Illinois Scholastic Bowl - Revision history

Connor Johnson: Added HVAC

2026-09-14T00:04:42Z

Added HVAC

Connor Johnson: Earlybird 's / defunct (updated with more information on the existence of the tournament)

2026-09-13T23:53:31Z

Earlybird 's / defunct (updated with more information on the existence of the tournament)

David Reinstein: /* Notable former players who are famous for something else */

2025-01-11T04:36:33Z

Notable former players who are famous for something else

Jonathan Lau at 23:53, 16 December 2023

2023-12-16T23:53:37Z

Jonathan Lau at 23:52, 16 December 2023

2023-12-16T23:52:42Z

Jonathan Lau at 23:52, 16 December 2023

2023-12-16T23:52:24Z

Jonathan Suh: /* Famous/Infamous collegiate players */

2023-08-23T02:50:48Z

Famous/Infamous collegiate players

Trevor Nigus: /* Little Quizbowl on the Prairie (1960s-1985) */

2023-06-07T03:43:09Z

Little Quizbowl on the Prairie (1960s-1985)

David Reinstein: /* Famous/Infamous collegiate players */

2023-05-18T17:26:16Z

Famous/Infamous collegiate players

Reilly Melville: spelling

2023-05-17T23:48:40Z

spelling

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 A complete list of tournaments in Illinois can be found [http://www.ihssbca.org/tournaments.html on the IHSSBCA's site]. Notable recurring tournaments include the following:
 *[[Earlybird]] - October - Formerly a housewrite by [[Illinois|UIUC]] and using questions from different sources each year since 2008, this tournament was usually the first tournament of the season, but is no longer extant.
 *[[IHSSBCA Novice]] - October - hosted in several locations across the state, this tournament allows students who did not achieve certain levels of success to compete against each other. It uses the [[SCOP]] set.
 *mirror of [[ACF Fall]] - October - usually hosted in northern Illinois, such as at Rockford Auburn

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 ==Notable annual tournaments==
 A complete list of tournaments in Illinois can be found [http://www.ihssbca.org/tournaments.html on the IHSSBCA's site]. Notable recurring tournaments include the following:
-*[[Earlybird]] - October - Formerly a housewrite by [[Illinois|UIUC]] and more recently using questions from different sources each year, this tournament is usually the first tournament of the season, though it has been on hiatus since the pandemic.
+*[[Earlybird]] - October - Formerly a housewrite by [[Illinois|UIUC]] and using questions from different sources each year since 2008, this tournament was usually the first tournament of the season, but is no longer extant.
 *[[IHSSBCA Novice]] - October - hosted in several locations across the state, this tournament allows students who did not achieve certain levels of success to compete against each other. It uses the [[SCOP]] set.
 *mirror of [[ACF Fall]] - October - usually hosted in northern Illinois, such as at Rockford Auburn

@@ Line 127: / Line 127: @@
 *Kristin Castillo - Macomb - Miss Illinois, 2001[http://www.ihsa.org/initiatives/allstate/2001.htm], [http://www.missamerica.org/scholarships/recipients-2001.asp], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Illinois]
 *[[Hillary Clinton]] (nee Rodham) - [[Maine South]]
 ==External Links==

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 As with many activities, the impact of the [[COVID-19]] pandemic was greatly felt across Illinois scholastic bowl. However, unlike many sports that were left to severely reduce seasons or opt-out altogether, scholastic bowl remained viable in a virtual or hybrid setting. Albeit, in various formats, Illinois did see quiz bowl tournaments & some local competition successfully take place online during the 2020-21 season. During this time some programs in fact saw increases in recruitment and involvement they would not have otherwise seen given the limited number of extracurricular activities available for students that normally had competed with their programs for interest. Another benefit of the virtual format was the ability for teams to get exposure to other teams that they may not otherwise compete with due to travel limitations. The success and enthusiasm of Illinois programs to stay active during this time led to the [[IHSA]] permitting an altered State series and became all the more evident when many Illinois teams were ranked going into national competition or made up the field compared to other states. This carried over to the playoffs, where both 2021 [[HSNCT]] & [[SSNCT]] championships featured all-Illinois matchups. Perhaps those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic however were middle school teams who in 2020 were still only halfway through their seasons and had the next two state tournaments canceled with many teams opting out of competing altogether in 2021.
-Despite having seen steady growth in the activity before the pandemic, involvement in scholastic bowl has seemed to wane. This a trend that has been felt across quiz bowl and is not unique to Illinois with both iterations of the IESA, IHSA, & Masonic State tournaments after the pandemic seeing less participation than before ([https://www.cbsnews.com/news/high-school-quiz-bowl-competitions-budget-cuts/]). Additionally, a series of administrative changes at the University of Illinois during the pandemic created new roadblocks for university RSOs from hosting events involving minors, making it effectively impossible for UIUC to host high school tournaments and bringing an end to long-running competitions such as the UIUC Earlybird. As UIUC-hosted tournaments drew teams not only from Central Illinois, but also from the Chicago metropolitan area and byeond (including far-flung teams such as DCC and Wayzata), the participation of many teams in the region at Saturday tournaments has decreased due to the reduction of options within close driving distance.
+Despite having seen steady growth in the activity before the pandemic, involvement in scholastic bowl has seemed to wane. This a trend that has been felt across quiz bowl and is not unique to Illinois with both iterations of the IESA, IHSA, & Masonic State tournaments after the pandemic seeing less participation than before ([https://www.cbsnews.com/news/high-school-quiz-bowl-competitions-budget-cuts/]). Additionally, a series of administrative changes at the University of Illinois during the pandemic created new roadblocks for university RSOs from hosting events involving minors, making it effectively impossible for UIUC to host high school tournaments and bringing an end to long-running competitions such as the UIUC Earlybird. As UIUC-hosted tournaments drew teams not only from Central Illinois, but also from the Chicago metropolitan area and beyond (including far-flung teams such as DCC and Wayzata), the participation of many teams in the region at Saturday tournaments has decreased due to the reduction of options within close driving distance.
 ==Notable annual tournaments==

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 As with many activities, the impact of the [[COVID-19]] pandemic was greatly felt across Illinois scholastic bowl. However, unlike many sports that were left to severely reduce seasons or opt-out altogether, scholastic bowl remained viable in a virtual or hybrid setting. Albeit, in various formats, Illinois did see quiz bowl tournaments & some local competition successfully take place online during the 2020-21 season. During this time some programs in fact saw increases in recruitment and involvement they would not have otherwise seen given the limited number of extracurricular activities available for students that normally had competed with their programs for interest. Another benefit of the virtual format was the ability for teams to get exposure to other teams that they may not otherwise compete with due to travel limitations. The success and enthusiasm of Illinois programs to stay active during this time led to the [[IHSA]] permitting an altered State series and became all the more evident when many Illinois teams were ranked going into national competition or made up the field compared to other states. This carried over to the playoffs, where both 2021 [[HSNCT]] & [[SSNCT]] championships featured all-Illinois matchups. Perhaps those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic however were middle school teams who in 2020 were still only halfway through their seasons and had the next two state tournaments canceled with many teams opting out of competing altogether in 2021.
-Despite having seen steady growth in the activity before the pandemic, involvement in scholastic bowl has seemed to wane. This a trend that has been felt across quiz bowl and is not unique to Illinois with both iterations of the IESA, IHSA, & Masonic State tournaments after the pandemic seeing less participation than before ([https://www.cbsnews.com/news/high-school-quiz-bowl-competitions-budget-cuts/]). Additionally, a series of administrative changes at the University of Illinois during the pandemic created new roadblocks for university RSOs from hosting events involving minors, making it effectively possible for UIUC to host high school tournaments and bringing an end to long-running competitions such as the UIUC Earlybird. As UIUC-hosted tournaments drew teams not only from Central Illinois, but also from the Chicago metropolitan area and byeond (including far-flung teams such as DCC and Wayzata), the participation of many teams in the region at Saturday tournaments has decreased due to the reduction of options within close driving distance.
+Despite having seen steady growth in the activity before the pandemic, involvement in scholastic bowl has seemed to wane. This a trend that has been felt across quiz bowl and is not unique to Illinois with both iterations of the IESA, IHSA, & Masonic State tournaments after the pandemic seeing less participation than before ([https://www.cbsnews.com/news/high-school-quiz-bowl-competitions-budget-cuts/]). Additionally, a series of administrative changes at the University of Illinois during the pandemic created new roadblocks for university RSOs from hosting events involving minors, making it effectively impossible for UIUC to host high school tournaments and bringing an end to long-running competitions such as the UIUC Earlybird. As UIUC-hosted tournaments drew teams not only from Central Illinois, but also from the Chicago metropolitan area and byeond (including far-flung teams such as DCC and Wayzata), the participation of many teams in the region at Saturday tournaments has decreased due to the reduction of options within close driving distance.
 ==Notable annual tournaments==

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 *[[Martin Stroup]] - [[MacArthur]]; [[Illinois]]
 *[[Ashish Subramanian]] - [[Hoffman Estates]]; [[Duke]]
-*[[Jonathan Suh]] - [[Wheaton Warrenville South]]; [[Harvard]]
+*[[Jon Suh]] - [[Wheaton Warrenville South]]; [[Harvard]]
 *[[Siva Sundaram]] - [[Auburn (Rockford, Illinois High School)|Rockford Auburn]]; [[Harvard]]
 *[[Lloyd Sy]] - [[Auburn (Rockford, Illinois High School)|Rockford Auburn]]; [[Brown]]
 *[[Donald Taylor]] - [[MacArthur]]; [[Illinois]]
-*[[Cole Timmerwilke]] - [[Auburn (Rockford, Illinois High School)|Rockford Auburn]]; [[Illinois]]
+*[[Cole Timmerwilke]] - [[Auburn (Rockford, Illinois High School)|Rockford Auburn]]; [[Illinois]]; [[Harvard]]
 *[[Kelly Tourdot]] - [[Stillman Valley]]; [[Illinois]]
 *[[Andrew Ullsperger]] - [[Bloomington]]; [[Illinois]]

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 ==History==
 ===Little Quizbowl on the Prairie (1960s-1985)===
-Quizbowl in Illinois can be traced back at least as far back as the 1960s, and was originally more popular in Downstate Illinois than in the Chicago area.  One of the first tournaments in the state to gain notability was the Senior Challenge held in Streator, which was open only to high school seniors.  Questions were written by locals, and lockout systems were homemade.  Local businesses sponsored the tournament, which was organized by the local Rotary Club.
+Quizbowl in Illinois can be traced back at least as far back as the 1960s, and was originally more popular in Downstate Illinois than in the Chicago area.  One of the first tournaments in the state to gain notability was the Senior Challenge held in [[Streator Rotary|Streator]], which was open only to high school seniors.  Questions were written by locals, and lockout systems were homemade.  Local businesses sponsored the tournament, which was organized by the local Rotary Club.
 Certainly, there were other tournaments, with each tournament having a unique twist to their format.  This became the key thread running through Illinois quizbowl throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s: there was no universal set of rules.

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 *[[Evan Pandya]] - [[Auburn (Rockford, Illinois High School)|Rockford Auburn]]; [[Brown]]
 *[[Greg Peterson]] - [[Maine South]]; [[Lawrence]], [[Northwestern]]
 *[[Nick Poulos]] - [[New Trier]]; [[Chicago]]
 *[[Yogesh Raut]] - [[IMSA]]; [[Stanford]], [[USC]], [[Berkeley]], [[Texas]], [[NYU]], [[New Mexico State]]