Missouri Quizbowl Alliance

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The Missouri Quizbowl Alliance (MOQBA) is an organization that promotes the proliferation of "good quizbowl" in the state of Missouri through hosting tournaments, certifying other tournaments and performing outreach activities. In addition, MOQBA sponsors the Missouri NASAT team and awards a Student Involvement award.

Current Members

Tournament Summary

Season High School Middle School
Events MO
Schools 		MO
Teams 		Out of state
attendance 		Events MO
Schools 		MO
Teams 		Out of state
attendance
2008-2009 6 49 111 5 teams from 4 schools MOQBA did not certify
Middle School tournaments
until 2014-2015
2009-2010 13 83 212 18 teams from 11 schools
2010-2011 18 84 291 17 teams from 10 schools
2011-2012 28 113 518 12 teams from 10 schools
2012-2013 25 113 450 9 teams from 5 schools
2013-2014 24 110 463 6 teams from 4 schools
2014-2015 23 111 463 2 teams from 2 schools 4 18 72 none
2015-2016 24 123 551 9 teams from 3 schools 6 22 112 none
2016-2017 35 133 684 21 teams from 10 schools 7 29 131 none
2017-2018 37 147 805 36 teams from 19 schools 8 32 144 none
2018-2019 36 154 764 21 teams from 13 schools 9 40 166 none
2019-2020 30 154 674 31 teams from 16 schools 6 24 112 none
2020-2021
(all online) 		20 116 540 27 teams from 17 schools 2 16 39 1 team
2021-2022 25 143 583 2 teams from 2 schools 6 24 112 4 teams from 2 schools
2022-2023 36 182 933 13 teams from 10 schools 9 47 152 13 teams from 5 schools
2023-2024 40 180 998 17 teams from 10 schools 12 58 202 9 teams from 3 schools
Total 420 319 9040 246 teams 69 98 1262 27 teams

Formation (2008-2009)

MOQBA was founded in September 2008 to unify the efforts of "good quizbowl" advocates in and near Missouri to improve Missouri quizbowl. The organization was publicly announced on October 31, 2008. The name and idea were modeled after similar efforts in other states such as Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas.

The founding members - Jeffrey Hill, Alex Dzurick, Matt Chadbourne, Charles Dees and Paul Nelson - formed the group in recognition of the fact that high school quizbowl in Missouri has not kept up with the national trend; questions are still mostly one-liners and generally written poorly. Additionally, restrictions imposed by MSHSAA significantly limit teams from becoming part of the national circuit. MOQBA's objective thus became to finally advance the status of quizbowl in Missouri. In its first year, MOQBA focused on increasing awareness of "good quizbowl" formats and promoting tournaments that adhered to the principles of "good quizbowl".

MOQBA certified six tournaments in the 2008-2009 season: the Missouri Fall Academic Tournament, Missouri S&T Fall Tournament, Tiger Bowl, WUHSAC XI, the NAQT Missouri Qualifier, and the Missouri S&T Spring Tournament.

8 Missouri teams attended the 2009 HSNCT. Francis Howell Central was the only Missouri team to advance to the playoffs, finishing tied for 27th overall.

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 season, the number of MOQBA certified events more than doubled. Additionally, MOQBA helped to organize a mirror of the 2009 Fall Novice set at North Kansas City. The 2010 NAQT Missouri Qualifier was the first tournament formally hosted by MOQBA as an organization, on March 20 at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

MOQBA hosted the MOQBA Pre-Nationals Tournament a week before HSNCT; unfortunately, due to the organization's understanding of a new MSHSAA rule at the time the tournament was planned and announced, participation by Missouri teams was limited to those that had qualified for a national tournament during the regular season. It was discovered in the weeks before the tournament that the applicable rule (Section 4-C of the 2009-2010 Academic Competition Manual) appears to allow any team to participate in a single non-MSHSAA-hosted tournament between Districts and Memorial Day weekend [1], so future iterations of the tournament do not have this restriction.

MOQBA sponsored Missouri's team at the 2010 NASAT at Vanderbilt, which consisted of Charlie Fritz, Grant Gates, Ikshu Neithalath, and Nick Rupel, and was coached by Paul Nelson. The team finished 12th of 16 teams with a record of 5-11.

Throughout this season, MOQBA emphasized increased Missouri participation at HSNCT and NSC through its website, a national bids thread on the Missouri Academic Competition Message Board recognizing teams that qualified for these tournaments, and increased exposure at MOQBA certified events. Thirteen Missouri teams attended the 2010 HSNCT, while Holden attended the NSC. Unfortunately, none advanced to the playoffs at these tournaments.

2010-2011

There were eighteen MOQBA certified tournaments on the 2010-11 calendar, of which ten were certified the previous season. MOQBA hosted the 2011 NAQT Missouri Qualifier on March 5 at Missouri-Columbia. At the qualifier, MOQBA presented its first ever MOQBA Award for Outstanding Student Involvement, an as-needed award that recognizes extraordinary contributions by students. The inaugural award was presented to Sam Haynes.

In May 2011, MOQBA received the Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award from PACE "in recognition of their work both in tournament direction and personal advising to younger, newer players leading to the recent incredible improvement of the independent circuit in Missouri." MOQBA became the first organization to receive Young Ambassador Award.

8 Missouri teams attended the 2011 HSNCT in Atlanta and 8 attended the NSC in Chicago. Ladue tied for 13th at HSNCT, with North Kansas City and Savannah also advancing to the playoffs.

MOQBA sponsored the NASAT team at the 2011 tournament in Maryland, consisting of Craig Chval, Charlie Fritz, Ikshu Neithalath and Ben Zhang. MOQBA member Jason Loy served as coach.

2011-2012

This was the busiest season yet for MOQBA, as thirty tournaments were certified on the MOQBA calendar across the state (although two were cancelled due to lack of interest). Sixteen new events debuted alongside fourteen existing events. The 2012 NAQT Missouri Qualifier was held on March 3 at Missouri, where the second Student Involvement award was presented to Max Schindler.

13 Missouri teams attended the 2012 HSNCT in Atlanta and 14 attended the NSC at Washington University in St. Louis. Ladue finished tied for fifth at HSNCT and eleventh at NSC, and Helias and Savannah also advanced to the HSNCT playoffs.

Jason Loy again coached the state's NASAT team, consisting of Jialin Ding, Alex Meneses, Max Schindler and Ben Zhang. The team competed at the 2012 NASAT at Ohio State, where they took 6th place.

2012-2013

  • New tournaments: Dave Renn Memorial (El Dorado Springs), MOQBA Fall Regionals, MOQBA Winter Invitational, Kickapoo, Hallsville Invitational
  • Recurring tournaments: Tuscumbia Fall, Oakville Novice, Missouri Fall, North Kansas City JV, Tiger Bowl V, Missouri S&T Fall, NKC Varsity, Rock Bridge WIT, Mort Walker, WUHSAC XV, Helias (canceled due to weather), NAQT Missouri Qualifier, LIST III, Parkway West Spring, Pre-Nationals

MOQBA introduced two new series of competitions this year: a Fall Regionals series held on the MSU/UD set, and a Winter Invitational series on a NAQT A-set. Both sets of tournaments featured four sites scattered across the state and were hosted by local schools rather than by MOQBA.

11 Missouri teams attended the 2013 HSNCT in Atlanta, and 4 teams attended NSC in Maryland. Ladue High School brought home a national championship from the 2013 PACE NSC, where they defeated LASA (of Texas). Ladue also came in 2nd place to LASA at the NAQT HSNCT. Ladue B finished tied for 21st at HSNCT, and Hallsville B also advanced to the HSNCT playoffs.

Team Missouri, coached by Jason Loy, also won a national championship at the 2013 NASAT. The team consisted of Max Schindler, Ben Zhang, Jialin Ding, and Haohang Xu, all of Ladue. Their win came over Team Texas.

2013-2014

  • New tournaments: Truman Bowl V, Kickapoo, Three Trails Tournament at Fort Osage, Centralia Autumn, William Chrisman JV, Hallsville Fall, JV State
  • Recurring tournaments: Tuscumbia Fall, Missouri Fall, North Kansas City JV, Rock Bridge WIT, MOQBA Winter Invitationals (3 sites), Tiger Bowl VI, NKC Varsity, Hallsville Invitational II (canceled due to weather), WUHSAC XV, Helias, NAQT Missouri Qualifier, LIST IV
  • Returning tournaments not scheduled the previous season: Ladue Fall Novice, Oakville Varsity, Kewpie Academic Tournament, Jefferson City

Hallsville won the inaugural NAQT Small School National Championship Tournament, the third consecutive pyramidal high school national tournament won by a Missouri team. Mound City and Pilot Grove also attended SSNCT and advanced to the playoffs. Ladue finished fourth at the 2014 PACE NSC and NAQT HSNCT. 10 other Missouri teams also attended HSNCT, where a state record 5 Missouri teams advanced to the playoffs: Hallsville finished tied for 21st, and Savannah, North Kansas City, and Hickman lost their first playoff games.

Team Missouri, coached by Jason Loy, finished eighth out of seventeen teams at NASAT. The team consisted of seniors Jialin Ding, Kisan Thakkar, and Ben Zhang of Ladue, and junior Jared Lockwood of Hallsville.

2014-2015

High School

  • New tournaments: Tuscumbia Winter HS (December), MARS at Fort Osage, Washington, Outstate Missouri Academic Rendezvous
  • Recurring tournaments: Hallsville Fall, Missouri Fall, NKC JV (cancelled due to lack of field), Jefferson City, Centralia Autumn, Three Trails, Orchard Farm Winter Invitational, Waynesville, NKC Varsity, Tuscumbia SCOP Novice (as "Tuscumbia Winter" in January), Tiger Bowl, Hallsville Invitational, WUHSAC, Helias, NAQT Missouri Qualifier, JV State, Oakville Varsity, LIST
  • Returning tournaments not scheduled the previous season: Oakville Novice, Pre-Nationals

The "MOQBA Winter Invitationals" name was retired, but Orchard Farm and Waynesville once again hosted tournaments on an A-Set (141A) on the same weekend. Orchard Farm's tournament used the same eligibility restrictions as the previous Winter Invitationals.

Hallsville finished second at the 2015 SSNCT, losing only two games to tournament champion Harmony Science North Austin. Richland also attended SSNCT, finishing the preliminary rounds undefeated but ultimately finishing 11th in the school's first ever nationals appearance.

With the entire 2014 team returning, Hallsville shockingly only went 5-5 at HSNCT, losing 4 games by 60 or fewer points. Of 11 Missouri teams, Hickman was the only Missouri representative in the playoffs, finishing tied for 53rd. William Gentry from St. Joseph Central was named the top freshman rising star, finishing 41st individually.

Four Missouri teams attended NSC and all finished in the bottom third of the field.

Team Missouri, coached by Jason Loy, finished tenth out of twelve teams at NASAT. The team consisted of seniors Jared Lockwood of Hallsville and Evan Heronemus of Savannah, and juniors Alex Harmata of Hickman and Parth Parikh of Hannibal.

Middle School

This was the first season that MOQBA officially certified middle school tournaments. Four certified tournaments were held: Tuscumbia Fall Tournament, Tuscumbia Winter Tournament, Washington Middle School Tournament, and Camdenton Laker Bowl, each with 18 teams.

Tuscumbia and two teams from Washington attended the 2015 MSNCT. Washington A advanced to the playoffs for the third consecutive year, finishing 40th of 128 teams.

2015-2016

High School

  • New tournaments: Washington University Fall Academic Tournament, MOQBA Fall Tournament, Houston, April Eagle Regional Open
  • Recurring tournaments: Hallsville Fall, Missouri Fall, NKC JV, Oakville Novice, Centralia Autumn, Three Trails, Washington, Orchard Farm Winter Invitational, Tuscumbia Winter (SCOP mirror), NKC Varsity, Hallsville Invitational, WUHSAC, Tiger Bowl, Oakville GSAC, MARS II, NAQT Missouri Qualifier, MACA JV State, Outstate Missouri Academic Rendezvous, Pre-Nationals
  • Returning tournaments not scheduled the previous season: Kewpie Academic Tournament

After six years at the University of Missouri-Columbia, MOQBA hosted the 2016 NAQT Missouri Qualifier at Columbia College. MOQBA also hosted the first MOQBA Fall Tournament at Columbia College.

Forty-eight Missouri teams attended the Washington High Invitational Tournament, becoming the largest MOQBA tournament to date. WUHSAC also had a 48 team field, with 7 of those teams from other states.

A record six Missouri teams attended the 2016 SSNCT, where Hallsville's tied for eleventh finish was once again the top Missouri performance. Centralia, Gainesville, and Pilot Grove also advanced to the playoffs.

A record sixteen Missouri teams attended the 2016 HSNCT, with Hickman's tied for 21st finish being the state's best. Washington A and Rock Bridge A also advanced to the playoffs.

Seven Missouri teams attended NSC, where Hannibal finished in 31st place, tying the best performance by a Missouri team not advancing to the playoffs.

Team Missouri, coached by Jason Loy, finished tied for ninth out of fifteen teams at NASAT. The team consisted of seniors Alex Harmata of Hickman, Parth Parikh and Tim Quintanilla of Hannibal, and junior Joe Stitz of Washington.

Middle School

  • New tournaments: Sullivan, MACA Middle School State
  • Recurring tournaments: Tuscumbia Fall, Tuscumbia Winter, Washington, Camdenton

A record 5 Missouri teams attended the 2016 MSNCT, with all five either finishing 4-4 or 3-5 and not advancing to the playoffs.

2016-2017

It was a record-breaking year for MOQBA, with more tournaments, schools, total teams, and nationals participants at both the middle school and high school levels than any of the previous 8 seasons.

High School

  • New tournaments: Eureka Kickoff Tournament, Moberly Young Scholars Tournament, Houston Fall, Holt Winter (successor to Orchard Farm Winter), Lakeland Winter, De Smet Invitational, Hannibal TWAIN, Pilot Grove, Mexico BRIC
  • Recurring tournaments: Missouri Fall, NKC JV, Hallsville Fall, Oakville Novice, Washington University Fall, Centralia Autumn, Three Trails, Washington, MOQBA Fall, Tuscumbia Winter (SCOP mirror), Oakville GSAC, Hallsville Invitational, Tiger Bowl, WUHSAC, Hickman Kewpie, MARS, Houston Spring, NAQT Missouri Qualifier, Orchard Farm Eagle, MACA JV State, Outstate Missouri Academic Rendezvous, NKC Varsity, Pre-Nationals
  • Returning tournaments not scheduled the previous season: CIS Winter, LIST, Jefferson City

Nine new tournaments were added to the schedule, with two returning hosts adding a second event to the MOQBA calendar and seven schools each hosting their first MOQBA certified tournament. MOQBA hosted another tournament on the second Saturday in December at Columbia College, now called the MOQBA Fall Championship. The 2017 NAQT Missouri Qualifier was hosted at William Woods University in Fulton.

Seventeen Missouri teams - 15 Traditional Public and two Private schools - attended the 2017 SSNCT, setting the record for most Missouri teams at any national quizbowl championship. Hallsville's tied for fifth finish in the Traditional Public division was once again the top Missouri performance, while Moberly, Orchard Farm A, Louisiana, Hermann, Lathrop, Pleasant Hill, and Gainesville also advanced to the playoffs. St. Pius X finished tied for ninth in the Charter-and-Private division. Seven of the sixteen tournament all-stars in the Traditional Public division were from Missouri.

Twelve Missouri teams attended the 2017 HSNCT, where MICDS finished tied for 41st with Missouri's best placement. Hickman, St. Joseph Central, and Helias also advanced to the playoffs. This was the first time Missouri had two players in the top 1% of HSNCT individuals, with Alex Donovan of MICDS placing 4th and William Gentry of St. Joseph Central at 12th.

Ten Missouri teams attended NSC, the most ever at an NSC not held in Missouri. Washington A advanced to the top playoff tier and finished in 21st place. Ladue A also advanced to the top playoff tier with a lineup of all sophomores, finishing in 27th place overall and winning the JV title.

For the first time, MOQBA sponsored two teams in the National All-Star Academic Tournament, coached by Jason Loy and David Dennis. Team Missouri A, consisting of seniors Cole Phinney and Joe Stitz of Washington, junior Alex Donovan of MICDS, and sophomore Raj Paul of Ladue, finished tied for fifth out of 25 teams, earning Missouri's second best finish at NASAT to date. Team Missouri B, consisting of seniors Matt Chalem and Sophia Johnson of Washington, and juniors Ganon Evans of Francis Howell and William Gentry of St. Joseph Central, finished tied for fourteenth.

Middle School

  • New tournaments: West, Jefferson City
  • Recurring tournaments: Tuscumbia Fall, Sullivan, Tuscumbia Winter, Washington, MACA Middle School State

A record 6 Missouri teams attended the 2017 MSNCT, with none advancing to the playoffs.

2017-2018

MOQBA's tenth season was another record-breaking year, with continued growth in the number of tournaments, schools, and total teams participating. Out of state participation notably increased substantially compared to the previous seasons, with 36 teams from 19 schools representing nine states.

High School

  • New tournaments: Franklin Regional Academic Novice Challenge, Clever Invitational, South Shelby Winter Invitational, Mountain Grove Invitational, St. Joseph Central
  • Recurring tournaments: Eureka Kickoff, Missouri Fall, Hallsville Fall, NKC JV, Oakville Novice, Washington University Fall, Houston Fall, Centralia Autumn, Three Trails, Washington, MOQBA Fall, Holt Winter, Lakeland Winter, Pilot Grove, CIS Winter, Moberly Young Scholars Tournament, Tuscumbia Winter (SCOP mirror), Hannibal TWAIN, Oakville GSAC, Hallsville Invitational, WUHSAC, Hickman Kewpie, MARS, NAQT Missouri Qualifier, Orchard Farm Eagle, MACA JV State, Mexico BRIC, Houston Spring, Outstate Missouri Academic Rendezvous, NKC Varsity, LIST
  • Returning tournaments not certified the previous season: Kickapoo,

Five schools each hosted their first MOQBA certified tournament this season, and Kickapoo's tournament returned to the calendar of certified events after a three-year absence. MOQBA hosted the 2017 MOQBA Fall Championship and 2018 NAQT Missouri Qualifier at Columbia College. MOQBA also announced a Pre-Nationals Tournament at Columbia College, but it was canceled due to a lack of interest from teams.

Nineteen Missouri teams - 17 Traditional Public and two Private schools - attended the 2018 SSNCT, setting the record for most Missouri teams at any national quizbowl championship. Hallsville's fourth place finish in the Traditional Public division was once again the top Missouri performance, while Louisiana, Centralia, Mound City, Orchard Farm, and Tuscumbia also advanced to the playoffs. Four of the sixteen tournament all-stars in the Traditional Public division were from Missouri, including the top two scorers: Em Powers and Samuel Lockwood.

Fifteen Missouri teams attended the 2018 HSNCT, where St. Joseph Central finished tied for 51st with Missouri's best placement. Helias also advanced to the playoffs, finishing tied for 77th.

Ladue's two teams were the only representatives from Missouri at NSC, where Ladue A advanced to the top playoff tier and finished in fifteenth place.

MOQBA again sponsored two teams in the National All-Star Academic Tournament, coached by Jason Loy and David Dennis. Team Missouri A, consisting of senior William Gentry of St. Joseph Central, juniors Raj Paul and Akshay Govindan of Ladue, and junior Em Powers of Louisiana, finished sixth out of 29 teams, tying Missouri's third best finish at NASAT to date. Team Missouri B, consisting of seniors Ganon Evans of Francis Howell and Ben Husting of Helias, junior Collin Gentry of St. Joseph Central, and sophomore Savannah Dillard of Thomas Jefferson Independent, finished nineteenth.

Middle School

  • New tournaments: Sunrise Invitational, Moberly Young Scholars Tournament, Houston
  • Recurring tournaments: Tuscumbia Fall, Sullivan, Tuscumbia Winter, Washington, MACA Middle School State

A record 7 Missouri teams attended the 2018 MSNCT, with Columbia Independent advancing to the playoffs and finishing in 21st place. The St. Louis Patriots home school association also advanced to the playoffs.

2018-2019

Despite a relentless winter that caused many postponements and cancellations, the 2018-2019 season was similar to the previous year, with a slight drop in total teams but setting another record for the number of schools participating in at least one MOQBA tournament.

High School

Six schools each hosted their first MOQBA certified tournament this season. MOQBA hosted the 2018 MOQBA Fall Championship and 2019 NAQT Missouri Qualifier at Columbia College.

Only three Missouri teams competed in the Traditional Public division of the 2019 SSNCT, where Louisiana tied for eleventh place out of 80 teams and Em Powers once again led the field individually. The sharp drop from the nineteen teams that attended in 2018 was because the tournament was scheduled for the same weekend as MSHSAA State. Because the Class 3 and 4 championships were on Saturday, MSHSAA refused to sanction SSNCT unless teams in those classes were prohibited from participating. Several registered teams were informed that they were being forced to drop only a couple of weeks before the tournament, including Hallsville (who had earned Missouri's best placement at all five previous SSNCTs) and several teams that had not even qualified for the state tournament. Because of this, the Open division of SSNCT was the first pyramidal high school national championship not to have any teams from Missouri since the 2009 NSC.

Sixteen Missouri teams attended the 2019 HSNCT, where Ladue finished tied for 19th place and St. Joseph Central earned their first HSNCT trophy by finishing tied for 31st place. Five Missouri teams participated in the 2019 NSC, with Ladue finishing in eleventh place.

MOQBA sponsored three teams in the National All-Star Academic Tournament, coached by Jason Loy and David Dennis. Team Missouri A, consisting of seniors Raj Paul and Akshay Govindan of Ladue, Em Powers of Louisiana, and Sophie Lockwood of Hallsville, finished in 15th place out of 23 teams. Team Missouri B, consisting of senior Collin Gentry of St. Joseph Central, junior Savannah Dillard of Thomas Jefferson Independent, and freshmen Samantha Doepker of Washington and Frederick Rivas-Giorgi from St. Joseph Central, finished in seventeenth. The first ever Team Missouri C, consisting of junior Garrett Blum of Thayer, junior Ansh Gupta of St. Joseph Central, and sophomore Louis Li of Ladue, finished tied for eighteenth.

Middle School

  • New tournaments: Columbia Independent, Kickapoo
  • Recurring tournaments: Tuscumbia Fall, Sullivan, Houston, Washington, Tuscumbia Winter, Moberly Young Scholars Tournament, Hallsville (previously MACA Middle School State)

Seven Missouri teams attended the 2019 MSNCT, with Columbia Independent earning Missouri's best ever finish at MSNCT by tying for 13th place.

MOQBA Award for Outstanding Student Involvement

Main article: MOQBA Award for Outstanding Student Involvement

In 2011, the Missouri Quizbowl Alliance established the MOQBA Award for Outstanding Student Involvement to recognize contributions made by students to improve quizbowl in the state of Missouri. The award is presented on an as-needed basis at the NAQT Missouri Qualifier. [2]

MOQBA Values Award

Main article: MOQBA Values Award

In 2018, the Missouri Quizbowl Alliance established the MOQBA Values Award to recognize students who are shining examples to their peers by exemplifying the core values of sportsmanship, fairness, and integrity. The award is presented on an as-needed basis at the NAQT Missouri Qualifier. [3]

Former Members

External Links

Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award
Preceded by
Year
Succeeded by
Sam Luongo
2011
Lily Chen


High School Quizbowl in Missouri

Organizations
State Tournaments
Awards & Honors
Major Tournaments
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