Statistics from Sacramento Fall 2014 can be found here.
This write-up only focuses on teams that placed 1st-9th out of the 14 that attended.
1st place – Davis A (HSNCT and NSC qualification)
Junior Anthony DiCarlo (54.38 ppg) leads a team of ex-B players, following Davis’s graduation of their entire A team. He has strong support, with his teammates Jayanth Sundaresan (senior), Teddy Knox (junior), and Alex Chen (senior) scoring 43.75, 34.38, and 22.5 ppg, respectively. With a PPB of 23.02, they led the field, with the closest competitor sitting at 19.46 (Valley Christian A), and the same goes for powers (54 to Chinese Christian’s 34). They shut down Chinese Christian both times they played, winning first 445-75 and again 440-170. Overall, Davis A put on a strong opening performance that should be a launching point for the rest of the season.
2nd place – Chinese Christian (HSNCT and NSC qualification)
Sophomore Benson Yi makes his expected big entrance for the circuit, leading both his team and the tournament in scoring (106.1 ppg), although that alone isn’t good enough to carry him to victory against major competitor Davis A. As he expands his knowledge (especially science), he has potential to go the way of Hidehiro Anto, but he’ll need to work on his bonus conversion (16.7) and would do well to find some teammates to support him.
3rd place – Valley Christian (HSNCT and NSC qualification)
Sophomore Omeed Askary doesn’t disappoint, taking 2nd place scorer at 61.8 ppg and leading his team to a commendable finish, mainly supported by Andrew Rao (43.1 ppg). They need some work on their bonus conversion (19.46), but it was still second-best in the field. They also very narrowly lost to both Chinese Christian (220-290) and Davis A (285-215), indicating potential for an upset at some point in the season, especially if Omeed and Andrew improve.
4th place – Rio Americano
Rio Americano competed in just a few tournaments last year, with no remarkable performances, but they appear to have brought an almost entirely new team this year led by Jonathan Gutmann (47.5 ppg). They have good history/geography knowledge from the part of the round I saw, but also need to work on their bonuses (18.62). They look like they might have potential to finally give Davis some healthy competition in the Sacramento area, although there doesn’t appear to be any possibility of upset.
5th place – Davis B
Led by junior Henry Zhang (56.25 ppg), they have a PPB just under that of Rio Americano (18.25) and lost only 200-295 to them. If Kap Pandey (15 ppg) and Bijan Varjavand (20.62 ppg) improve, they could displace Rio Americano as 4th best in the Sacramento area.
6th place – Northgate
Northgate went a commendable 5-3 in their first ever quiz bowl tournament. Josh Quiambao (45.7 ppg) leads a team with great history/current events knowledge, but almost no science. With a PPB of 17.4, they could be a formidable team with some development.
7th place – Davis C
Commendable as a C team with a 17.2 PPB, they also claim the tournament’s 3rd-best scorer, sophomore Eliot Williams (60.6 ppg), who has potential to lead the B and eventually A teams during the next few seasons.
8th place – “Haarlem”
Sent a team of entirely freshmen who went a decent 3-5. Lead scorer Simon Han (45.6 ppg) shows potential in the JV circuit this year, and definitely in varsity over the next few seasons.
9th place – Folsom
Another team that made their quiz bowl debut and went a respectable 4-4. They had a decent PPB of 17.29 and lead scorer Ryan Lu (51.8 ppg) is supported by Danny Yang (35.6 ppg) and two 13 ppg teammates. They showed some strong base knowledge and could become quite good with development.
From all of us at NCQBA, thanks for helping make this one of the largest tournaments in Sacramento quiz bowl history. We look forward to seeing you at future events!
