival of the Eden Prairie Central Middle School team. It's only a matter of time until they start seeing varsity action.

9. Hudson A

The Raiders didn't have any really impressive tournament-wide performances last year, so I think they flew under the radar a little bit. However, they had some really great individual games, from the upsets of Irondale A and Wayzata A to Aaron Marchand and Matthew Collinson each hitting the 6-power threshold at Run for the Roses. It looks like Hudson split at RAT-RACE, Roses, and potentially league to an extent, which may have hurt their overall results. A full Hudson A is definitely a top-10 team, though, since they return almost everyone.

10. Wayzata C

Just as it is a crime to walk from Minnesota to Wisconsin with a chicken on your head, submitting Minnesota quiz bowl ballots with fewer than three Wayzata teams in the top ten is strictly prohibited. Also, Wayzata has more good players than will fit on their A and B teams.

Good luck this year, everyone! I look forward to watching the action from Indiana!

[RhymesWithBee]

I would like to blatantly call out one Rielly Melville on account of his AGGREGIOUS act of misinformation in a recent forum post. He makes the wild and baseless claim " it is a crime to walk from Minnesota to Wisconsin with a chicken on your head" which is blatantly false. As a studious surveyor of silly state statutes, I would like to correct this mistake. It is ACTUALLY illegal to walk from Minnesota to Wisconsin with a DUCK on your head, not a chicken. Concerns over chickens only apply if one is walking from Wisconsin to Minnesota. Chaska will certainly not be placing well if players like this continue to make mistakes like these!

[IckySticky]

I love you Puna <3 <3 <3

We're your biggest fans over here at Tonka

[PunaEkka64]

Preseason Poll results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

[PunaEkka64]

Does anyone know if Hentzel retired from running the MN quizbowl circuit as well? If he did, who's replacing him?

P.S. If my joke about becoming a PACE only team offended RR into retirement, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Stan Hentzel 4 Life.

[InvadErGII]

Does anyone know if Hentzel retired from running the MN quizbowl circuit as well? If he did, who's replacing him?

More info will be going out to teachers next week, but to answer these questions now that the changeover is official:

- Yes.
- I am!

I'm excited to get this season underway.

[Vainglorious yet Victorious]

And now the season is almost over, excepting SSNCT/HSNCT. How time flies.

[BenWeiner27]

And now the season is almost over, excepting SSNCT/HSNCT. How time flies.

Sign up for Minnesota Prenats!

[Vainglorious yet Victorious]

It would be a challenge for someone who hasn’t done anything much harder than an IS-A set, but it would be one I would enjoy tackling!