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2014 NAQT Missouri Qualifier

March 1, 2014 at the University of Missouri-Columbia

Despite the threat of severe winter weather after the tournament, 22 teams attended the 2014 NAQT Missouri Qualifier on March 1.

The teams were originally divided into 2 pools of 6 and 2 pools of 5 for the preliminary rounds.

We then took the top 2 teams in each pool (8 total) to the championship tier. These teams were divided into 2 parallel pools of 4, which played a round robin for rounds 6-8. The top 2 in each played crossover games in rounds 9-10 to determine the top 4, and the remaining teams crossed over to determine 5th-8th.

The remaining 14 teams were ranked #9-22 by position in prelim pool, then record (byes count as wins), then points per bonus.

The round 10 championship bracket games were effectively a game for third place between Savannah and Thomas Jefferson, and an overall AND small school championship game between the remaining undefeated teams, Hallsville A and Richland A. Savannah won its game 460-135 to take third, with Thomas Jefferson taking 4th. Hallsville A won what was effectively the first game of a best of three final 395-215. Richland A then conceded the planned advantaged final to Hallsville A so that they could safely get home sooner, making Hallsville A the 2014 NAQT Missouri Qualifier Small School Champion AND Overall Champion!

Statistics

The top 15% (4 teams) qualified for the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament on May 30-June 1 in Chicago. Congratulations to Hallsville A, Richland A, Savannah, and Thomas Jefferson for qualifying at this tournament. Hallsville, Savannah, and Thomas Jefferson are already registered for HSNCT, and Richland had already qualified at a previous tournament. Since this is the official NAQT State Qualifier for Missouri, Helias B's fifth place finish qualifies a team from Helias for HSNCT by placing as the highest ranked team that had not previously qualified!

Of our 22 teams, we had an impressive tournament-record 11 small school-eligible teams! The top 15% of small school teams (2 teams) have also qualified for the NAQT Small School National Championship Tournament on May 3-4 in Minneapolis. Congratulations to Hallsville A and Richland A for once again earning bids to the SSNCT! Pilot Grove has also already qualified and registered for SSNCT, which means that New Haven receives a bid to SSNCT for finishing as the highest-placed small school not already qualified!

Since this tournament is Platinum-Certified by PACE, the top 25% (6 teams) qualified for the PACE National Scholastic Championship in the Washington D.C. area on Memorial Day weekend. Congratulations to Hallsville A, Richland A, Savannah, Thomas Jefferson, Helias B, and Helias A for earning bids to NSC!

Thanks to all of the 22 teams that ultimately made it today! The tournament could not have started earlier than originally scheduled or run nearly as smoothly and to planned completion without your assistance in eliminating possible delays throughout the tournament.

We also certainly would not have been able to complete 10 rounds by 3:00 without the incredible assistance of the entire tournament staff: Christina, Ciara, and Ashley from Tuscumbia; Sophie, Haley, Shayden, and Amber from Hallsville; Liberty Scholar Bowl alumni Chris and Julia Halsey, Diana Hilton, and Amanda Smith; Isaac Baumann and Daniel Raymon from Mizzou; Brandon Daake and Sawyer Magnus from SEMO; Gordon Arsenoff from WUSTL; and MOQBA members Jacob Billingsley, Samantha Haynes, Jason Loy, and Sean Phillips. Special thanks to Alex Smith and Kyle Hill for the tremendous help you also provided before and after the tournament on Friday evening and Saturday.

While we ultimately didn't need them to staff with our smaller field, we also must thank the generous coaches who offered to help: Scott Allen from Hallsville, Michael Flandermeyer from Lutheran High School of St. Charles County, Pete Kahn from Marquette, and Jared Pruessner from New Haven.

The uncertainty about the weather has certainly had its constant shadow over this tournament over the last few days, and we sincerely appreciate the efforts of everyone in attendance to ensure that we could run a successful tournament under these difficult circumstances.

We appreciate any and all feedback anyone has about how this tournament ran. We're curious to know if the pace of the tournament seemed rushed or if you think a similar pace would be appropriate for future tournaments. If there are certain aspects of the tournament (such as the "on our way" texting, buzzer/question pickup information sheets, etc.) that you thought worked well and would like to see implemented at future tournaments, please let us know.

Thank you once again everyone for attending. We hope to see you all again next year, hopefully on a warm, sunny day!

Jeffrey Hill and Alex Dzurick
2014 NAQT Missouri Qualifier Co-Directors

Read the original tournament announcement.