Loyola Academy

Loyola Academy Ramblers
Location: Wilmette, Illinois. Pictured above (from L to R): Marcel Youkhna, Will Abraham, Christian Kreb, Nolan Winkler, and Lauren Capra after their 2009 WN Kickoff victory.
Coaches	David Riley
State Championships	2004 Iowa NAQT
Program Status	Unknown
School Size	Unknown
NAQT Page	link

Loyola Academy is a private, coeducational, Roman Catholic, Jesuit high school located in Wilmette, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago. It competes in Class AA, the "large school" division, of the Illinois High School Association's (IHSA) State Championship Series. The school does not have a conference affiliation. The current coach of the Ramblers is David Riley, while the current frosh-soph coach is Matt Laird

History

2008-2009

Regular Season - The 2008-2009 season is considered one of the best seasons for Loyola ever. Headed by Captain Jack Glerum and Joe Ahmad, the A team was also contributed to throughout the year by Christian Kreb, Catherine Groden, "Mad Dog" Dan Maddalozzo, and Will Abraham. The team was widely regarded as top 4 in the state, along with Rockford Auburn, New Trier, and Carbondale. Notable finishes include 4th at NAQT State and 4th at IHSA State. Loyola attended both Nationals that year.

PACE NSC - At NSC, Loyola took 3 losses in their prelim bracket, Aston, to Maggie Walker A, Chattahoochee, and Southside A. Their 4-3 prelim record got them into the Pozzo playoff bracket, where they went 2-5, only beating TJ B and Bellaire A. This led to their final place of 29th.

NAQT HSNCT - Unfortunately, the date of HSNCT and Loyola's graduation were the same day, meaning that the team was short-handed for pretty much the entire prelims. For four rounds, the team consisted of Juniors Christian and Will and Freshmen Nolan and Marcel. As a result of this, Loyola did make the playoffs, but with only a record of 6-4. In the playoffs, they won their first game (after a 1st-round bye) but subsequently lost their second game to Ransom Everglades in order to finish tied for 27th. Loyola also sent a B team consisting of C and D team members, which finished 190th.

2009-2010

Regular Season - The 2009-2010 team had moderate success on the year. The A team primarily consisted of Captain Christian Kreb, Nolan Winkler, Marcel Youkhna, and Will Abraham .The team's only tournament victories were both early in the season: at the UIUC Earlybird and the Wheaton North [1]IHSSBCA Kickoffs site. In IHSA: The Rambler won their IHSA Regionals with a 2-0 record and were eliminated by 3.3 PPG in a circle-of-death tiebreaker (along with victor New Trier and OPRF) at IHSA Sectionals.

PACE NSC - Loyola was eliminated from the first flight after going their 6th game, going 4-2 with losses against Dorman A and DCC A. They then beat Walter Johnson to finish their prelim bracket with a record of 5-2. In the playoff bracket, Loyola then went 3-4 in their playoff bracket (losses to TJ B, Hoover, Seven Lakes A, and Dupont Manual A) to be involved in a 3-way circle of death with Hoover and Quince Orchard. Loyola beat Hoover 160-140 in their first half-packet match and went on to beat Quince Orchard 170-150 in their next half-packet match. This gave Loyola the 4th rank in the bracket, meaning they played St. Joseph A in their crossover match, which they lost 290-270. After accounting for Southside, Loyola finished 23rd.

NAQT HSNCT - Unfortunately, the date of HSNCT and Loyola's graduation were the same day, meaning that the team was short-handed for pretty much the entire prelims. For all but 2 rounds, Nolan and Marcel were the only regular A Team members present. Loyola generally played awful during HSNCT, which manifested itself early as shown by the Rambler's initial 1-2 record with losses to Culver and Danville. The Ramblers bounced back, winning 4 in a row - including a victory over LASA B by 5 points despite thinking the game was decided 3 tossups earlier due to the accidental addition of 100 points to LASA's score on the fault of Nolan's scorekeeping in his notebook. Loyola then lost to St. John's and beat Rocky Grove to ensure a playoff berth, despite their initial 1-2 record. The Ramblers then lost to St. Mark's and finished Saturday with a record of 6-4, meaning 1 more Loyola loss would eliminate them from the tournament. Loyola played intra-state competition (with their full A-Team Lineup) the 1st match of the playoffs, beating Carbondale soundly. Loyola then lost a close match to Hoover 295-265 to end their tournament, resulting in a final place of tied for 43rd.

Current Year Stats

Team & Tournament	Team Placing	Prelim Stats	Consisted of
"A Team" at NU mirror of FNT [2]	1st/20, 11-2 [3]	364.4 PPG, 22.19 PPB [4]	2 Regular A-Team Members, 4 Regular B-Team Members
"B Team" at NU mirror of FNT [5]	9th/20, 6-5 [6]	218.9 PPG, 17.53 PPB [7]	Regular Frosh-Soph/C Team
A Team at UIUC mirror of DAFT [8]	3rd/18, 8-2 [9]	529.0 PPG, 23.42 PPB [10]	Regular Loyola A Team
B Team at UIUC mirror of DAFT [11]	14th/18, 3-7 [12]	142.0 PPG, 12.81 PPB [13]	3 Regular B-Team Members, 1 Regular C-Team Member
A Team at Loyola mirror of HSAPQ ACF-15 [14]	3rd/24, 8-2 [15]	450.0 PPG, 22.77 PPB [16]	3 A-Teamers, 1 B-Teamer
B Team at Loyola mirror of HSAPQ ACF-15 [17]	19th/24, 5-5 [18]	162.0 PPG, 14.85 PPB [19]	Undermanned
C Team at Loyola mirror of HSAPQ ACF-15 [20]	17thth/24, 4-6 [21]	175.0 PPG, 14.71 PPB [22]	Regular C Team and a B-Team Member
A Team at THUNDER @ UIUC [23]	8th/14, 6-7 [24]	211.2 PPG, 14.27 PPB [25]	3 A-Team members, coach Matt Laird
A Team at Auburn HFT Mirror [26]	4th/24, 8-3 [27]	381.0 PPG, 21.43 PPB [28]	3 A-Team Members, 1 B-Team Member at 5v5 Tournament

Tournament Hosting

For many years, Loyola Academy was one of the centers for Midwestern quizbowl, with sometimes as many as four major tournaments being held there each year. Over time, their varsity and frosh-soph tournaments were dropped.

Loyola currently hosts between 2 and 3 tournaments a year. Their varsity tournament, the Ultima, their frosh/soph tournament Davey & Goliath, and a tournament jointly held with Auburn that rotates every year, Loyburn. Initially, Davey and Goliath used Aegis Questions but for the last 2 years, has used an IS-A Set.

Rivalry Awards

Loyola competed for The Bloodstone Cup in an annual competition against Maine South for a few years. The annual competition was born from the back-to-back Regional upsets that the teams visited on each other. The award is a crystal goblet filled with hand-tumbled bloodstones, and kept in a wooden presentation box. The award was donated by F/S coach Matt Laird. Through three competitions, Loyola led the overall series 2-1.

Noted Team Accomplishments

• PACE NSC:
• NAQT HSNCT:
• Illinois NAQT State Championship:
• Iowa NAQT State Champions: 2004
• IHSA Regional Titles (7): 1999, 2001-03, 2005, 2008-09
• IHSA Sectional Titles (3): 1996, 2008-09
• IHSA State: 4th place, 2009

IHSSBCA Individual Awards

The following were honored by the Illinois High School Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association (IHSSBCA) for outstanding play through their All-Sectional/All-State Program. Each sectional comprises roughly 24 geographically concentrated teams, and thus roughly 125 starting players. Through the 2006-07 season, the top ten players were recognized in each sectional,(starting with 2007-08, the number was raised to 15) with teams restricted to no more than two nominations (three nominations starting in 2007-08). There are twenty All-State awards given each year (10 First Team, 10 Second Team) in each of Illinois' two classes.

All-Sectional Honorees

• 2001-02: Megan Hixson
• 2005-06: Katie Kragh, Matt McKenna
• 2007-08: Joe Ahmad, Jack Glerum, Mike Verity
• 2008-09: Joe Ahmad, Jack Glerum
• 2009-10: Nolan Winkler, Marcel Youkhna
• 2010-11: Nolan Winkler, Marcel Youkhna

All-State Honorees

• 2005-06: Matt McKenna (1st team)
• 2007-08: Joe Ahmad (2nd team)
• 2008-09: Joe Ahmad (1st team), Jack Glerum (2nd team)
• 2009-10: Nolan Winkler (1st team), Marcel Youkhna (1st team)

Playing for Team Illinois

• Stephen Walker (2000)
• Andy Mathews (2004)
• Matt McKenna (2006)
• Mike Verity (2008)

Current Roster

• Nolan Winkler (Captain, Junior)
• Brian Peterson (Senior)
• Marcel Youkhna (Junior)
• Morgan Venkus (Sophomore)
• Lauren Capra (Senior)
• Paddy Rahlfs (Junior)
• Raman Michaels (Senior)
• Matt McBride (Junior)

Notable Alumni

• Matt McKenna
• Mike Verity (Georgetown, UChicago)
• Tim Durso
• Joe Ahmad (Notre Dame)
• Jack Glerum (DePauw)

External Links

• Team Web Site