McMaster

McMaster
Location: Hamilton, ON
Current President or Coach	Cranmer McGinn and Robert McKinnon
National championships	none
NAQT Page	link

McMaster University has had an active quizbowl team throughout the 21st century. A team from McMaster has played in every single NAQT Canadian SCT, something no other Canadian club can claim. They have had an excellent attendance record, helped by regular recruitment of new members. Their attendance at every Canadian SCT is a better record than other successful Canadian schools such as Toronto, Western, or Ottawa.

Early History

A team from McMaster was established at some point after Western (1999), but they managed to win the DII title at Sectionals in 2000. They attended the 2000 ICT, but finished last and with the (presumably incorrect) odd stat of 35 bonus points over 59 heard. Matt Choi, Patrick Greco, Evan Jones, and Ian Philip were on the team.

Steady Results and Success

McMaster hosted their first tournament, the 2003 Ontario Bowl, under the guidance of Rob Gillezeau. Jordan Palmer led the McMaster team as captain throughout his undergrad years (2002-2006) before moving on to Queen's in September 2006. In his last year, McMaster lost a tie-breaking final for NAQT DII at the 2006 Canadian SCT to Queen's. After Palmer, McMaster, led by captain and later President Jay Misuk, won the 2009 NAQT Canadian SCT hosted by Wilfrid Laurier University, and finished up their successful 2009 season with an 8th place finish at the NAQT 2009 ICT DII in Dallas, Texas. McMaster continued their success in 2010, hosting the Canadian NAQT SCT and sending 2 teams to the DI NAQT ICT in Chicago; both finished in the bottom bracket. A team from McMaster also won the 4-team 2010 Canadian ACF Regionals, beating teams from Waterloo and Guelph. McMaster competed at the 2013 and 2014 ICTs, with solo players Jay Misuk (2013) and Leslie Newcombe (DII, 2014), respectively. Leslie Newcombe was an ICT All-Star in 2014. McMaster competed at the 2023 D2 ICT and finished 6th overall, with a team of Jananan Arulseelan, Thomas Jakovac, Kane Nguyen and Adrian Wong. In 2024, a team of Halee Caree, Adil Haider, Cranmer McGinn and Emmett Neheli qualified for D2 ICT and placed 21st overall.

Current Members

• Cranmer McGinn
• Adil Haider
• Halee Carey
• Robert McKinnon
• Yusuf Baig
• Kane Nguyen
• Dylan Lopez
• Jessica Tang
• Seth Allen
• Jananan Arulseelan
• Willow Paraskevas
• Christian Humeniuk
• Konstantin Brovchenko
• Ali Maatallah
• Mohamed Maatallah

Alumni

• Craig Moysey
• Greg Leverton
• Erik Brown
• Sameer Rawal
• Hilary Noad
• Mark Mihaljevic
• Neil Walford
• Chantelle Juffs
• Charlie Joyce
• Simren Trehin
• Scott Geraedts
• Yohan Yee
• Sarry Al-Turk
• Victor Ferreira
• Andrew Almas
• Jordan Palmer
• Alex Poon
• Clara Blakelock
• Jay Misuk - Coach and captain; also a teacher with the local School Board
• Sheridan Baker
• Leslie Newcombe
• David Yun
• Matthew Jordan
• Brian Luong
• Natassia Lei
• Victor Fereira
• Thomas Jakovac
• Emmet Neheli
• Adrian Wong
• Esther Su
• Brian Lee
• Murad Taher
• Luka Obravac
• Peter Cordeiro