University of Toronto Schools

University of Toronto Schools (UTS)
Location: Toronto, ON
Coaches	Fraser Simpson
National Championships	2002, 2003, 2012, 2013 Reach
Program Status	Unknown
School Size	Unknown
NAQT Page	link

University of Toronto Schools (often abbreviated to UTS) is a private secondary school located in downtown Toronto. The school has been competitive for many years, recently becoming the first team to win successive national Reach for the Top championships in 2003. The team is also notable for being coached by Globe and Mail cryptic crossword writer Fraser Simpson. They compete in the Toronto Schoolreach League to qualify for the Ontario provincial championships.

Rivalry with Lisgar

To parallel the Maple Leafs - Senators rivalry, two very successful teams from Ottawa and Toronto have faced much animosity between them over the past several years.

UTS has, perhaps undeservedly, come to be seen by Lisgar as their nemesis, after being responsible for Lisgar's early elimination at two recent Ontario provincial tournaments. In 2006, 9th-seed UTS beat 2nd-seed Lisgar by 10 points, despite a last-minute rally by Lisgar during the lightning round. The following year, the confrontation began with Lisgar and UTS tying for fifth place in the playoff rankings. The issue was decided by a competition between team captains, with UTS winning the tiebreaker. Lisgar received the first-round wildcard, awarded to the round's highest-scoring loser, after being solidly beaten by UTS, and then proceeded to miss the second round wildcard (after being solidly beaten again, this time by eventual national champion London Central) due to UTS losing their own match with a score 20 points higher than Lisgar's.

In 2008, Lisgar and UTS were first and second seed respectively, which meant that they did not play until the final game, after both teams won their preliminary, quarterfinal, and semifinal games. Lisgar performed better than they had in previous games, keeping their score close to UTS for most of the games and even leading by thirty points midway through the game. However, UTS closed the gap and proceeded to dominate the closing lightning round, thus earning the Ontario title.

At the national tournament in Edmonton, the two teams once again faced off, with UTS winning in a round-robin matchup by a considerable margin. Eventually, both teams won their quarterfinal and semifinal matches to advance to the final game, facing each other. Lisgar prevailed 420-415, defeating UTS for the first time, bringing the Toronto school's historical record against Lisgar to 8-1.

At the April 2010 provincial NAQT tournament in Guelph, UTS defeated Lisgar 325-255 in the round robin. UTS had a 8-2 record after having lost to Woburn in the playoff round robin, and Lisgar, at 9-1, and played each other in a Lisgar advantaged final for the gold medal and further bragging rights. Lisgar decisively won by a score of 395-175. This was only the second time in their history that they lost to Lisgar. Later on that year, Lisgar defeated UTS at ANGST.

In 2011, UTS defeated Lisgar in the semifinals of the Ontario Reach for the Top Provincials, 350-340, however a controversy surrounding a few questions and a Saskatchewan team dropping out of 2011 Reach for the Top Nationals led to Lisgar's admission to the field. At Nationals, Lisgar beat UTS 340-270 in the round robin. Both teams ultimately lost in the semifinals.

In 2013, UTS defeated Lisgar in the quarterfinals of the provincial playoffs.

In 2015, Lisgar and UTS faced off in the Lisgar Invitational tournament (Reach-style, using a modified NAQT set). Though UTS defeated Lisgar twice, the latter's victories against Kennebecasis and Colonel By allowed them to take 2nd place over UTS in the final standings. The two teams next met at Reach Nationals. The prelims saw eventual 2nd seed UTS decisively defeat Lisgar, who would end up as the 6th seed. They faced each other again in the semifinal, with Lisgar turning a 60-point deficit after round 1 into a 120-point lead going into the lightning round, virtually guaranteeing them a spot in the national finals, where they would defeat Kennebecasis.

Recent Titles and Achievements

• 07 Lisgar Open - Champions
• 2008 Ontario Reach for the Top Championships - Champions
• 2012 Ontario Reach for the Top Championships - Champions
• 2012 Reach for the Top Nationals - Champions
• 2013 Reach for the Top Nationals - Champions

Notable Alumni

• Rein Otsason, Toronto
• Josh Alman, MIT
• Rafael Krichevsky, Columbia
• Gareth Thorlakson, Columbia and Toronto
• Zhenglin Liu, Toronto and Cambridge
• Ian Chow, Toronto

Title Succession

Reach for the Top Champion
Preceded by	Year	Succeeded by
Gloucester	2002, 2003	St. George's

Reach for the Top Champion
Preceded by	Year	Succeeded by
Kennebecasis	2012, 2013	Martingrove