Thomas Jefferson Classical

Thomas Jefferson Classical
Location: Mooresboro, NC
Coaches	Sally Harbin, Kimberley Lloyd, Matthew Daigle
State Championships	NCASA MS: 2013
National Championships	None
National Appearances	HSNCT: 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 NSC: 2015 MSNCT: 2013, 2017
Program Status	Active
School Size	1304
NAQT Page	link

Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy is a K-12 charter school in Mooresboro, North Carolina. Thomas Jefferson's high school team is coached by Kimberley Lloyd. The middle school team is coached by Matthew Daigle and Sally Harbin. They formerly hosted the annual Gryphon Bowl in October, and currently host the NCASA western regionals every March.

History

TJ Classical is first recorded in NAQT tournament results during the 2007-2008 season, when the school sent three teams (2 JV) to South Caldwell's Western NC Shootout. In the 2008-2009 season, the school's teams placed fifth at the September Wofford Invitational, 16th at the October Viking Invitational, 17th at the December Speedway Shootout, 15th at the February Quaker Bowl and third at the JV division of the Western NC Shootout in March. TJ Classical started the 2009-2010 season with a 9th place finish out of 21 at the Crusader Cup. Two weeks later, they finished 5th at the Viking Invitational, almost tripling their previous year's score. On October 24th the school finished 17th out of 30 at the Speedway Shootout. In March TJ Classical gained 6th place at the Western NC Shootout and a week and a month later were 3rd place at the 2010 NCOAST. At the Dorman Season Ender they also placed third.

TJ Classical began the 2010-2011 season with a third place finish at Crusader Cup. A week later, A Team finished seventh at Quaker Bowl. On October 30th, their A Team won the Viking Invitational (seemingly their first NAQT set tournament victory). In January the team placed ninth at the Bulldog Brawl. In late March they were fourth at the NCASA West District Tournament. TJ Classical then won the inaugural Conway Academic Tournament and achieved 4th place at the 2011 NCASA High School Quiz Bowl State Championship a few weeks later. TJ Classical's HS A team then placed 2nd at the year's Dorman Season Ender and its MS A team won the MS division of the tournament. The year was not yet over for TJ Classical and their team attended the 2011 HSNCT, their first national championship, placing 170/224.

2011-12

After the 2010-11 season, TJ's entire A team graduated, so the team went into rebuild mode. The Freshmen Bradley Lloyd, Danny Federici, Max Teddy and David Advent all joined the A team. In October, TJ Classical placed second at the Newton-Conover NCASA Open and 12th at the Quaker Bowl. A team of the A Team freshmen and two 8th graders won the JV division of Crusader Cup and the vasity A Team placed fourth. At the Wake Forest Brain Summit the school's team place seventh out of eleven. They were fourth at the West District Tournament in March. At the NCASA state championship the school placed eighth. The team finished out the season wit ha 3rd place finish at the Dorman Season Ender tournament.

2012-13

TJ Classical began the 2012-2013 season by winning the Crusader Cup JV division and placing 13th at the varsity division. The school emerged as the victor in the NCASA Weekly Meets and again placed eighth at the Wake Forest Brain Summit. Its middle school team won the NCASA Charlotte Regionals and its high school team placed fourth. On April 13th, TJ Classical placed 2nd at the high school state championship and won the inaugural middle school state championship. With a team of Alex Harrelson, Eli Hornback, Goutam Gadiraju, Drew Hoyle, and Nick Longerbeam, the middle school team took an impressive 33/96 finish at the 2013 MSNCT that finished out one of TJ's most successful years yet.

2013-14

The 2013-2014 season began with a tenth place finish at the Quaker Bowl. At the NCASA Robinson Fall Tournament two weeks later, the team placed 2nd in the Varsity division. At the beginning of December TJ Classical won the small Highland Tech Fall Invitational. In March, the team won the NCASA Regional Tournament West. At the High School state championships the team placed third, and went on to the 2014 HSNCT, this time finishing 194/272.

2014-15

All of the teams A-team members entered their senior year going into the 2014-15 season. The season began with a C Team, led by standout sophomore Alex Harrelson, finishing 2nd in the JV division of the Crusader Cup, with the A Team placing 4th in the Varsity division. The school also hosted the inaugural Gryphon Bowl. Four TJ Classical teams played, with their A team placing second. At Dorman Fall TJ Classical gained second place and then won the small Isothermal Community College Senior Challenge. The team went on to win the NCASA Regional Tournament West again, qualifying for the state championship. At the state championship, the team was without Lloyd and Teddy, so sophomores Harrelson and Drew Hoyle replaced them on the team. Despite these roster changes, the team still placed third. The middle school team also won the small Isothermal Community College Junior Challenge. The high school team qualified for the 2015 HSNCT, finishing 190/272. Max Teddy also posted a ppg of 39.51, to this date the highest ever ppg at an HSNCT by a TJ Classical player. TJ Classical sent their B team, composed of Harrelson, Addison Conn, Jordan McIntyre, Sully Carpenter, and Nick Longerbeam, to the PACE NSC as well, finishing 83/96. Harrelson also posted a PPG of 41.33, the highest PPG at a national tournament by a TJ Classical player to this date.

2015-16

Despite their losing their elite foursome of Teddy, Lloyd, Federici, and Advent, TJ Classical looked strong heading into the 2015-16 season, returning Harrelson, Hoyle, and Conn, and adding Goutam Gadiraju and Eli Hornback to the team, who had played in middle school. In September, TJ Classical placed 17th out of 48 at the highly competitive Ezell-Harding Academic Tournament. After placing 6th at the second Gryphon Bowl, TJ Classical A finished 5th at the Dorman Fall Tournament. In October, TJ Classical A won the Crusader Cup. At the Clemson University Tigertown Throwdown, the normal A Team was not present, so a makeshift A team led by standout freshman John Kim replaced them, finishing 11th out of 23. In January, the team qualified for history bowl nationals at the East Georgia winter regionals site, and Eli Hornback finished 3rd in the bee. In February, the middle school team again won the Isothermal Junior Challenge and placed 2nd at the NCASA Charlotte Regional. On the same day, the high school team won the NCASA Regional Tournament West and soon after a team of Harrelson, Hoyle, Gadiraju, and Conn placed third at the high school state championship. The middle school team placed 9th at the middle school championship. At history bowl nationals, the team finished 37th, the highest a TJ team has ever placed at history bowl, and the high school team attended the 2016 HSNCT. For the HSNCT, the team was without Harrelson and Hornback, and so Sully Carpenter and Nick Longerbeam replaced them. The team placed 238/272.

2016-17

The entire A team save Conn returned for the 2016-17 season. The team opened the season finishing 9th out of 43 at the Ezell-Harding Academic Tournament, which included a historic victory over Dorman A. In October, the A team placed 4th in the Crusader Cup, where the C team won the JV division, and then won the Gryphon Bowl. At the Gryphon Bowl, the B team finished 2nd, qualifying them for HSNCT, the first time TJ had qualified two teams. The team closed out the month with a 2nd place finish at the Dorman Fall Tournament, where their PPB put them in the HSQBRank rankings for the first time in the program's history. During the season, their ranking fluctuated between 70th-85th. In November, the team finished 2nd at the Grapes of Smath. In January, the varsity and JV teams qualified for history bowl nationals at the East Georgia regionals, and Alex Harrelson finished 2nd in the varsity bee and John Kim finished 3rd in the JV bee. In February, the team finished 2nd at the Southside Tiger Invitational, and the JV team won the JV division. Both the high school and middle school teams finished 2nd at their regional tournaments, qualifying them for state. At state, the high school team finished a disappointing 5th. The middle school team finished 7th. At History Bowl nationals, Alex Harrelson playing solo finished 70th and the JV team finished 58th. Harrelson finished 58th in the varsity bee and John Kim finished 64th in the JV bee. The middle school team went to the 2017 MSNCT, finishing 146/160. At the 2017 HSNCT, due to some bad losses and an unlucky draw in matches, the A team only 4-6 and finished 194/304. The B team fared better, going 5-5 and finishing 178/304.

2017-18

The entire A team again graduated, but all of the B team except for Andrew Deaton and Jesse Conner returned, and Jordan McIntyre returned from NCSSM. After some major improvement, Cole Powell and Turner White moved up to the A team. The team opened the season finishing 7th at the Virginia Tech fall invitational, and then finished 12th at the Duke mirror of Maryland Fall, where half the team had to leave after lunch. TJ then finished 4th at the Dorman Fall Tournament, and their JV A and B teams took first and second, respectively. The team then finished 2nd at the Clemson University Tigertown Throwdown, which included an impressive win over Dutch Fork. In January, the team went to the East Georgia history bee & bowl site, successfully qualifying for nationals. John Kim finsihed 2nd in the vasrity bee and Jonathan Shauf won the JV bee. In February, the team finished 4th at the Southside Tiger Invitational, and the JV team won their division. At regionals, the high school team finished second and the middle school team finished 3rd, qualifying both for state. At states, the high school team finished 7th and the middle school team placed 5th. At History bowl nationals, the team finished 50th and beat Illoani, who were ranked #11 pre-nationals. John Kim finished 63rd in the varsity bee and Jonathan Shauf finished 53rd in the JV bee. At the 2018 HSNCT, the team went 5-5 and finished 203/352.

2018-19

For the 2018-19 season, the team graduated Carter Plaster and Jordan McIntyre, but returned their two primary scorers from HSNCT, John Kim and Jonathan Shauf. They also gained precocious middle schooler Dominik Mystkowski. The team opened up the season finishing 21/23 at PHSAT. In October, the full A-team played for the first time and placed 3/22 at Bonfire of the Manatees, and then they placed 3/18 at Clemson University Tigertown Throwdown. In November, they placed 2/26 at the USC Fall Tournament. In December, they were 4/18 at Grapes of SMATH. The B team also won the novice portion of the Commerce CLAUSE. They were ranked at 102 in the midseason Groger Ranks. In January, they were third at the Cavalier Challenge, and the middle school team won their division. At the South Carolina State History Bowl Championships, TJ Classical won the bowl and John Kim and Jonathan Shauf were 1-2 in the bee. In February, TJ was 2nd at the Southside Tiger Invitational, and the JV team won the JV division. In March, they were 2nd at the NCASA Western Regionals, and the middle school team was 3rd. At the [[NCASA High School Quiz Bowl State Championship, the high school team placed 5th. The middle school team also placed 5th at state. At History Bowl & Bee Nationals, the varsity team made playoffs and ended up taking the small school title. The team finished 41st overall. John Kim narrowly missed playoffs in bee, finishing 47th overall. The JV team went 1-4 in prelims and 4-1 in their afternoon group. At the 2019 HSNCT, after going 3-4 on Saturday, won 3 straight on Sunday to make playoffs for the first time in the school's history. The team was eliminated by Wheeler in the first round, and ended T-97/336, to cap off the most successful season in TJ history to date.

2019-2020

After graduating captain John Kim, Turner White, and Pierce Robinson, sophomores Dominik Mystkowski, Aidan O'Reilly, and Camden Sloan all moved up to the A team. The team opened the season with a win at the Carlanna Hendrick Academic Tournament. They then finished 3rd at the Southside Starter and then were 9th at the Bonfire of the Manatees. A short-handed team was mid-pack at the Ramblin' Wreck Invitational.

2022 Roster

• Noah Champion
• Dominik Mystkowski
• Camden Sloan
• Aidan O'Reilly
• Jack Parker
• Andrew Oliphant
• Maylan Maxwell
• Katrina Shauf
• Jennie Conner
• Dominic McCraw
• Cooper Xie
• Sophia Christophorou
• Hunter Plaster
• Ava Bridges
• Sidney Grace Evans
• Ava Bridges
• Lawson Taylor
• Addison Lane

External links

• School website
• NAQT Stats page