2005 Faulkner State
The Team
The 2004-05 Faulkner State team was made up of James Johnson, Jonathan Thompson, Charles Meaux, Leon Goudouras, Blair Holley, J.D. Vertrees, Jonathan Byrd, and Alex Haber. Blair Holley, the captain of the A team, had played high school quiz bowl at Faith Academy, an AISA (Alabama Independent Schools Association) school located in Mobile, Alabama, and was in her second season. Leon Gourdouras was also in his second season, previously attending Baldwin County High School in Bay Minette, Alabama, which is also home to Faulkner State, where he was on the quiz bowl team. Jonathan Byrd was in his first season on the team, having not previously played any form of quiz bowl in middle or high school, but he had been a part of Model UN while at Robertsdale High School. James Johnson, from Blacksher, Alabama, had played high school quiz bowl at J.U. Blacksher High School and Alex Haber was homeschooled. The final member of the team, Jonathan Thompson, had played quiz bowl at both Daphne Middle and Daphne High School before coming to Faulkner State at the beginning of the season. More information on Charles Meaux and J.D. Vertrees later.
The Coach
Jim Sims, the coach of the championship team, has been the sponsor and has taught at Faulkner State since 1995. He once served in the United States Navy.
Northwest Shoals Tournament at Phil Campbell Campus
On 8 October 2004, the Faulkner State A team, made up of captain Blair Holley and Jonathan Thompson, Charles Meaux, and J.D. Vertrees, placed first with a 10-1 record, with the only defeat coming at the hands of Lurleen B. Wallace Community College's team from the campus at Greenville, 300-245. The team averaged 352 points a game, fifteen points higher than second place team Northwest Shoals Community College. Northwest Shoals had the same record as Bevill State, 9-2, but took second place based on head to head matchup. The B team, made up of James Johnson, Jonathan Byrd, Alex Haber, and Leon Goudouras finished eleventh with a 2-9 record. On the individual side, Jonathan Thompson placed first with 815 points, and was followed by Charles Meaux (13th place) and James Johnson (20th); these were the only three in the top 20.
Snead State Tournament
Two weeks later, Faulkner State's A team placed second at the Snead State tournament with a 9-2 record, first amongst community colleges, given that Athens State (11-0) is a two-year college at the junior and senior college level. Jonathan Thompson placed first individually with 770 points for his second MVP trophy of the year. Game 4 saw Faulkner State win in overtime against Bevill-Jasper on a tossup on Robert Taft, which would be the first of many future close battles with the school. The B team finished with a 4-7 record, and James Johnson was the highest scorer, finishing 33rd. In between the two tournaments, player Jonathan Thompson was involved in a car accident in which an eighteen wheeler ran a red light and hit the car that he was in at a corner right near the school's campus.
LBW-Greenville Tournament
On 12 November 2004, Faulkner State A team placed first with a 10-0 record, including three wins in the playoffs over Snead State (360-70), LBW-Greenville (320-195), and Northwest Shoals A (355-290). Faulkner B placed fifth in the other bracket with a 3-4 record. Just like the last tournament, Jonathan Thompson was the MVP and James Johnson placed in the top 20 as the highest scorer on the B team.
Wallace State Tournament
It was December 3, 2004 when the Faulkner State A team placed first with an 11-1 record, including an 3-0 record in the playoffs with victories over Wallace State A, Northwest Shoals A and Bevill-Jasper. The only loss came at the hands of Jefferson State A in the last match of round robin, 240-200. Jonathan Thompson was named MVP and James Johnson was the second highest scorer on the team, as the B team placed seventh with an 3-6 record.
Enterprise-Ozark Tournament
The first tournament of the 2005 portion of the season was held on 14 January 2005, and the Faulkner State A team placed first with a 10-1 record. Jonathan Thompson earned another MVP trophy and James Johnson was the highest scorer on the B team. The B team placed eleventh with a 2-9 record.
NAQT Sectionals
The two Faulkner teams went up to Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama for the NAQT Sectionals, held in February, for a chance at the NAQT Intercollegiate Tournament, to be held at Tulane University in New Orleans. The A team was placed in one bracket, the B team in the other, with the A team finishing second with a 6-1 record, the only loss coming to Bevill-Jasper in the last match of round robin, and the B team finishing fifth with a 3-4 record. The Faulkner State A team was rebracketed into another round robin of the top eight teams, with four matches to play to figure out the automatic bid and any other bids.
In the first match, Faulkner State defeated Snead State, 195-90, and then proceeded to win over the Spoiler team (270-95), Northwest Shoals A (280-200) and Jefferson State A (320-145). After the first four rounds, there was a three-way circle of death between Faulkner State A, Bevill State Jasper, and Northwest Shoals A, with each teams having a 10-1 record because Jasper and Northwest Shoals both had a loss, making both teams 3-1 in the second round robin, and Faulkner State had a 4-0 record. The next round had both teams in eight question mini-rounds, with Faulkner State pulling out a 90-80 victory over Jasper, helped by a consult call on a tossup and finished with an 120-30 victory over Northwest Shoals A to pull out a 12-1 overall record at the tournament. Per the rules of the new round, Faulkner State had to beat both teams in order to advance from the sectionals with the automatic bid.
Overall, Jonathan Thompson was 2nd in individual scoring behind Brandon Hollingsworth of Jefferson State A, even though this was figured out of the totals from the round robin matches, but for the overall tournament, Thompson outscored Hollingsworth, 880-665. J.D. Vertrees of the B team finished ninth in individual scoring. This was the most excruciating tournament of the season so far.
Faulkner State Tournament
On 11 March 2004, in the last ACBL tournament before NAQT Nationals, Faulkner State A team placed first with an 11-1 record, the only loss coming to Marion Military Institute, 230-130, and the B team finished ninth with a 4-8 record. Jonathan Thompson was the MVP of the tournament and J.D. Vertrees was the highest scorer on the B team for the second straight tournament.
Berry College Tournament
The Faulkner State A team finished 5-2 and second to Northwest Shoals, who won the final match in round robin and the tournament with a correct answer in overtime of Hungry, Hungry Hippo.
NAQT National Championship
8 April 2005 found the College Bowl team leaving from Bay Minette for New Orleans, enjoying the ride down I-10, as they had fun and rested before an evening of academic clashing. One of the eight teams out of the 32 in the field of Division II to come from the community college level, for eight CC teams are given bids to the national championship, Faulkner State began the evening with a historic 175-135 victory over Dartmouth University of the Ivy League. This was later reference in an article in the Dartmouth student paper with references to Jonathan Thompson and his wearing a suit and tie, Blair Holley's observation that they look normal, punctuated with a hearty y'all, and a person wearing a wedding ring, being J.D. Vertrees. This victory was followed by a tight 135-105 victory over Carleton University, the second victory over a non-community college of the night and in school history. The University of Michigan brought Faulkner State back down to earth with a resounding 265-55 victory, and then Washington University-St. Louis followed with a 225-80 victory to bring FSCC's record to 2-2. McGill edged Faulkner State, 90-80, despite two powers by Jonathan Thompson. Faulkner State returned to the winning circle with an 170-105 victory over the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; the match preceded by an interesting conversation on Disney characters.
The second day of competition began early with a match against community college power Valencia from Florida, who pulled out an 110-70 victory despite Southern Baptist Convention being powered by Faulkner State. Faulkner State then played against Grinnell College, who is more known for their men's basketball team's high scoring offense. Nonetheless, two good quiz bowl teams were matched against each other, and in a round that featured a power of Don Hutson, Faulkner State won 160-145. Now in a new bracket, Faulkner State proceeded to lose to the University of Texas, 225-110, and the University of Florida, 165-110 before defeating UC-Davis, 140-115. Virginia won 160-100 and the final loss of the day came to the University of Missouri-Rolla, 200-35.
Faulkner State advanced to the championship game with an advantage, having the most wins of anyone in the Division II bracket for community college teams, against the second best team, Broward Community College. In a match that featured buzzer problems to where Jonathan Thompson had to raise his hand and say "buzz," Faulkner State captured the Community College title, 185-95.
Jonathan Thompson was named to the Division II All-Star Team and was named Community College MVP. Overall, Faulkner State finished sixteenth in Division II to add to the honour of winning the national title. The team would be honoured later in a special meeting of the Alabama State Board of Education at Alabama Southern Community College and would be featured briefly on NBC 15 News as well as in a front page article in the Baldwin Register section of the local Mobile Register as well as in the local Gulf Coast Newspapers.
ACBL State Tournament at the University of Montevallo
Faulkner State placed second at the tournament as a unified team, with its only loss coming in a tight battle with first place Northwest Shoals, who won 320-250 in the second match of the day. Jonathan Thompson was named MVP of the tournament and the season.
Other Notes
For the season, Faulkner State's A team was 95-18 and placed first at every tournament they played in except the non-ACBL tournament held at Berry College and the ACBL State Tournament. An interesting note is that twice, Faulkner State had to rally from being in a deficit in which they had negative points, in their victories over Bevill-Jasper after the lunch break at the state tournament and Southern Union two rounds later.