Difference between revisions of "Grail"

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A '''grail''' is a feat wherein one team correctly answers all tossups heard in a match. The team does not need to answer all of the bonus parts correctly to achieve a grail.
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<onlyinclude>In [[quiz bowl]], a '''grail''' is a term used to refer to the rare feat where one [[team]] [[conversion|correctly answers]] all [[tossups]] heard in a [[game]]. Generally, this implies a team answering 20 correct tossups, though in a [[timed games|timed match]] this can vary. The team does not need to answer all of the bonus parts correctly to achieve a grail - achieving 30 [[points per bonus]] over a non-trivial number of questions is called an [[Andrew Hart Grail]] and is much rarer.</onlyinclude>
  
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==Incomplete List of Teams That Have Achieved a Grail==
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Grails necessarily occur in situations where the teams playing are heavily mismatched - this may be due to one team being shorthanded, but the most common reason is an established team playing a newer one. Even for strong teams, grails almost always happen on easier questions and are limited by chance.
 +
 
 +
==Grails of note==
 +
This page will attempt to focus on the memorable games where a team faced another team of non-negligible skill on non-trivial questions, for which converting every tossup first was truly an achievement.
 +
<!-- INSTRUCTIONS TO EDITORS:
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To avoid this page from being saturated with established teams being cruel to newer teams, please attempt to only add entries which adhere to the following criteria:
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1. Both teams should be of reasonably similar skills - this isn't something that can necessarily be assessed accurately post facto, but at minimum this should exclude top 10 teams beating a local C team.
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2. The tournament should be of a non-trivial difficulty - it is simply not of much note that a strong team could get every tossup of a novice set.
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3. Particularly interesting grails can loosely violate the previous rules
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The goal is to preserve grails which are truly impressive while removing the borderline-insulting fluff.
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-->
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===Open===
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{| class="wikitable"
 +
! Grailer
 +
! Score
 +
! Grailee
 +
! Tournament
 +
|-
 +
| [[Jonathan Magin]] and [[Rom Masrour]]
 +
| ? – ?
 +
| ???
 +
| [[2008 Illinois Open Literature]]
 +
|-
 +
| [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], [[Andrew Hart]], and [[Dennis Jang]]
 +
| ? – ?
 +
| [[Berkeley]]
 +
| [[Cardinal Classic]] 2008
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
===College===
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<!-- INSTRUCTIONS TO EDITORS:
 +
Please read the guidelines under the "Grails of note" header
 +
-->
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{| class="wikitable"
 +
! Grailer
 +
! Score
 +
! Grailee
 +
! Tournament
 +
|-
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| [[Virginia|Virginia A]]
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| 680 – -5<br/>(23 toss-ups heard)
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| [[Virginia Tech]]
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| [[2011 SCT]] East Carolina site
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|-
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| [[Virginia]] A
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| 660 – -5
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| [[Stanford]]
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| [[2014 ACF Nationals]]
 +
|-
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| [[Stanford]] B
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| 720 – -5
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| [[UC Davis]]
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| [[2015 SCT|2015 DII Berkeley SCT]]
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|-
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| [[Minnesota]] A
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| 845 – -30<br/>(22 toss-ups heard)
 +
| [[Grinnell]]
 +
| [[2018 SCT]]<br/>(combined DI/DII field)
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
Virginia A ([[Matt Bollinger]], [[Evan Adams]], [[Tommy Casalaspi]], [[Dennis Loo]]) grailing top bracket team Stanford ([[Benji Nguyen]], [[James Bradbury]], [[Nikhil Desai]], [[Kyle Sutherlin]]) en route to winning [[2014 ACF Nationals]] undefeated is perhaps the most impressive grail that has ever happened.
 +
 
 +
[[Minnesota A]]'s grail against [[Grinnell]] at the North site of the [[2018 SCT]] is a glaring reminder of the problems with combining fields between [[Division I and Division II]].
  
 
===High School===
 
===High School===
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*[[Eden Prairie]] A at [[SOCIAL]] III in 2006, defeating [[North Saint Paul]] B 730–0
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<!-- INSTRUCTIONS TO EDITORS:
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*[[St. Anselm's]] at the [[2010 NSC]] (defeating [[Seven Lakes]] B 810–0)
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Please read the guidelines under the "Grails of note" header
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*[[Auburn (Rockford, Illinois high school)|Auburn]] at the 2009 [[Loyburn]] (defeating [[St. Viator]] 725–0)
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-->
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*[[St. Joseph (NJ)]] at the 2010 [[Caesar Rodney]] [[Rider Bowl]] (defeating [[Delcastle]] B 715–0)
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{| class="wikitable"
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*[[Maggie Walker]] twice at the 2009 [[Weekend of Quizbowl]] in consecutive rounds (defeating [[St. Catherine's]] 780–0 and [[St. Anselm's]] 565–(–5))
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! Grailer
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*[[Torrey Pines]] at the 2009 [[UCSD]] mirror of [[HFT]] (defeating [[Canyon Crest]] 630–(–5))
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! Score
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*[[Hunter]] in the ''finals'' of the 2010 [[Princeton High School Tournament]] (defeating [[Bergen County Academies]] 765-0)
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! Grailee
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*[[Copley]] at the 2010 FKT at Olmstead Falls (defeating Southeast B 640-0)
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! Tournament
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*[[Liberty (MO)|Liberty]] at the 2012 [[North Kansas City]] Varsity Invitational Tournament (defeating [[Lafayette (St. Joseph, MO)|Lafayette]] 565-0)
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|-
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*[[Ladue]] twice at the 2012 [[Mort Walker Invitational]] (defeating [[Smith-Cotton]] and [[Rock Bridge]] B 750-0, both times), once at the 2012 [[Tiger Bowl]] (defeating [[Oakville]] B 930-10), once at the 2013 Mort Walker Invitational (defeating [[Tuscumbia]] 730-(-5)).
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| [[St. Anselm's]]
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*[[Warren G. Harding]] at [[Ohio State|Ohio State's]] 2012 Buckeye Spring Tournament (defeating [[Coshocton]] 740-0)
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| 810 – 0
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*[[Rock Bridge]] at LIST II defeating Parkway South in 2012,700-0)
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| [[Seven Lakes]] B
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*[[Christiansburg]] at the 2012 Virginia Tech Spring Invitational against Honaker (710--10)
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| [[2010 NSC]]
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*[[Early College at Guilford]] at the 2012 [[Tar Heel Cup]], defeating an exhibition team.
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|-
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*[[Raleigh Charter]] at the 2012 [[GSAC]] XX, defeating Dinwiddie B
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| [[Torrey Pines]]
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*[[High Tech]] at the 2012 [[FAcT]] (IS-121A), defeating Suffield B (775-0); then at the 2013 [[Princeton High School Tournament]] against Phoenixville B (755-0)
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| 630 – -5
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*[[Macomb|Macomb A]] at the 2013 Springfield Invitational, defeating Bloomington B (655-0)
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| [[Canyon Crest]]
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*[[Cistercian|Cistercian A]] at the 2013 [[St. Mark's]] Invitational against [[Parish Episcopal]] (710--5)
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| [[UCSD]] mirror of 2009 [[HFT]]
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*[[Detroit Catholic Central|Detroit Catholic Central A]] twice at the 2013 [[University of Kentucky Spring Championship]], against Shelby Valley C (15/5/0, 805 to -10) and Mercy Academy (11/9/0, 735 to -5) and again at WUHSAC defeating Oakville B (700-10).
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|-
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*[[Wayzata|Wayzata A]] at the 2013 [[SOCIAL]] against [[Mounds Park|Mounds Park B]] (865-0).
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| [[Hunter]]
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*[[Colonel By|Colonel By A]] at [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/1719/stats/all_games/teamdetail/ Lisgar's JAMES Mirror] against [[Lisgar]] D (710 to 0)
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| 765 – 0
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*[[Colonel By|Colonel By A]] at the 2013 Ottawa Quiz Bowl tournament IX against Colonel By D (660-0)
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| [[Bergen County Academies]]
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*[[South Range]] at 2014 Mahoning County League against [[Poland Seminary]] (805-0)
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| finals of 2010 [[Princeton High School Tournament]]
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*[[Saratoga]] at the 2014 BELLOCO tournament against [[Mills]] (640--30)
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|-
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*[[Glasgow]] at 2014 [[NAQT Kentucky Championship]] against [[Ballard|Ballard B]] (560 to -20)
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| [[Hallsville]]
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*[[Enloe]] at 2014 [[Bacon Bowl]] at [[Millbrook]] against [[Smithfield-Selma]] B (770-0)
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| 695 – 0<br/>(22 tossups heard)
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*[[Hallsville]] at 2014 [[SSNCT]] against Miami Community Charter (695-0) (22 toss-ups heard)
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| [[Miami Community Charter]]
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| [[2014 SSNCT]]
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|-
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| [[Souderton]]
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| 690 – -5
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| [[Renaissance Academy]]
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| [[Great Valley]]'s 2015 winter tournament<br/>(Souderton's first pyramidal tournament ever)
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|-
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| [[Glasgow]]
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| 765 – -5<br/>(23 tossups heard)
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| [[Woodland]]
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| [[2015 SSNCT]]
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|-
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| [[Detroit Catholic Central|Detroit Catholic Central A]]
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| 660 – 30
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| [[Del Norte]]
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| [[2015 PACE NSC]]
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|-
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| [[Miami Valley School|Miami Valley A]]
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| 870 – -5<br/>(24 tossups heard)
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| [[Doral Red Rock|Doral Red Rock B]]
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| [[2017 SSNCT]]
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|}
  
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===College/Open===
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Among the national championships, grails are much more common at [[SSNCT]]: the range in preparedness between teams in the Open Division is comparable to [[HSNCT]], but the much smaller field size allows more opportunities for teams to take advantage of the lower difficulty questions.
  
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*[[Jonathan Magin]] and [[Rom Masrour]] at the 2008 Illinois Open Literature
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===Middle School===
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*A [[Jerry Vinokurov]]-led open team (consisting of [[Eric Mukherjee]], [[Andrew Hart]], and [[Dennis Jang]]) at [[Cardinal Classic]] 2008, against [[Berkeley]].
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<!-- INSTRUCTIONS TO EDITORS:
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*[[Chipola College]] ([[Dallin Kelson]] playing solo) at the Valencia site of the 2010 Delta Burke (defeating Mercer B in the first round of the playoffs 620-0)
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Please read the guidelines under the "Grails of note" header
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*[[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 655-(-15))
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-->
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*[[Penn]] ([[Dallas Simons]], [[Patrick Liao]], [[Saajid Moyen]], and [[Eric Mukherjee]]) at the mid-Atlantic mirror of [[QUARK]] (defeating [[Johns Hopkins]] B)
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{| class="wikitable"
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*[[Virginia|Virginia A]] at [[Michigan Fall Tournament]] against Liberty A (820-0)
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! Grailer
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*[[Stanford|Stanford A]] at [[2013 ACF Fall]] against Berkeley D (690 to -10)
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! Score
−
*[[Illinois|Illinois B]] at 2014 [[SCT]], defeating [[Northern Illinois]] 860-0 (24 toss-ups heard).
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! Grailee
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*[[Virginia|Virginia A]] ([[Matthew Bollinger]], [[Evan Adams]], [[Tommy Casalaspi]], and [[Dennis Loo]]) at [[2014 ACF Nationals]] against Stanford (660 to -5)
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! Tournament
 +
|-
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| [[Miami Valley School (middle school)|Miami Valley School A]]
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| 700 – 0
 +
| [[St. Mary]] B
 +
| 2015 Ohio Middle School State Championship
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|-
 +
| [[JP Stevens|John Adams]]
 +
| 690 – -5
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| [[Morristown-Beard]]
 +
| 2021 New Jersey Middle State Championships
 +
|}
  
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==Individual Grail==
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==Individual Grails of Note==
 +
<!-- INSTRUCTIONS TO EDITORS:
 +
Please read the guidelines under the "Grails of note" header
 +
-->
 +
An '''individual grail''' (or '''solo grail''') occurs when a single individual, playing solo or with teammates, answers every tossup in a regulation match. The more difficult nature of this feat means that almost all documented instances were examples of the previously-mentioned situation of strong players on easy questions against new teams and have not been recorded here.
  
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An individual grail occurs when a single individual, playing solo or with teammates, answers every tossup in a regulation match.  [[Jerry Vinokurov]] was one tossup short of this mark playing solo against [[Athens State]] B at [[2006 ACF Nationals]].  [[R. Hentzel]] legendarily had an attempt at an individual grail foiled when he failed to identify an "Easy-Bake Oven." [[Tristan Willey]] (then of [[Macomb]], but playing independently at the collegiate level) grailed against [[Central Michigan|Central Michigan A]] at [[2011 ACF Fall]] at [[NIU]] [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/143/stats/combined/playerdetail/#p1_27]. [[Eric Xu]] of [[Western Albemarle]] grailed against [[Mount Vernon]] B at [[RAYNOR]] (run by [[Thomas Jefferson (VA)|Thomas Jefferson]]).
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[[R. Hentzel]] legendarily had an attempt at an individual grail foiled when he failed to identify an "Easy-Bake Oven."  
  
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==See Also==
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[[John John Groger]] of [[Miami Valley School]] grailed [[Auburn]] by himself at the highschool-only [[UChicago]] mirror of [[ACF Fall|2019 ACF Fall]].
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*[[Andrew Hart Grail]]
 
  
 
[[Category: Quizbowl lingo]]
 
[[Category: Quizbowl lingo]]
 
[[Category: Original QBWiki Page]]
 
[[Category: Original QBWiki Page]]

Latest revision as of 07:47, 27 January 2022

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 - achieving 30 points per bonus over a non-trivial number of questions is called an Andrew Hart Grail and is much rarer.

Grails necessarily occur in situations where the teams playing are heavily mismatched - this may be due to one team being shorthanded, but the most common reason is an established team playing a newer one. Even for strong teams, grails almost always happen on easier questions and are limited by chance.

Grails of note

This page will attempt to focus on the memorable games where a team faced another team of non-negligible skill on non-trivial questions, for which converting every tossup first was truly an achievement.

Open

Grailer Score Grailee Tournament
Jonathan Magin and Rom Masrour ? – ? ??? 2008 Illinois Open Literature
Jerry Vinokurov, Eric Mukherjee, Andrew Hart, and Dennis Jang ? – ? Berkeley Cardinal Classic 2008

College

Grailer Score Grailee Tournament
Virginia A 680 – -5
(23 toss-ups heard) 		Virginia Tech 2011 SCT East Carolina site
Virginia A 660 – -5 Stanford 2014 ACF Nationals
Stanford B 720 – -5 UC Davis 2015 DII Berkeley SCT
Minnesota A 845 – -30
(22 toss-ups heard) 		Grinnell 2018 SCT
(combined DI/DII field)

Virginia A (Matt Bollinger, Evan Adams, Tommy Casalaspi, Dennis Loo) grailing top bracket team Stanford (Benji Nguyen, James Bradbury, Nikhil Desai, Kyle Sutherlin) en route to winning 2014 ACF Nationals undefeated is perhaps the most impressive grail that has ever happened.

Minnesota A's grail against Grinnell at the North site of the 2018 SCT is a glaring reminder of the problems with combining fields between Division I and Division II.

High School

Grailer Score Grailee Tournament
St. Anselm's 810 – 0 Seven Lakes B 2010 NSC
Torrey Pines 630 – -5 Canyon Crest UCSD mirror of 2009 HFT
Hunter 765 – 0 Bergen County Academies finals of 2010 Princeton High School Tournament
Hallsville 695 – 0
(22 tossups heard) 		Miami Community Charter 2014 SSNCT
Souderton 690 – -5 Renaissance Academy Great Valley's 2015 winter tournament
(Souderton's first pyramidal tournament ever)
Glasgow 765 – -5
(23 tossups heard) 		Woodland 2015 SSNCT
Detroit Catholic Central A 660 – 30 Del Norte 2015 PACE NSC
Miami Valley A 870 – -5
(24 tossups heard) 		Doral Red Rock B 2017 SSNCT

Among the national championships, grails are much more common at SSNCT: the range in preparedness between teams in the Open Division is comparable to HSNCT, but the much smaller field size allows more opportunities for teams to take advantage of the lower difficulty questions.

Middle School

Grailer Score Grailee Tournament
Miami Valley School A 700 – 0 St. Mary B 2015 Ohio Middle School State Championship
John Adams 690 – -5 Morristown-Beard 2021 New Jersey Middle State Championships

Individual Grails of Note

An individual grail (or solo grail) occurs when a single individual, playing solo or with teammates, answers every tossup in a regulation match. The more difficult nature of this feat means that almost all documented instances were examples of the previously-mentioned situation of strong players on easy questions against new teams and have not been recorded here.

R. Hentzel legendarily had an attempt at an individual grail foiled when he failed to identify an "Easy-Bake Oven."

John John Groger of Miami Valley School grailed Auburn by himself at the highschool-only UChicago mirror of 2019 ACF Fall.

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