Note: this post has been updated with two new pieces of information on 7/25.

This time, we close out the bottom half of the preseason rankings by looking at teams 101 to 110. We’re skipping #110 Farragut B, but covering the other nine teams in this entry.

109. Irvine A (CA) – Another team that just missed the HSNCT playoffs with a 5-5 record, Irvine was lead in scoring by Ryan Leou. He, along with Jason Chen and Kevin Shi, graduated. Hanna Liao, their second leading scorer from WAT returns, and some subs from HSNCT played well in limited time. I expect them to do well next season, but I’m not sure they’ll be quite as good as last season’s squad.

Wikipedia note: Irvine’s Wikipedia page mentions their quiz bowl team, but more importantly – it’s where Bob Hamelin went to high school! Bob Hamelin gave us one of the worst baseball cards ever. Thanks, Bob Hamelin and Irvine High School!

Expected performance next season: Down

108. Ronald Reagan A (TX) – In a season where they established themselves as the best team in the San Antonio area, Reagan finished 7-5 at the NAQT HSNCT with a playoff win. They lose almost all their scoring from last year, though their returning player of note played much better at HSNCT than at their best regular season performance (on the Michigan Fall college tournament). Rebuilding will be needed, but Sam Lin could take them places in 2015-16.

Wikipedia note: I don’t know why the page feels a need to go into detail on exactly how grades are given out, but it sounds like pretty much every other school ever that does a weighted GPA. I’m just tickled by the first two sentences though: “Classes are graded on a 100-point grading scale, and the grades students earn over their four-year high school career contribute to their ultimate class ranking. The 100-point grade is then converted to a four-point scale grade which appears on their high school transcripts.”

What an amazing system! They’ve reinvented how to give out grades! Hey everybody, come look at this process of giving grades, which is definitely worthy of special mention on Wikipedia!

Expected performance next season: Down

107. Wayzata A (MN)
159. Wayzata B (MN) – Wayzata A’s best performance came at the NAQT Minnesota state championship, and B’s at SOCIAL. Both their A & B teams made the playoffs at HSNCT, with the B team losing in the first round and the A team making the winner’s bracket but getting knocked out after two straight losses, including a close one to LASA D. They return Luke Soucy, their leading scorer at the state championship and HSNCT, but lose practically everyone else of much note. Wayzata is well known for bringing multiple teams to tournaments (including C & D teams to HSNCT) so it’s entirely possible they’ll be able to reload quickly, but on the surface it looks like it might take them a little time.

Wikipedia note: Wayzata has won four state championships in “Adapted Bowling.” What is adapted bowling? It doesn’t link to a Wikipedia page on the subject. Is it a poorly translated title for a failure of a Sega Genesis game? Does it involve one player responsible for throwing the ball riding the shoulders of another up to the foul line? I hope it’s one of those two.

Added on 7/25/2014: someone named Joe posted the follow comment in response to this article: ““Adapted Athletics” is the Minnesota State High School League euphemism for sports for individuals with physical and cognitive impairment. Woops.”

That’s a really good thing that the state of Minnesota does; hopefully other states follow their example.

Expected performance next season: down

106. Fenton A (IL) – A first round knockout of the HSNCT playoffs, Fenton also tied for 47th at the PACE NSC. Fenton heavily depended on Greg Krzywicky – their best regular season performance, at New Trier’s Varsity Tournament, he scored over 85% of their points on tossups. With his graduation, Fenton will have a much tougher year in 2014-15.

Wikipedia note: Fenton has a very normal Wikipedia page with just a passing mention of quiz bowl. I have virtually no material here.

Bob Hamelin notes: Bob Hamelin is probably one of the worst Rookies of the Year when you look at his stats, and he somehow beat out Manny Ramirez for the award (Hamelin did hit better for that season, so it’s really not exactly a mystery why he won it). More confusingly, Jose Valentin had about the same WAR as Hamelin and got only one point in the voting. I’m still bitter about this as a Cleveland fan.

Expected performance next season: down

105. Corona Del Sol A (AZ) – A HSNCT playoff team, CDS was the champion of the Arizona Quizbowl Association’s December Invitational. They return 3/4 of their team from their performance at that regular tournament, which makes up the vast majority of the scoring there (they only lose Patric Cao, who added 9 PPG). If they improve, they can have an impact next year.

Wikipedia note: Coronal Del Sol has a choir called the “Jaztecs.” I love puns. That is a horrible pun. I am dead now due to that pun.

Expected performance next season: Up

104. Barrington A (IL) – Somehow not attending either national this past season, Barrington’s season highlight was likely a fourth place finish in the very deep field of the Loyburn “Ultra-Competitive” division. They don’t lose anyone to graduation, but there are rumors that their lead scorer, Pranav Sivakumar, is transferring to IMSA. If that’s true, then Barrington will have a hard time replacing him, though they have other players that are talented (Matthew Lehmann and Bryce Cai had 31.82 and 22.50 PPG behind Pranav’s 62.73 at Loyburn). If it’s not true, then they’re a top 50 pre-season team.

Added on 7/25/2014: Matthew Lehmann posted in the comments to confirm that Pranav is not attending Barrington next season.

Wikipedia note: They have a pom pom team.

Expected performance next season: Up if Pranav returns, down without him.

103. Saratoga A (CA) – A team that somehow only played one tournament last season, they finished 3rd at the main site of BELLOCO. They do lose Nick Chow, who made decent contributions (14.55 PPG), but return everyone else – most importantly Bruce Lou, who scored 78.64 PPG. If they actually play quiz bowl next season, they can do really well.

Wikipedia note: I don’t know if it’s the actual leadership of school bands or just members of them or what, but there are people who use Wikipedia pages as a reservoir of highly specific information about their band (or choral) programs. “Let’s make a highly detailed chart of our finishes at WBA Championships, including our scores which no one could ever actually need. 2011? We went to something called the MBOS Championships, which we give no other information about. 2010? Grand Championships were rained out. That is important information you need.”

Expected performance next season: Up

102. Marshall A (VA) – Another team that should play more quiz bowl, Marshall tied for fifth at RAYNOR, which had a very strong field. They then disappeared forever. Jonathan Leidenheimer was the engine that made this team run; with his graduation and the loss of the 119 PPG he brought to the table and a lack of activity in general for the team, I’m not sure when we’ll see their name come up again.

Wikipedia note: I can’t prove Michael Cascio added his own information to the Wikipedia page for this school, but it would not surprise me if that had happened.

Expected performance next season: Down

101. Homestead A (CA) – Good news first: Homestead finished second at the NAQT Northern California championship, BELLOCO and in the JV division of the 4th Cal Cup tournament. In what was essentially their quiz bowl debut, they had a wonderful season. The bad news is that everyone graduates from the BELLOCO team. I’m not sure how next year goes for them, but I hope they at least stay active on the circuit.

Wikipedia note: This Wikipedia page took what I ranted about for band programs and applied it to seemingly every single extracurricular ever.

Expected performance next season: Down