Greater Pennsylvania Quizbowl Resource

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GPQB Logo.png
Above:
Official Logo for the Greater Pennsylvania Quizbowl Resource

The Greater Pennsylvania Quizbowl Resource (or GPQB) is a quizbowl blog that covers the quizbowl circuit in Pennsylvania. Founded in July 2014, it was previously known as Greater Philadelphia Quizbowl Resource until its expansion to all of Pennsylvania in June 2015.

Purpose

The current focus of the GPQB blog is coverage and analysis of the high school circuit of Pennsylvania quizbowl. This includes tournament wrap-ups, interviews, advice, and the occasional podcast from the contributors. Complementing its Pennsylvania focus is its content for general high school quizbowl audiences. GPQB has covered the basics of quizbowl, outreach advice, studying strategies, and tournament hosting. The site features a schedule for all Pennsylvania pyramidal events and PSAC, as well as tournaments in the surrounding states.

Question Writing

The members of the site organized and edited the 2016 Pennsylvania Novice Initiative, a novice-level tournament designed to correct the lack of material for novice teams to practice on.

Awards

The staff at GPQB announce three awards each year to outstanding members of the quizbowl community in Pennsylvania. Players cannot win the same award multiple times, and coaches are not eligible to win again until eight years have passed -- the equivalent of two student cycles.

Past Winners

Season Player of the Year JV Player of the Year Coach of the Year
2014-15 Ryan Bilger, Emmaus High School Alex Schmidt, Lehigh Valley Academy Missy Doll, Manheim Township High School
2015-16 Alex Schmidt, Lehigh Valley Academy Sam Scarfone, Great Valley High School Bern McCauley, Great Valley High School
2016-17 Sam Scarfone, Great Valley High School Vijay Anne, Henderson High School Andrew Gianelli, Camp Hill High School
2017-18 Vishwa Shanmugam, Downingtown STEM Academy Connor Mayers, Penn Manor High School Abbi Smith, Friends Select School
2018-19 Will Yaeger, Hempfield High School Albert Zhang, State College High School Steve Sobieck, Henderson High School
2019-20 Will Steger, Manheim Township High School AZ Faiz, Manheim Township High School Shan Hogan, Carver Engineering & Science
2020-21 Anish Kodali, Great Valley High School Danny Peelen, Cedar Crest High School Elissa Manlove, Moravian Academy
2021-22 AZ Faiz, Manheim Township High School Jacob Paciello, South Side High School Shane Thomas, Cedar Crest High School
2022-23 Danny Peelen, Cedar Crest High School Ryan Smith, Downingtown STEM Academy Todd Gunther, Berwick High School

Poll

The site has, since the 2015-2016 season, ranked the teams in Pennsylvania at the season's beginning, midpoint, and end. The poll is conducted by current and former members of the Pennsylvania quizbowl community. The pollsters rank the top ten teams by their own metrics; a statistical formula is not used. All the ranking committee members are affiliated with Pennsylvania's circuit.

Because there is no NAQT or official pyramidal state championship (the only official state tournament held is the Pennsylvania State Academic Competition), which despite improvements over the past few years still has some drawbacks in its format) the poll has served as a de facto state title for performance on pyramidal questions.

Past Results

Season Champion Second Third Fourth Fifth
2015-16 Manheim Township Delaware Valley State College Great Valley Henderson
2016-17 Winchester Thurston Lehigh Valley Manheim Township Alagar Homeschool State College
2017-18 Downingtown STEM Lehigh Valley Allderdice Manheim Township Friends Select
2018-19 Hempfield Henderson Allderdice Friends Select State College
2019-20 Manheim Township Great Valley A Great Valley B Penn Manor Henderson
2020-21 Great Valley A Manheim Township A Hempfield Moravian Academy State College A
2021-22 Great Valley A Manheim Township A Cedar Crest Moravian Academy Wissahickon
2022-23 Cedar Crest Wissahickon Downingtown STEM Great Valley Carlisle

External Links