2005 Gopher Invitational Tournament Results

The third annual GINVIT high school quiz bowl tournament was held on December 3, 2005, at the University of Minnesota under the direction of the university's College Bowl Team, its Student Union, and R. Robert Hentzel of National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC. The tournament was a qualifier for both the 2006 NAQT High School National Championship and the televised 2006 Minnesota Face-Off tournament sponsored by Border Foods.

Thirty teams attended representing 13 schools from four states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Mississippi (!)). The 30 teams played six preliminary games, after which the top twelve advanced to single elimination playoffs for the championship. The six preliminary games were randomly determined for each school with some attempt made to minimize matches between teams from the same school.

After the preliminary games the standings were as follows:

RankTeamRecordPPTH
1Mounds Park Academy6-022.00
2St. Thomas A6-021.04
3Minnetonka A6-020.62
4Greater Sioux Falls Homeschool Association (SD)6-017.00
5Minnetonka B6-012.04
6St. Andrew's (MS)5-122.21
7Wayzata A5-115.79
8Robbinsdale Armstrong A5-114.71
9Wayzata C5-111.92
10Wayzata B5-111.79
11Regis A (WI)4-213.50
12Wayzata D4-210.08
13Breck A3-311.96
14St. Thomas B3-311.58
15Regis B (WI)3-38.96
16Hudson (WI)3-38.83
17Wayzata E3-37.29
18Irondale A2-49.42
19Minnetonka C2-48.71
20St. Thomas C2-48.46
21Edina2-48.21
22North A1-57.92
23Breck B1-56.67
24Regis C (WI)1-56.42
25Robbinsdale Armstrong B1-53.46
26St. Thomas D0-64.25
27Wayzata F0-64.00
28Irondale B0-63.83
29Wayzata G0-62.46
30North B0-62.29

Teams with identical records were ordered by points-scored-per-tossup-heard (PPTH).

The top twelve teams by won-lost record (and any teams tied for twelfth) advanced to the playoffs. Since the twelfth-place team was the last 4-2 team (by PPTH), exactly twelve teams advanced.

The single-elimination playoff bracket can be downloaded in PDF format.

In the first round of the playoffs the top four teams (Minnetonka A, St. Thomas A, Mounds Park, and the Greater Sioux Falls Homeschool Association (GSFHSA)) received byes. Additionally, St. Andrew's defeated Regis A 340-195, Wayzata A defeated Wayzata B 315-210, Minnetonka B defeated Wayzata D 315-150, and Armstrong A edged out Wayzata C 265-255.

In the quarterfinals, Minnetonka A torpedoed St. Andrew's 350-160, the GSFHSA took down Minnetonka B 200-120, Mounds Park defeated Armstrong A 375-115, and St. Thomas beat Wayzata A 430-155.

In the semifinals, Mounds Park Academy defeated the GSFHSA 400-130, and Minnetonka A beat St. Thomas 350-295. In the consolation bracket that was ultimately playing for fifth place, Minnetonka B defeated Armstrong A 210-190, and St. Andrew's beat Wayzata A 410-190.

In the championship game, Minnetonka A defeated Mounds Park 420-195.

In the third-place consolation game, St. Thomas A defeated the GSFHSA 395-220, while in the fifth-place consolation game St. Andrew's beat Minnetonka B 335-185.

There were no small, public schools (by NAQT's definition) at the tournament, so the Top Small School Award went unclaimed.

By virtue of finishing in the top 15% of the field, St. Andrew's and St. Thomas have qualified for the national championship (Minnetonka, Mounds Park, and the GSFHSA had already earned berths).

Mounds Park also earned a spot in the 2006 televised Face-Off Minnesota Tournament that is sponsored by Border Foods as it was the highest-finishing team that had not already qualified (Minnetonka had qualified by winning the St. Olaf Invitational Academic Learnament in October 2005.

The tournament also recognized individual performances; the top eight scorers by tossup-points-scored-per-tossup-heard (PPTH) during the preliminary games were:

RankNameTeamPoints per game
1Brendan ByrneMounds Park Academy110.00
2Sean LitseyMinnetonka A95.00
3Nick TruelsonGreater Sioux Falls Homeschool Association92.50
4Mike ParksRobbinsdale Armstrong A70.83
5Jeff ShermanRegis A63.33
6Jack BoyleSt. Thomas A58.33
7Anna HopperSt. Andrew's57.50
8Paul KlevornWayzata A57.50

The tie between Anna Hopper and Paul Klevorn was broken on the basis of power tossups per tossup heard.

In addition, Nick Truelson (the #3 scorer overall!) of the GSFHSA received a trophy for being the top sophomore scorer at the tournament, and Alex Friedman of Minnetonka C received a trophy for being the top freshman scorer at the tournament (53.75, 9th overall).

The complete statistics for the tournament are also available:

If you have any questions about this event or its results, please do not hesitate to contact R. Robert Hentzel.

Other documents of (potential) interest:


Created 2006 January 3 by R. Robert Hentzel