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

1. Morning Champion
2. Desperation Shot Champion (2001-2010)
3. 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

1. Arjun Nageswaran and Donald Taylor are the only players to make multiple, non-consecutive appearances in the finals.
2. 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)

3 - Charles Young (Other Fine Art, '20, '21, '22)

3 - Rohan Kher (U.S. History, '21, '22, '23)

3 - Charles Young (U.S. Literature, '21, '22, '23)

Won a category in two tournaments

Current Categories

CATEGORY	PLAYER, SCHOOL (YEARS)
Physics	Greg Gauthier, Wheaton North (06, 07); Dylan Bowman, University Lab (18, 19)
Chemistry	Carlo Angiuli, New Trier (05, 06); Dylan Bowman, University Lab (18, 19); Lawrence Zhao, University Lab (19, 20)
Biology	None
Math	Vivek Panse, Metea Valley (21, 22); Brandon Torres, Carl Sandburg (23, 24)
Other Science	Ethan Strombeck, Auburn (15, 17)
U.S. History	Garrett Ryan, Lincoln-Way East (03, 04); Andrew Van Duyn, Culver (10, 11); Govind Prabhakar, Stevenson (18, 19); Rohan Kher, Barrington (21, 22, 23)
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); Anila Moparthi, Lincoln-Way East (20, 22)
Military History	Rohan Kher, Barrington (20, 23)
U.S. Literature	Jack Glerum, Loyola (07, 08); Siva Sundaram, Auburn (07, 08); Matthew Lehmann, Barrington (14, 15); Charles Young, Barrington (20, 21, 22)
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); Charles Young, Barrington (21, 22)
European/World Literature	Evan Pandya, Auburn (12, 13); Dan Pechi, IMSA (13, 14)
Poetry	Charles Young, Barrington (22, 23)
Painting	None
Instrumental Classical Music	Dylan Minarik, Belvidere North (11, 12); Mahir Morshed, Carbondale (13, 14); Arjun Nageswaran, Stevenson (18, 20); Jason Qin, IMSA (20, 22); Teigue Kelly, Waubonsie Valley (21, 22)
Other Fine Art	Cole Timmerwilke, Auburn (14, 15); Ethan Strombeck, Auburn (16, 18); Charles Young, Barrington (20, 21, 22)
Religion/Mythology	Issa Domin, Niles North (08, 09); Sinecio Morales, Auburn (20, 22); Felix Sacks, Lincoln-Way East (23, 24)
Social Studies/Philosophy	Cole Timmerwilke, Auburn (13, 15); Sophie Netzel, Glenbard West (17, 19)
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)
Geography	B.J. Ryan, Hinsdale Central (14, 15); David Holmquist, Stevenson (17, 18)

Discontinued Categories

CATEGORY	PLAYER, SCHOOL (YEARS)
Astronomy/Earth Science/Geography	Zach Blumenfeld, Stevenson (08, 09)
Calculus/Combinatorics	Greg Gauthier, Wheaton North (06, 07)
Geometry/Trigonometry	Greg Gauthier, Wheaton North (04, 05, 06, 07); Karen Li, Libertyville (05, 06)
World Literature	Paul Gauthier, Wheaton North (01, 02, 03); Kristina Warren, Bloomington (05, 06); Ankush Bajaj, Hinsdale Central (14, 15)
Nonfiction	Nik Brendler, Lincoln-Way East (02, 03)
Current Events/Geography	Maia Karpovich, IMSA (12, 13)1
Pop Culture	Nick Matchen, New Trier (04, 05, 06)

Won four 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
	Rohan Ganeshan (Buffalo Grove)	2021	Mathematics, Other Science, U.S. Literature, European & World Literature, Instrumental Clasical Music, Other Fine Arts
	Rohan Kher (Barrington)	2022	Chemistry, U.S. History, European History, World History, Painting, Social Studies/Philosophy
	Charles Young (Barrington)	2022	U.S. Literature, British Literature, European & World Literature, Poetry, Other Fine Arts, Social Studies/Philosophy5
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
	Charles Young (Barrington)	2021	U.S. History, U.S. Literature, British Literature, Painting, 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
	Rohan Kher (Barrington)	2023	Physics, Biology, U.S. History, Military History
	Omkar Marathe (Fremd)	2023	European & World Literature, Painting, Other Fine Arts, Social Studies/Philosophy
	Winnie Nutkowitz (Northside College Prep)	2024	British Lit, Poetry, Religion/Mythology, Social Studies/Philosophy

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)
16	Charles Young	Barrington	Biology (23), Other Science (23), U.S. History (21), U.S. Literature (20, 21, 22), British Literature (21, 22), European & World Literature (22), Poetry (22, 23), Painting (21), Other Fine Arts (20, 21, 22), SS/Philosophy (22)
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)
14	Rohan Kher	Barrington	Physics (23), Chemsistry (22), Biology (23), U.S. History (21, 22, 23), European History (22), World History (22), Military History (20, 23), Painting (22), Instrumental Classical Music (20), Other Fine Art (21), SS/Philosophy (22)
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

1. 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.
2. Nolan Maloney and Prerak Trivedi are the only two players to win the three major science categories (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) in the same year.
3. Ben Carbery, Thomas Birt, David Holmquist and Rohan Kher are the only players to win three history categories in the same year.
4. 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.
5. In 2022, Charles Young became the first player to sweep all four literature categories in a single tournament.

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

• Questions
• Scobol Solo Website

High School Quizbowl in Illinois Organizations Coaches Association · Illinois HS Association State Tournaments NAQT (records) · IHSA · Masonic Awards & Honors All-State & All-Sectional · Coaches Hall of Fame · Team Illinois Major Tournaments Earlybird · Novice · Scobol Solo · David Riley Memorial Kickoffs · HFT Mirror at Auburn · Reinstein Varsity · Macomb Rotary · Turnabouts · Ultima