Scobol Solo
The Scobol Solo is a singles tournament held each fall since 2001. It is open to any high school student. It typically attracts many of the top players in Illinois and occasionally attracts players from out of state.
History
The Solo, as it is often simply called, was the second major individual tournament to be held in Illinois, following the demise of the Ultimate Scholar Tournament which originated at downstate Sullivan before being moved to the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois. That tournament, run by Ken Johnson, ended when IWU could no longer provide the space for free.
This tournament has been directed by and written by David Reinstein since its inception. From 2001-2005 and 2007-2019, the tournament took place at New Trier in Winnetka. In 2006, New Trier was forced to close the weekend of the tournament due to a pertussis outbreak, causing the tournament to be moved to nearby Stevenson at the last moment. The 2020 edition was held on Discord due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2021 it has been held at Sandburg. The tournament has occasionally been mirrored elsewhere, including PORTA and Southwestern.
Since 2010 Scobol Solo has used software developed by Jonah Greenthal to keep track of results, and Jonah has also edited the questions.
Tournament format
The tournament has 14 preliminary rounds, with each player participating in seven (either round 1 or 2, either round 3 or 4, and so on). Power-matching is used, so that every match has two players with identical records face off. When there were significantly fewer than the cap of 128 players during the first few years of the tournament, "safety matches" were played in which both players were credited with a win. In some recent years in which there were slightly fewer than 128 students present, "phantom matches" have been played which feature a player who should be in the match (who receives a win) against a player on their bye round (whose record is not affected).
After each player plays seven rounds, there will be one 7-0 player, seven 6-1 players, and twenty-one 5-2 players. The 7-0 player and 6-1 players advance to the finals (with the 7-0 player having an advantage), and the 5-2 player with the highest points per tossup heard is the ninth player in the finals. Prior to 2012, a written test called the "Desperation Shot" was used to determine which one of the 5-2 players would advance to the finals.
Match format
Each match consists of 20 tossup questions. There are no bonus questions. Each question is worth 1 point, with no power or neg points, and ties are decided by sudden death (using up to three tossups, the third of which is a very short, very easy question on a tournament-themed category of answer lines, such as modes of transportation or colors). There were three computational questions in each match through 2009, but computation was eliminated starting in 2010.
Originally, for each tournament, the 20 categories would be set in a specific order, and questions would be asked from each category in order (so question #1 in each round would be from the same category). This was primarily for ease of tabulating the scores for category winners; since the advent of specialized software for tracking this in 2010, categories have been randomized (and not announced).
Finals format
The finals consist of 60 questions and nine players (the 7-0 morning champion, the 6-1 players, and the 5-2 player with the highest PPTUH). Unlike in the preliminary matches, a wrong answer counts as –1, even if the question is finished, and the question rebounds as usual. Players (except the morning champion) start with 3 points and are eliminated if they reach 0 points.
The finals are divided into three phases, each with 20 questions. In phase one, the morning champion sits out while the other eight players play. At the end of phase one (question 20), the morning champion enters the game with a score equal to that of the leader. At the end of the second phase (question 40), the five players with the lowest score are eliminated, leaving four. Halfway through the third phase (question 50), the two remaining players with the lowest score are eliminated. The remaining player with the higher score at the end of the third phase (question 60) is the champion. Ties for elimination or the championship are broken by tiebreaker tossups, with a correct answer advancing the player and an incorrect answer eliminating the player.
In early incarnations, a tossup that was incorrectly answered was not rebounded for the other players; and the finals used only 40 questions (not necessarily the same years).
From 2002 through 2008, some tossups were replaced with handout questions (exclusively in the interdisciplinary category in 2008) that all players could attempt. These were very difficult, multi-part written questions that players could choose to have counted or not. A player who opted to have a handout counted scored 1 point for a handout that is completely correct, otherwise –1. In 2001, very lengthy questions that were repeated twice and required synthesizing multiple facts were used.
Categories
Current Categories
Since 2001, the following 8 categories have always been in use:
- U.S. Literature
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Biology
- U.S. History
- World History (which included European History for the first few years)
- Religion/Mythology
- World Literature (adjusted to World & European Literature in 2012, which was a change in name only)
In the first year, American Literature and American Dramas, Poems, and Short Stories were two separate categories, and all the other literature questions were in World Literature. British Literature was added in 2002, and American Literature was condensed into one category.
The other current categories:
- Current Events/Geography (added 2010)
- Curricular Math (added 2010)
- European History (added as "Western European History" in 2009, renamed in 2010)
- Instrumental Classical Music (added 2010)
- Military History (added 2010)
- Other Fine Arts (added 2010, "other" being defined as not painting or instrumental classical music)
- Other Math (added 2010)
- Other Science (added in 2010, "other" being defined as not biology, chemistry, physics, or math)
- Painting (added 2010)
- Poetry (added 2010)
- Social Science/Philosophy (added 2010 as "Other Social Studies", renamed in 2011)
Discontinued Categories
- Algebra (2001-09)
- Art/Architecture (introduced as "Art" in 2001, renamed 2002, last played in 2009)
- Astronomy/Earth Science/Geography (introduced as "Astronomy/Earth Science" in 2002, renamed 2003, last played in 2009)
- Calculus/Combinatorics (introduced as "Calculus/Precalculus" in 2001, renamed as "Calculus" in 2002, "Calculus/Math History" in 2003, renamed in 2004, last played in 2007)
- Current Events (2002-09)
- Geometry/Trigonometry (2001-09)
- Language Arts (2001-07)
- Pop Culture (2001-08)
- Technology (2001-07)
- U.S. Drama and Poetry (2001)
Results
| Year | Champion | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | 4th Place | 5th Place | 6th Place | 7th Place | 8th Place | 9th Place |
| 2001 | Jim Davis (Latin) |
Parag Bhayani (Homewood-Flossmoor) |
Matt Keenan (New Trier) |
Tony Wu (Fremd) |
Sameer Gopal (Sterling) |
Chris Marks (Downers Grove North) Lori Sommars (Wheaton North) |
|||
| 2002 | Matt Keenan (New Trier) |
Ben Taylor (Guilford) |
Paul Gauthier (Wheaton North) |
Mark Hedden (Downers Grove North) |
Kelly Tourdot (Stillman Valley) |
Blair Nathan (New Trier) |
Josh Laufenberg (Wheaton North) David Vock (Wheaton North) |
Donald Taylor (MacArthur) | |
| 2003 | Paul Gauthier (Wheaton North) |
Michael Evans (New Trier) |
Andrew Uzzell (Evanston) |
Eric Grebing (Bunker Hill) |
Nik Brendler (Lincoln-Way East) Yian Chen (New Trier) |
Jaya Kalra (Sterling) |
Amy Minas (Bradley-Bourbonnais) |
15 way tie | |
| 2004 | Sara Garnett (Okemos (MI)) |
Cliff Chang1 (New Trier) |
Alex Beata (Fremd) |
Billy Ouska (Buffalo Grove) |
Alex Inman (Fremd) Jonathan Mayer (Latin) |
Alex Schallmo2 (Maine South) |
Michael Bilow (Deerfield) |
Donald Taylor (MacArthur) | |
| 2005 | Robert Sale1 (Brookwood (GA)) |
Greg Gauthier (Wheaton North) |
Brad Fischer (Winnebago) Katie Kragh (Loyola) |
Colleen Powers (Auburn) |
Carlo Angiuli (New Trier) John Bracke2 (Moline) Nick Matchen (New Trier) |
Ben Weiss (Latin) | |||
| 2006 | Carlo Angiuli (New Trier) |
Greg Gauthier1 (Wheaton North) |
Greg Peterson (Maine South) Kristina Warren (Bloomington) |
Jeff Wear (Maine South) |
John Brown (Auburn) Katie Hibbeln2 (Downers Grove North) Justin Stoncius (Carbondale) |
Siva Sundaram (Auburn) | |||
| 2007 | Greg Gauthier (Wheaton North) |
Siva Sundaram1 (Auburn) |
John Brown (Auburn) Tony Cao (Carbondale) |
Catie Flynn2 (Springfield) |
Jonathan Irving (Wheaton North) Robert Sido (New Trier) |
Mike Verity (Loyola) |
Michael Jiang (Auburn) | ||
| 2008 | Siva Sundaram1 (Auburn) |
Joe Ahmad (Loyola) |
Tony Cao (Carbondale) |
Ben Cohen (New Trier) |
Krystle Leung (Naperville Central) |
Alex Cash (Wheaton Warrenville South) Isa Domin (Niles North) Michael Jiang (Auburn) |
Calvin Quilty2 (Bloomington) | ||
| 2009 | Lloyd Sy (Auburn) |
Andrew Deveau (St. Ignatius) |
Kevin Malis1 (Stevenson) |
Steve Server (New Trier) |
Jeremiah Monk2 (Carbondale) |
Ben Carbery (Oak Park-River Forest) Isa Domin (Niles North) |
Greg Dzuriscko (Lisle) |
Christian Kreb (Loyola) | |
| 2010 | Kevin Malis (Stevenson) |
Ben Carbery1 (Oak Park-River Forest) |
Andrew Deveau (St. Ignatius) |
Ben Chametzsky (Carbondale) |
Andrew Van Duyn (Culver (IN)) |
Lloyd Sy (Auburn) |
Zach Blumenfeld (Stevenson) Andrew Wang (New Trier) |
Jake Rebnord2 (Stevenson) | |
| 2011 | Lloyd Sy (Auburn) |
Dylan Minarik (Belvidere North) |
Nolan Winkler1 (Loyola) |
Andrew Wang (New Trier) |
Ben Chametzky (Carbondale) |
Srinivas Panchamukhi (Carbondale) |
Webster Guan (IMSA) Alex Kling (Latin) |
Andrew Van Duyn (Culver (IN)) | |
| 2012 | Nicholas Wawrykow (St. Joseph (IN)) |
Thomas Birt (Wheaton North) |
Maia Karpovich3 (IMSA) Anand Poozhikunnel (Wheaton Warrenville South) |
Ian Torres (Loyola) |
Saieesh Rao (IMSA) |
Dylan Minarik1 (Belvidere North) |
Morgan Venkus (Loyola) |
Greg Krzywicki (Fenton) | |
| 2013 | Maia Karpovich3 (IMSA) |
Evan Pandya (Auburn) |
Jason Asher1 (Stevenson) |
Pranav Sivakumar (Barrington) |
Jeeho Lee (Stevenson) |
James Zetterman (Carbondale) |
Alston Boyd (Bloomington) Prerak Trivedi (Carbondale) |
Greg Krzywicki (Fenton) | |
| 2014 | Cole Timmerwilke1 (Auburn) |
Evan Pandya (Auburn) |
Sunny Chen (Hinsdale Central) |
Mahir Morshed (Carbondale) |
Alston Boyd (Bloomington) Nolan Liu (St. Joseph (IN)) Dan Pechi (IMSA) Andrew Salij (IMSA) |
James Zhou (Hinsdale Central) | |||
| 2015 | Ali Saeed1 (Stevenson) |
Cole Timmerwilke (Auburn) |
Matthew Lehmann (Barrington) |
Jakob Myers (Naperville North) |
Ankush Bajaj (Hinsdale Central) Michael Gislason (Homewood-Flossmoor) Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) Jonathan Suh (Wheaton Warrenville South) John Waldron (Barrington) |
||||
| 2016 | John Waldron (Barrington) |
Matthew Lehmann1 (Barrington) |
Ali Saeed (Stevenson) |
Jakob Myers (Naperville North) |
Jack Mayer (Loyola Academy) Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) Aristotle Vainikos (Sandburg) |
John Banta (Lake Forest) |
Lily Hamer (Homewood-Flossmoor) | ||
| 2017 | Ethan Strombeck1 (Auburn) |
Kevin Kodama (Oak Park River Forest) |
Mitch McCullar (Williamsville) |
Aristotle Vainikos (Sandburg) |
Matthew Lee (IMSA) Jaden Lucas (Carbondale) Arjun Nageswaran (Stevenson) |
Ana Pranger (Latin) |
Wilder Seitz (Barrington) | ||
| 2018 | Kevin Kodama1 (Oak Park River Forest) |
Hanson Hao (IMSA) |
Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) |
Jonathan Lau (University Lab) |
Aristotle Vainikos (Sandburg) |
Govind Prabhakar (Stevenson) Dylan Bowman (University Lab) |
Olivia Lamberti (Stevenson) |
Tomas Aguilar-Fraga (St. Joseph (IN)) | |
| 2019 | Govind Prabhakar (Stevenson) |
Dylan Bowman (University Lab)1 |
Ben Fry (Chicago Christian) Arjun Nageswaran (Stevenson) |
Jonathan Lau (University Lab) Ryan Tsau (Palatine) |
Thomas Mercurio (Hinsdale Central) Sophie Netzel (Glenbard West) |
Roxanne Tang (Barrington) | |||
| 2020 | Jonathan Lau (University Lab) |
Arjun Nageswaran (Stevenson)1 |
Charles Young (Barrington) |
Jared Dong (IMSA) |
Justin Abel (Auburn) Tejas Vadali (Latin School) |
Alex Crowell (Auburn) David Lingan (Sandburg) |
Jack Casey (Springfield) | ||
| 2021 | Charles Young (Barrington) |
Rohan Ganeshan (Buffalo Grove)1 |
Alex Crowell (Rockford Auburn) |
Anmol Dash (Stevenson) |
Thomas Lu (Fremd) Gavin Markoff (Herscher) |
Michael Hunding (IMSA) Teigue Kelly (Waubonsie Valley) |
Megan Wang (Fremd) | ||
| 2022 | Charles Young (Barrington)1 |
Sinecio Morales (Rockford Auburn) |
Rohan Kher (Barrington) |
Teigue Kelly (Waubonsie Valley) |
Jason Qin (IMSA) |
Soren Gjesfjeld (Bloomington) |
Alex Crowell (Rockford Auburn) |
Colin Stewart (Barrington) |
Dwij Bhatt (Fremd) |
| 2023 | Rohan Kher (Barrington)1 |
Charles Young (Barrington) |
Sriram Koritala (Lisle) |
Dwij Bhatt (Fremd) |
David Bertolasi (Belvidere) Omkar Marathe (Fremd) Anna-Maria Olarov (Naperville North) |
Soren Gjesfjeld (Bloomington) |
Sam Kemeny (Evanston) | ||
| 2024 | Spencer Manning (Stevenson) |
Felix Sacks (Lincoln-Way East) |
Anirudh Srinivasan (Stevenson)1 |
Abigail AuYeung (Hinsdale Central) |
Evan Ting (Park Tudor) |
Ryan Dai (Carbondale) |
Sam Kemeny (Evanston) |
Steven Long (Fremd) Winnie Nutkowitz (Northside College Prep)| |
Notes
- Morning Champion
- Desperation Shot Champion (2001-2010)
- Played as Anton Karpovich
FINALISTS RECORDS
Schools with four finalists, all-time
| School | Number | Years (*won) |
| Auburn High School (Rockford) | 24 | 2005, 2006, 2006, 2007, 2007, 2007, 2008*, 2008, 2009*, 2010, 2011*, 2013, 2014*, 2014, 2015, 2015, 2016, 2017*, 2018, 2020, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2022 |
| Adlai E. Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire) | 17 | 2009, 2010*, 2010, 2010, 2013, 2013, 2015*, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2018, 2019*, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024*, 2024 |
| New Trier High School (Winnetka) | 14 | 2001, 2002*, 2002, 2003, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2005, 2006*, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 |
| Barrington High School | 14 | 2013, 2015, 2015, 2016*, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021*, 2022*, 2022, 2022, 2023*, 2023 |
| Carbondale Community High School | 12 | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2011, 2013, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2024 |
| Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (Aurora) | 11 | 2011, 2012, 2012, 2013*, 2014, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 |
| Wheaton North High School | 10 | 2001, 2002, 2002, 2002, 2003*, 2005, 2006, 2007*, 2007, 2012 |
| William Fremd High School (Palatine) | 9 | 2001, 2004, 2004, 2021, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2023, 2024 |
| Loyola Academy (Wilmette) | 8 | 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2012, 2016 |
| Latin School of Chicago | 6 | 2001*, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2017, 2020 |
| Bloomington High School | 6 | 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2022, 2023 |
| University Laboratory High School (Urbana) | 5 | 2018, 2018, 2019, 2019, 2020* |
| Hinsdale Central High School | 5 | 2014, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2024 |
| Oak Park and River Forest High School | 4 | 2009, 2010, 2017, 2018* |
| Carl Sandburg High School (Orland Park) | 4 | 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 |
Schools with two finalists, one tournament
- Auburn (2006, 2007 [three finalists], 2008, 2014, 2015, 2020)
- Barrington (2015, 2016, 2022 [3], 2023)
- Carbondale (2011, 2013)
- Fremd (2004, 2021, 2023)
- Hinsdale Central (2014)
- IMSA (2012, 2014)
- Loyola Academy (2012)
- Maine South (2006)
- New Trier (2002, 2003, 2005)
- Stevenson (2010 [three finalists], 2013, 2018, 2019, 2024)
- University of Illinois Lab (2018, 2019)
- Wheaton North (2002 [three finalists], 2007)
Players who appeared in multiple finals
| # FINALS | PLAYER (SCHOOL) | YEARS |
| 4 | Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) | 2015-18 |
| Charles Young (Barrington) | 2020-23 | |
| 3 | Alex Crowell (Auburn) | 2020-22 |
| Greg Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2005-07 | |
| Jonathan Lau (University of Illinois Lab) | 2018-20 | |
| Arjun Nageswaran (Stevenson)1 | 2017, 2019-20 | |
| Siva Sundaram (Auburn) | 2006-08 | |
| Lloyd Sy (Auburn) | 2009-11 | |
| Aristotle Vainikos (Sandburg) | 2016-18 | |
| 2 | Carlo Angiuli (New Trier) | 2005-06 |
| Dwij Bhatt (Fremd) | 2022-23 | |
| Dylan Bowman (University of Illinois Lab) | 2018-19 | |
| John Brown (Auburn) | 2006-07 | |
| Alston Boyd (Bloomington) | 2013-14 | |
| Tony Cao (Carbondale) | 2007-08 | |
| Ben Carbery (OPRF) | 2009-10 | |
| Ben Chametzky (Carbondale) | 2010-11 | |
| Andrew Deveau (St. Ignatius) | 2009-10 | |
| Isa Domin (Niles North) | 2008-09 | |
| Paul Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2002-03 | |
| Soren Gjesfjeld (Bloomington) | 2022-23 | |
| Michael Jiang (Auburn) | 2008-09 | |
| Maia Karpovich (IMSA) | 2009-10 | |
| Matt Keenan (New Trier) | 2001-02 | |
| Rohan Kher (Barrington) | 2022-2023 | |
| Teigue Kelly (Waubonsie Valley) | 2021-22 | |
| Kevin Kodama (OPRF) | 2017-18 | |
| Greg Krzywicki (Fenton) | 2012-13 | |
| Matthew Lehmann (Barrington) | 2015-16 | |
| Kevin Malis (Stevenson) | 2009-10 | |
| Dylan Minarik (Belvidere North) | 2012-13 | |
| Jakob Myers (Naperville North) | 2015-16 | |
| Evan Pandya (Auburn) | 2013-14 | |
| Govind Prabhakar (Stevenson) | 2018-19 | |
| Ali Saeed (Stevenson) | 2015-16 | |
| Donald Taylor (MacArthur) | 2004, 2004 | |
| Cole Timmerwilke (Auburn) | 2014-15 | |
| Andrew Van Duyn (Culver Academies) | 2010-11 | |
| Andrew Wang (New Trier) | 2010-11 | |
| John Waldron (Barrington) | 2015-16 | |
| Sam Kemeny (Evanston) | 2023-24 |
Finalists from Class A schools
- Jim Davis (Latin School) - 2001
- Eric Grebing (Bunker Hill) - 2003
- Jonathan Mayer (Latin School) - 2004
- Brad Fischer (Winnebago) - 2005
- Ben Weiss (Latin School) - 2005
- Ana Pranger (Latin School) - 2017
- Mitch McCullar (Williamsville) - 2017
- Dylan Bowman (University of Illinois Lab) - 2018, 20192
- Jonathan Lau (University of Illinois Lab) - 2018, 2019, 20202
- Ben Fry (Chicago Christian) - 2019
- Tejas Vadali (Latin School) - 2020
Finalists Notes
- Arjun Nageswaran and Donald Taylor are the only players to make multiple, non-consecutive appearances in the finals.
- University of Illinois Lab's small student population means that it competes in Class A for all athletic sports, but it competes in class AA for Scholastic Bowl because of IHSA policies regarding selective small schools. Uni Lab is still considered a small school by the Masonic tournament and NAQT.
CATEGORY RECORDS
In addition to the finalists being recognized as among the best players, ribbons are given to any player who scores the most questions in each of the 20 categories.
Won a category three times
- 4 - Greg Gauthier (Geometry/Trigonometry, '04, '05, '06' 07)
- 3 - Greg Gauthier (Calculus/Combinatorics, '04, '06, '07)
- 3 - Paul Gauthier (World Literature, '01, '02, '03)
- 3 - Nick Matchen (Pop Culture, '04, '05, '06)
Won a category in two tournaments
| CATEGORY | PLAYER, SCHOOL (YEARS) |
| Chemistry | Carlo Angiuli, New Trier (05, 06); Dylan Bowman, University Lab (18, 19); Lawrence Zhao, University Lab (19, 20) |
| Physics | Greg Gauthier, Wheaton North (06, 07); Dylan Bowman, University Lab (18, 19) |
| Astronomy/Earth Science/Geography | Zach Blumenfeld, Stevenson (08, 09) |
| Other Science | Ethan Strombeck, Auburn (15, 17) |
| Calculus/Combinatorics | Greg Gauthier, Wheaton North (06, 07) |
| Geometry/Trigonometry | Greg Gauthier, Wheaton North (04, 05, 06, 07); Karen Li, Libertyville (05, 06) |
| U.S. History | Garrett Ryan, Lincoln-Way East (03, 04); Andrew Van Duyn, Culver (10, 11); Govind Prabhakar, Stevenson (18, 19) |
| European History | Matthew Lehmann, Barrington (15, 16); Ethan Strombeck, Auburn (15, 17); Govind Prabhakar, Stevenson (18, 19) |
| World History | Kelly Tourdot, Stillman Valley (01, 02); Joe Ahmad, Loyola (07, 08); Jack Miller, Wheaton North (12, 13) |
| Social Studies/Philosophy | Cole Timmerwilke, Auburn (13, 15); Sophie Netzel, Glenbard West (17, 19) |
| British Literature | Paul Gauthier, Wheaton North (02, 03); Andrew Deveau, St. Ignatius (09, 10); Lloyd Sy, Auburn (10, 11); Lily Hamer, Homewood-Flossmoor (15, 16); Sophie Netzel (17, 18) |
| European/World Literature | Evan Pandya, Auburn (12, 13); Dan Pechi, IMSA (13, 14) |
| World Literature | Paul Gauthier, Wheaton North (01, 02, 03); Kristina Warren, Bloomington (05, 06); Ankush Bajaj, Hinsdale Central (14, 15) |
| U.S. Literature | Jack Glerum, Loyola (07, 08); Siva Sundaram, Auburn (07, 08); Matthew Lehmann, Barrington (14, 15) |
| Nonfiction | Nik Brendler, Lincoln-Way East (02, 03) |
| Instrumental Classical Music | Dylan Minarik, Belvidere North (11, 12); Mahir Morshed, Carbondale (13, 14); Arjun Nageswaran, Stevenson (18, 20) |
| Other Fine Art | Cole Timmerwilke, Auburn (14, 15); Ethan Strombeck, Auburn (16, 18) |
| Religion/Mythology | Issa Domin, Niles North (08, 09) |
| Current Events | Ian Secviar, Mt. Carmel (04, 05); Ben Cohen (07, 08); Mike Penicnak, Fenton (08, 09); Jakob Myers, Naperville North (15, 16); Govind Prabhakar, Stevenson (18, 19); Ashish Subramanian, Hoffman Estates (17, 19) |
| Current Events/Geography | Maia Karpovich, IMSA (12, 13)1 |
| Geography | B.J. Ryan, Hinsdale Central (14, 15); David Holmquist, Stevenson (17, 18) |
| Pop Culture | Nick Matchen, New Trier (04, 05, 06) |
Won three categories in one tournament
| # CATS | PLAYER (SCHOOL) | YEAR | CATEGORIES |
| 8 | Lloyd Sy (Auburn) | 2011 | Biology, Physics, Other Science, British Lit, Poetry, European History, Other Fine Arts, Social Studies/Philosophy4 |
| 7 | Dylan Minarik (Belvidere North) | 2012 | Physics, Other Science, U.S. History, Poetry, Instrumental Classical Music, Religion/Mythology, Social Studies/Philosophy4 |
| 6 | Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) | 2018 | British Literature, European and World Literature, Instrumental Classical Music, Other Fine Arts, Painting, Social Studies/Philosophy |
| 5 | Paul Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2002 | Geometry/Trig, British Lit, World Lit, Language Arts, Current Events |
| Greg Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2007 | Chemistry, Physics, Algebra, Calculus/Combinatorics, Geometry/Trig | |
| Siva Sundaram (Auburn) | 2007 | U.S. Lit, World Lit, Music, Art/Architecture, Religion/Myth | |
| Ben Cohen (New Trier) | 2008 | U.S. Lit, Nonfiction, U.S. History, World History, Current Events | |
| Ben Carbery (OPRF) | 2010 | Other Science, British Lit, World History, European History, Military History3 | |
| Cole Timmerwilke (Auburn) | 2014 | Other Science, US History, World History, Other Fine Arts, Current Events | |
| Cole Timmerwilke (Auburn) | 2015 | Painting, Other Fine Art, European History, Geography, SS/Philosophy | |
| Ankush Bajaj (Hinsdale Central) | 2015 | U.S. Lit, World Lit, British Lit, Biology, Chemistry | |
| Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) | 2015 | Chemistry, Other Science, Instrumental Classical Music, U.S. History, European History | |
| Arjun Nageswaran (Stevenson) | 2020 | World History, Military History, European & World Literature, Instrumental Classical Music, Other Fine Arts | |
| 4 | Matt Keenan (New Trier) | 2002 | Biology, Astronomy/Earth Sci, World History, Music, |
| Andrew Uzzell (Evanston) | 2003 | Physics, Calculus/Math History, Language Arts, World History | |
| Greg Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2006 | Physics, Calculus/Combinatorics, Geometry/Trig, U.S Lit | |
| Dan Auerbach (Glenbrook North) | 2007 | Astronomy/Earth Sci/Geography, Nonfiction, World History, Current Events | |
| Andrew Deveau (St. Ignatius) | 2009 | Physics, Nonfiction, British Lit, Art/Architecture | |
| Lloyd Sy (Auburn) | 2010 | World Lit, British Lit, Painting, Instrumental Classical Music | |
| Ben Chametzsky (Carbondale) | 2011 | Other Science, U.S. History, Social Studies/Philosophy, Current Events/Geography | |
| Nolan Maloney (Loyola) | 2011 | Biology, Chemistry, Physics, World History2 | |
| Jonathan Huh (Carbondale) | 2013 | Military History, British Lit, European/World Lit, Instrumental Classical Music | |
| Prerak Trivedi (Carbondale) | 2013 | Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Poetry2 | |
| Clare Keenan (Chicago Lab) | 2014 | Chemistry, Mathematics, US Lit, British Lit | |
| John Banta (Lake Forest) | 2016 | Mathematics, Poetry, Instrumental Classical Music, Other Fine Arts | |
| Jakob Myers (Naperville North) | 2016 | Military History, Instrumental Classical Music, Social Science/Philosophy, Current Events | |
| Dylan Bowman (University Lab) | 2018 | Chemistry, Physics, Instrumental Classical Music, Painting | |
| Govind Prabhakar (Stevenson) | 2018 | U.S. History, European History, Religion and Mythology, Current Events | |
| Hanson Hao (IMSA) | 2018 | Chemistry, Mathematics, British Literature, Painting | |
| Ben Fry (Chicago Christian) | 2019 | Chemistry, U.S. History, British Literature, Poetry | |
| Govind Prabhakar (Stevenson) | 2019 | U.S. History, European History, World History, Current Events | |
| Winnie Nutkowitz (Northside College Prep) | 2024 | British Lit, Poetry, Religion/Mythology, Social Studies/Philosophy | |
| 3 | Parag Bhayani (Homewood-Flossmoor) | 2001 | Geometry/Trig, U.S. History, World Lit |
| Kelly Tourdot (Stillman Valley) | 2001 | U.S. History, World History, Religion/Myth | |
| Garrett Ryan (Lincoln-Way East) | 2003 | Astronomy/Earth Sci/Geography, U.S. History, World History | |
| Ian Secviar (Mt. Carmel) | 2004 | Language Arts, Religion/Myth, Current Events | |
| Kristina Warren (Bloomington) | 2006 | Geometry/Trig, U.S. Lit, World Lit | |
| Siva Sundaram (Auburn) | 2006 | Geometry/Trig, Pop Culture, Language Arts | |
| John Brown (Auburn) | 2007 | Biology, U.S. Lit, Brit Lit | |
| Joe Ahamad (Loyola) | 2008 | Vocabulary, World History, Music | |
| Bonny Jain (IMSA) | 2008 | Physics, Geometry/Trig, Pyramidal Math | |
| Michael Jiang (Auburn) | 2008 | World Lit, Nonfiction, Art/Architecture | |
| Webster Guan (New Trier) | 2011 | Physics, U.S. Lit, Poetry | |
| Dylan Minarik (Belvidere North) | 2011 | U.S. Lit, Painting, Instrumental Classical Music | |
| Nolan Winkler (Loyola) | 2011 | Biology, U.S. History, Religion/Mythology | |
| Thomas Birt (Wheaton North) | 2012 | U.S. History, European History, Military History3 | |
| Maia Karpovich (IMSA) | 2012 | Physics, Other Science, Current Events/Geography | |
| Ian Torres (Loyola) | 2012 | Curricular Math, Other Fine Arts, Social Studies/Philosophy | |
| Stae Schipper-Reyes (Bloomington) | 2013 | Biology, Other Science, Mathematics | |
| Alston Boyd (Bloomington) | 2014 | Chemistry, Religion/Mythology, Social Science/Philosophy | |
| Nolan Liu (St. Joseph (IN)) | 2014 | British Lit, Poetry, Religion/Mythology | |
| Andrew Salij (IMSA) | 2014 | European History, Religion/Mythology, Social Science/Philosophy | |
| Jonathan Suh (Wheaton Warrenville South) | 2015 | U.S. Literature, Poetry, SS/Philosophy | |
| Matthew Lehmann (Barrington) | 2015 | U.S. Lit, Poetry, European History | |
| Jack Mayer (Loyola) | 2015 | Religion/Mythology, World History, European History | |
| Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) | 2016 | Other Fine Arts, Current Events, Geography | |
| Gretchen Coleman (Latin) | 2017 | Chemistry, US History, World History | |
| Nick Kaminsky (Metea Valley) | 2017 | Chemistry, US History, World History | |
| Ana Pranger (Latin) | 2017 | British Literature, European/World Literature, Current Events | |
| Alex Reuter (Latin) | 2017 | Chemistry, World History, Religion/Mythology | |
| Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) | 2017 | Other Science, European History, Military History | |
| Kevin Kodama (OPRF) | 2018 | European and World Literature, World History, Religion and Mythology | |
| Thomas Kent (Glenbard North) | 2018 | Chemistry, Mathematics, Instrumental Classical Music | |
| Dylan Bowman (University Lab) | 2019 | Physics, Chemistry, Other Science | |
| David Holmquist (Stevenson) | 2019 | European History, World History, Military History | |
| Anthony Malysz (Sandburg) | 2020 | US Literature, Poetry, Religion/Mythology | |
| Lawrence Zhao (University Lab) | 2020 | Chemistry, Physics, Other Fine Arts | |
| Abigail AuYeung (Hinsdale Central) | 2024 | British Lit, European & World Lit, Instrumental Classical Music | |
| Ayaan Ghori (Carl Sandburg) | 2024 | European History, World History, Military History | |
| Spencer Manning (Stevenson) | 2024 | British Lit, Painting, Instrumental Classical Music |
- In 2017, Ethan Strombeck became the first player to win at least three categories in three different tournaments. He became the first player to do so in four different tournaments the next year.
7 categories won, career
| # CATS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | CATEGORIES (YEAR) |
| 17 | Ethan Strombeck | Auburn | Chemistry (15), Other Science (15, 17), US History (15), European History (15, 17), Military History (17), European & World Literature (18) Current Events (16), Geography (16), Painting (18), Instrumental Classical Music (15, 18), Other Fine Arts (16, 18), SS/Philosophy (18) |
| 14 | Lloyd Sy | Auburn | U.S. Lit (09), World Lit (10), British Lit (10, 11), Poetry (11), Physics (11), Biology (11), Other Science (11), Painting (10), Instrumental Classical Music (10), Other Fine Art (11), European History (11), SS/Philosophy (11), Interdisciplinary (09) |
| 13 | Greg Gauthier | Wheaton North | U.S. Lit (06), Physics (06, 07), Chemistry (07), Geometry/Trig (04, 05, 06, 07), Algebra (05, 07), Calculus/Combinatorics (04, 06, 07) |
| 11 | Paul Gauthier | Wheaton North | World Lit (01, 02, 03), Lang Arts (02), British Lit (02, 03), Biology (03), Art (01), Geometry/Trig (02), Current Events (02), World History (03) |
| 11 | Cole Timmerwilke | Auburn | SS/Philosophy (13, 15), Other Science (14), Other Fine Art (14, 15), Current Events (14), U.S. History (14), World History (14), Painting (15), European History (15), Geography (15) |
| 10 | Siva Sundaram | Auburn | U.S. Lit (07, 08), World Lit (07), Lang Arts (06), Vocabulary (08), Music (07), Art/Architecture (07), Religion/Mythology (07), Pop Culture (06), Geometry/Trig (06) |
| 10 | Dylan Minarik | Belvidere North | U.S. Lit (11), Poetry (12), Physics (12), Other Science (12), Painting (11), Instrumental Classic Music (11, 12), Religion/Mythology (12), U.S. History (12), SS/Philosophy (12) |
| 10 | Arjun Nageswaran | Stevenson | US History (17), European History (19), World History (20), Military History (20), British Literature (19), European and World Literature (20), Instrumental Classic Music (18, 20), Other Fine Arts (20), Current Events (17) |
| 8 | Govind Prabhakar | Stevenson | US History (19), European History (18, 19), World History (18), Religion/Mythology (19), Current Events (18, 19) |
| 7 | Ben Carbery | OPRF | British Lit (10), Other Science (10), Religion/Mythology (09), World History (10), European History (10), Military History (10), Interdisciplinary (09) |
| 7 | Andrew Deveau | Maine South/St. Ignatius | Nonfiction (09), British Lit (09, 10), Physics (09), Curricular Math (10), Pop Culture (07), Art/Architecture (09) |
| 7 | Ankush Bajaj | Hinsdale Central | SS/Philosophy (14), World Lit (14, 15), U.S. Lit (15), British Lit (15), Biology (15), Chemistry (15) |
| 7 | Dylan Bowman | University High | Physics (18, 19), Chemistry (18, 19), Other Science (19) Instrumental Classic Music (18), Painting (18) |
Category Notes
- In 2012, Current Events and Geography were a combined category. Karpovich won that category in 2012, and then won "Geography" and "Current Events" as separate categories in 2013.
- Nolan Maloney and Prerak Trivedi are the only two players to win the three major science categories (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) in the same year.
- Ben Carbery, Thomas Birt, and David Holmquist are the only players to win three history categories in the same year.
- Lloyd Sy, Nolan Winkler, and Dylan Minarik are the only three players to have won at least one category in each of the broad areas (science/math, history, literature, fine arts, miscellaneous social studies). They each did this in one tournament, but no other player has accomplished this over multiple tournaments.
Solo Mirrors
In December 2017, Southwestern hosted the inaugural Southern Illinois Solo (under the name South Central Solo), a mirror of the New Trier Scobol Solo. The event mainly drew students from southwestern Illinois, though players from Winnebago and University of Illinois Lab also attended. Since then, the event has been held every year except for 2020 and 2022. The Southern Illinois Solo is the only other in-person mirror of the Scobol Solo, although online nationwide mirrors do exist. The set has also been mirrored by the Iowa Quiz Bowl League since 2018 and has been used for the Kentucky Individual Championship.
External Links
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