Grail

In quiz bowl, a grail is a term used to refer to the rare feat where one team correctly answers all tossups heard in a game. Generally, this implies a team answering 20 correct tossups, though in a timed match this can vary. The team does not need to answer all of the bonus parts correctly to achieve a grail. Grails almost always occur in situations where the teams playing are heavily mismatched. This may be due to one team missing its best players/being shorthanded, being a novice team, or playing a tournament where the questions being read are too difficult for them, even if they are not novices (e.g. ACF Nationals-level questions). As such, getting a grail is both dependent on chance -- that is, getting a match scheduled against a far weaker opponent -- and skill.

Incomplete List of Teams That Have Achieved a Grail

Open

• Jonathan Magin and Rom Masrour at the 2008 Illinois Open Literature
• A Jerry Vinokurov-led open team (consisting of Eric Mukherjee, Andrew Hart, and Dennis Jang) at Cardinal Classic 2008, against Berkeley.
• "Cherchez La Femme Nikita Khrushchev" (featuring Jake Sundberg, Mark Morris, Dargan Ware, and Megan Patterson) at the 2011 HSNCT Mirror in Chattanooga (defeating Chuck Pearson and Eli Miles of Shorter, playing as Chuck Pearson Farewell Tour) (655-(-15))

College

• Virginia A at the 2011 SCT East Carolina site, defeating Virginia Tech 680--5 (23 toss-ups heard)
• Penn (Dallas Simons, Patrick Liao, Saajid Moyen, and Eric Mukherjee) at the mid-Atlantic mirror of QUARK (defeating Johns Hopkins B)
• Virginia A at Michigan Fall Tournament against Liberty A (820-0)
• Stanford A at 2013 ACF Fall against Berkeley D (690 to -10)
• Chicago A at DRAGOON against Notre Dame B (730-0)
• Illinois B at 2014 SCT, defeating Northern Illinois 860-0 (24 toss-ups heard).
• Virginia A at 2014 ACF Nationals against Stanford (660 to -5)
• Stanford B at 2015 DII Berkeley SCT against UC Davis (720-(-5))
• Oklahoma at 2015 ACF Regionals against Kansas State (580 to -25)
• Stanford A at 2016 DI Berkeley SCT against Berkeley C (705-0)
• Chicago A at the 2017 EFT Michigan site against Michigan C (640-(-10))
• Princeton at 2017 Penn Bowl against NYU B (560-0)
• Penn State A at 2017 ACF Fall against Rochester B (630-0)
• Minnesota B at 2017 ACF Fall against Drake B (740-(-5)).[1]
• Minnesota A at 2018 SCT (combined field) against Grinnell (845-(-30)) (22 toss-ups heard)
• Chicago B at 2019 Terrapin against Mizzou B (585-(-10))
• Chicago A at 2020 ACF Regionals against DePaul (710-(-10))

High School

• Eden Prairie A at SOCIAL III in 2006 against North Saint Paul B (730–0)
• St. Anselm's at the 2010 NSC against Seven Lakes B (810–0)
• Auburn at the 2009 Loyburn againstSt. Viator (725–0)
• St. Joseph (NJ) at the 2010 Caesar Rodney Rider Bowl against Delcastle B (715–0)
• Maggie Walker twice at the 2009 Weekend of Quizbowl in consecutive rounds against St. Catherine's (780–0) and St. Anselm's (565–(–5))
• Torrey Pines at the 2009 UCSD mirror of HFT against Canyon Crest (630–(–5))
• Hunter in the finals of the 2010 Princeton High School Tournament against Bergen County Academies (765-0)
• Copley at the 2010 FKT at Olmstead Falls against Southeast B (640-0)
• Liberty at the 2012 North Kansas City Varsity Invitational Tournament against Lafayette (565-0)
• Ladue twice at the 2012 Mort Walker Invitational against Smith-Cotton and Rock Bridge B 750-0, both times, once at the 2012 Tiger Bowl against Oakville B (930-10), and once at the 2013 Mort Walker Invitational against Tuscumbia (730-(-5))
• Warren G. Harding at Ohio State's 2012 Buckeye Spring Tournament against Coshocton (740-0)
• Rock Bridge at LIST II against Parkway South in 2012, (700-0)
• Christiansburg at the 2012 Virginia Tech Spring Invitational against Honaker (710-(-10))
• Early College at Guilford at the 2012 Tar Heel Cup against an exhibition team.
• Raleigh Charter at the 2012 GSAC XX against Dinwiddie B and at the 2014 Millbrook Fall Tournament against Cleveland B
• High Tech at the 2012 FAcT (IS-121A) against Suffield B (775-0) and at the 2013 Princeton High School Tournament against Phoenixville B (755-0)
• Kellenberg A at the 2013 Princeton High School Tournament against Mountain Lakes C (630-(-5))
• Macomb A at the 2013 Springfield Invitational against Bloomington B (655-0)
• Cistercian A at the 2013 St. Mark's Invitational against Parish Episcopal (710-(-5))
• Hickman at the 2013 Hallsville Invitational against Helias C (705-0)
• Detroit Catholic Central A twice at the 2013 University of Kentucky Spring Championship, against Shelby Valley C (805-(-10)) and Mercy Academy (735-(-5)) and again at WUHSAC against Oakville B (700-10).
• Wayzata A at the 2013 SOCIAL against Mounds Park B (865-0).
• Colonel By A at Lisgar's JAMES Mirror against Lisgar D (710 to 0)
• Colonel By A at the 2013 Ottawa Quiz Bowl tournament IX against Colonel By D (790-0)
• South Range at 2014 Mahoning County League against Poland Seminary (805-0)
• Saratoga at the 2014 BELLOCO tournament against Mills (640-(-30))
• Glasgow at 2014 NAQT Kentucky Championship against Ballard B (560 (-20))
• Enloe at 2014 Bacon Bowl at Millbrook against Smithfield-Selma B (770-0)
• Hallsville at 2014 SSNCT against Miami Community Charter (695-0) (22 toss-ups heard)
• Detroit Catholic Central B at 2014 Ohio Fall Kickoff Tournament at Sidney against Urbana B (730-0)
• Richard Montgomery at 2014 VCU Winter VII against "Homeschool Out of the Box" B (795-0)
• Maggie Walker A at 2014 VCU Winter VII against Mount Vernon B (745-0)
• Northmont A at 2014 Rowdy Raider Invitational against Culver B (740-(-5))
• Bellarmine A at 2015 Wildcat Classic against Dougherty Valley C (725-(-5))
• Arcadia C at 2015 SAT against Bishops B (795-0)
• La Jolla A at 2015 ATLAS II against Santa Monica C (730-(-5))
• La Jolla A at Triton Winter V against Scripps Ranch (750-0)
• Arcadia A at 2015 PI against Irvine (745-(-5))
• Souderton, in their first pyramidal tournament ever, against Renaissance Academy at Great Valley's 2015 winter tournament (690-(-5))
• Northmont A at 2015 Quizbowl Invitational for Northwest Ohio Academics against Mohawk A (815-0) and Lincolnview B (720-0)
• Glasgow at 2015 SSNCT against Woodland (765-(-10)) (23 toss-ups heard)
• Detroit Catholic Central A at 2015 PACE NSC against Del Norte (660-30)
• Dorman A at 2015 Glasgow Scottie Invitational against Merrol Hyde B (705-0)
• Detroit Catholic Central B at 2015 TEAMS against Hinsdale Central B (610-0)
• Detroit Catholic Central A at 2015 TEAMS against Pine Garden Stream Woods (730-0)
• West Point A at the 2016 West Point Rainwater Invitational against Sylacauga B (475-0)
• Miami Valley A at 2017 SSNCT against Doral Red Rock B (870-(-5)) (24 toss-ups heard)
• High Tech A at 2018 Scarlet Knight Winter against Middlesex County Academy B (725-0)
• Copley A at 2018 Battle Buzz against Keystone B (635-0)
• Jesuit A at the 2018 LQBA Louisiana State Championship against Woodlawn (690-(-10))
• Ottawa Hills at the 2018 Beavercreek Fall Invitational against Clermont Northeastern B (730-(-5))
• Copley A at the 2018 Hicksville Invitational against Hillsdale B (705-0)
• Allderdice A at the 2018 SAGACITY against John Marshall B (690-0)
• Troy (NY) at the 2018 Tri-State Tussle IV against Ithaca B (750-0).
• Manheim Township A at the 2018 Henderson Invitational against Smithtown East A (670-(-5)) This occured on the same day as the Allderdice grail, so there were two grails in the same state at different tournaments on November 17th, 2018.
• Oak Park-River Forest against Morton West (860-20) in the IHSA West Suburban Conference on November 28th, 2018
• Copley A against Barberton (770-5) during the 2019 Summit County Academic Challenge League regular season.
• High Tech A at 2019's PHSAT XXVII against Moravian Academy B (765-(-10))
• Hallsville at the 2021 Tri-County Conference Tournament against Osage (690-30) (with bouncebacks)

Middle School

• Middlesex Middle A at 2015 Manheim Township Middle School Academic Challenge against Landisville Middle A (785-(-5))
• Miami Valley School A four times: once against Willis at Olentangy Liberty's AQUILA I (645-(-10)), once at the 2015 Ohio Middle School State Championship against St. Mary B (700-0), once at the 2016 Harvest Prep Fall Challenge against Delaware Dempsey (760-0), and once at the 3rd Annual Copley Middle School Invitational against St. Hilary A (765-(-10)).
• Barrington Station twice: at 2017 SMV Fall Gladiator Open against St. Mary's Visitation B 715–0 on November 4, 2017; and at 2018 Northwestern University Jr. Wildcat against St. Giles A 710-(-10) on March 10, 2018
• Hunter A at 2018 Bergen Winter Classic against Middlesex Middle G 745-(-10)

Incomplete List of Solo Teams That Have Achieved an Individual Grail or Near-Grail

Even rarer, an individual grail occurs when a single individual, playing solo or with teammates, answers every tossup in a regulation match.

College/Open

• Chipola's Dallin Kelson at the Valencia site of the 2010 Delta Burke (defeating Mercer B in the first round of the playoffs 620-0)
• Tristan Willey (then of Macomb, but playing independently at the collegiate level) grailed against Central Michigan A at 2011 ACF Fall at NIU. [2].
• Seth Kendall of Kentucky grailed against UTK B at the 2005 ACF Fall.[3]
• R. Hentzel legendarily had an attempt at an individual grail foiled when he failed to identify an "Easy-Bake Oven."

High School

• Eric Xu of Western Albemarle grailed against Mount Vernon B at RAYNOR (run by Thomas Jefferson).
• Alex Schmidt of Lehigh Valley grailed against Smithtown West A at Harvard Fall Tournament XII.
• Kuo-Kai Chin of Walter Johnson grailed against Centennial C at PSAT/NMSQT
• John John Groger of Miami Valley School grailed against Auburn at the high-school only UChicago mirror of 2019 ACF Fall
• Steven Botos of Dublin Scioto grailed against Interlochen at DART Mainsite

Middle School

• William Groger of Miami Valley A grailed against St. Hilary A at the 3rd Annual Copley Middle School Invitational.
• Robert Muñiz of Midtown Classical A grailed against Montford A at the Fourth Annual Fairview Egghead Invitational Tournament.

See Also

• Andrew Hart Grail