Mahoning County Quizbowl League

A competition for schools in Mahoning County, Ohio that uses the NAQT format. Play begins on the second Wednesday in January and continues for eight weeks. Varsity and junior varsity teams compete, with championships awarded in each classification. Each match consists of two untimed games played to 24 tossups. Each game counts on its own in the standings, and ties in League play stand. A double-elimination tournament played to 20 tossups for Varsity sides only is held 1-2 weeks after the League season ends; the Varsity League and Tournament champions qualify for the OAC Regional tournament. By using NAQT questions, normal qualification guidelines apply for the High School National Championship Tournament. Greg Bossick has been the director of the League and county tournament since 2004.

History of the Competition

The county tournament has been organized by the Mahoning County Educational Service Center (MCESC) and held since 1991, but League play did not begin until 1997. Up until 2001, the competition was sponsored by East Ohio Gas (later Dominion) and private donations from individuals such as Denise DeBartolo-York. Dominion pulled out as title sponsor before the 2002 season and, to compensate, the superintendents of the school districts involved voted 5-4 to keep the competition going by approving a $100 entry fee per participating school. By this time, both competitions were using OAC formatted questions. The earliest tournaments used Triple Q Questions. Comparing the two, OAC was an upgrade...barely. The member schools at the time were Springfield Local, Poland Seminary, West Branch, Western Reserve, Jackson-Milton, Sebring McKinley, Lowellville Local, Canfield, and South Range.

In 2004, the League expanded for the first time since the 1990s with the addition of Struthers, who promptly finished second in both League and tournament play. Also, Poland Seminary qualified to the OAC State Tournament as East Central Regional Champions; this was the first time a Mahoning County team had qualified to State.

2005 saw expansion to Campbell Memorial and the return of Boardman. Campbell (pronounced camel) had participated in the 2004 tournament and were eager to join the League after a positive experience. Boardman was entering the League for the first time but had won the county tournament in both 2000 and 2001. Both finished in the top half of the League and tournament.

2006 brought Youngstown Chaney back after they had left following the 2003 season and also added the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center (MCCTC). Unfortunately, Struthers had to withdraw due to financial and coaching issues. Starting with this season, the teams were split into two divisions -- East and West -- due to the fact that the time constraints on the League season would not allow for a full round robin among 13 teams. To counteract the loss of games coinciding with the schedule contraction, each match was expanded to 3 games, a move that prompted one coach to threaten the league director with phone calls from angry parents over the length of matches. This was in spite of the fact that the reading rate of the complaining coach was, to put it delicately, not swift.

2007 sought to even out the divisions (there were 6 schools in the East and 7 in the West) and a solution came from an unlikely source -- Columbiana, the friendly neighbors to the south, had contracted services through the MCESC and were eligible to be included in both League and tournament play. Also, this was the first season under NAQT format and rules. Costs for OAC questions had risen to $50 per round, and there was not enough money from entry fees to cover the 27 rounds needed. Packets from IS-60 and IS-65A were assigned to both competitions. The questions were of significantly better quality and, although the familiar complaints of too long and too hard soon came pouring in after the first match, the positives of the change outweighed the negatives. Boardman won the League and qualified to the OAC State tournament as Regional champions. Lowellville Local were the third place team in both League and tournament, but were the only team qualified to the 2007 HSNCT that elected to go; they went 3-7 and finished 147th of 160, disproving their self-proclaimed "sweetness".

For 2008, the divisions were made based on the combined results from Varsity, JV, and tournament play in the 2007 season. The First Division consisted of Boardman, Poland Seminary, Springfield Local, West Branch, Lowellville, Western Reserve, Jackson-Milton, and Campbell Memorial. The Second Division included South Range, Canfield, Chaney, Sebring McKinley, MCCTC, and Youngstown Early College. The top 3 teams in the First Division earned potential HSNCT berths. The last placed team, Lowellville, was relegated to the Second Division for 2009. The winners of the Second Division, Canfield, as a result, were promoted to the First Division in 2009.

In 2009, the League retained the same format as in 2008. Boardman and South Range dominated their respective divisions, but both were upset by Poland Seminary and Canfield at the county tournament. It should be noted that In the semifinals, Boardman went up 125-0 within the first five minutes and scored -10 the rest of the way, losing to Poland. South Range also came up short, losing to both Canfield and Poland by 5 points late in the match. Canfield went on to best Poland in the Final, and took home the championship. Boardman, Canfield and Poland all qualified to the 2009 HSNCT, but all declined to attend. South Range and Columbiana were promoted to the First Division for 2010, while West Branch and Western Reserve were relegated to the Second Division.

In 2015, Boardman won the League and the county tournament. They attended HSNCT 2015 and went 3-7 in the preliminary rounds.

List of Champions

Year	League Champion	Tournament Champion
2015	Boardman	Boardman
2014	South Range	South Range
2013	South Range	South Range
2012	South Range	South Range
2011	Canfield	Canfield
2010	South Range	South Range
2009	Boardman	Canfield
2008	Poland Seminary	Poland Seminary
2007	Boardman	Poland Seminary
2006	Poland Seminary	Poland Seminary
2005	Poland Seminary	Poland Seminary
2004	Poland Seminary	Poland Seminary
2003	West Branch	Poland Seminary
2002	Springfield Local	Poland Seminary
2001	Springfield Local	Boardman
2000	Springfield Local	Boardman
1999		South Range
1998		South Range
1997		Poland Seminary
1996		West Branch
1995		Springfield Local
1994		South Range
1993		South Range
1992		Canfield
1991		South Range

External Link

Mahoning County Quizbowl League website [1]