2020-21 HSQB Player Poll Results

The following article was a contribution by the entire Groger Ranks staff and many members of the HSQB community who helped out with this poll. Thank you.

After concluding a difficult season unlike any other, it is our pleasure to finally bring you the results of this year’s high school quizbowl player poll! This year, we will return to posting not only the top overall players, freshmen, and sophomores, but also the results from subject-specific polls in history, science, literature, and fine arts. Due to small sample sizes, we did not drop high or low positions this time. If you finished in the top 4 in the overall poll or first in any of the other polls, please email us at grogerranks@gmail.com with your address so we can send you your award!

Thank you to our Patreon supporters below for supporting our rankings:
Jeremy Nelson
Todd Garrison
Goma Srinivasan
Fred Morlan
Sindhu Nair

Without further ado, here are the results of our player poll! Congratulations to this year’s winners!

National “A” Team

Aadi Karthik – Captain & Player of the Year (Lambert High School, Suwanee, Georgia, 11)

Arthur Delot-Vilain (Georgetown Day School, Washington, D.C., 12)

Amogh Kulkarni (Arcadia High School, Arcadia, California, 11)

Ned Tagtmeier (St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Texas, 12)

Top History Player

Arthur Delot-Vilain (Georgetown Day School, Washington, D.C., 12)

Top Science Player

Pratyush Jaishanker (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria, Virginia, 11)

Top Literature Player

Justin Chen (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria, Virginia, 11)

Top Fine Arts Player

Aaron Dantzler (Stanton College Preparatory School, Jacksonville, Florida, 12)

Freshman of the Year

Rohan Ganeshan (Buffalo Grove High School, Buffalo Grove, Illinois)

Sophomore of the Year

Geetan Madala (Wakeland High School, Frisco, Texas)

Overall Poll

Plaque Given to Top Four Players for the National Quizbowl “A” Team with the Top Player being named Player of the Year, 10 Ballots Submitted

1. Aadi Karthik (Lambert, 11), 5 First Place Votes, 293 Points, Average Ranking of 1.7, Ranked in 100% of ballots

2. Arthur Delot-Vilain (Georgetown Day, 12), 4 First Place Votes, 290 Points, Average Ranking of 2, Ranked in 100% of ballots

3. Amogh Kulkarni (Arcadia, 11), 1 First Place Vote, 282 Points, Average Ranking of 2.8, Ranked in 100% of ballots

4. Ned Tagtmeier (St. Mark’s School of Texas, 12), 274 Points, Average Ranking of 3.6, Ranked in 100% of ballots

5. Amogh Kulkarni (Wayzata, 12), 246 Points, Average Ranking of 6.4, Ranked in 100% of ballots

6. Karsten Rynearson (Phillips Academy, 11), 241 Points, Average Ranking of 6.9, Ranked in 100% of ballots

7. Tegan Kapadia (Beavercreek, 12), 223 Points, Average Ranking of 8.7, Ranked in 100% of ballots

8. Arjun Nageswaran (Adlai E. Stevenson, 12), 220 Points, Average Ranking of 9, Ranked in 100% of ballots

9. Joel Miles (Raymore-Peculiar, 12), 210 Points, Average Ranking of 10, Ranked in 100% of ballots

10. Nathan Sheffield (Belmont, 12), 193 Points, Average Ranking of 11.7, Ranked in 100% of ballots

11. Andrew Zeng (Hunter, 11), 182 Points, Average Ranking of 12.8, Ranked in 100% of ballots

12. Rohan Ganeshan (Buffalo Grove, 9), 171 Points, Average Ranking of 13.9, Ranked in 100% of ballots

13. Justin Chen (Thomas Jefferson Science & Tech, 11), 161 Points, Average Ranking of 14.9, Ranked in 90% of ballots

14. Justin Posner (Richard Montgomery, 12), 159 Points, Average Ranking of 15.1, Ranked in 100% of ballots

15. Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford (East Chapel Hill, 11), 145 Points, Average Ranking of 16.5, Ranked in 100% of ballots

16. Ryan Sun (Arcadia, 11), 139 Points, Average Ranking of 17.1, Ranked in 90% of ballots

T-17. Jonathan Lau (University Lab, 12), 131 Points, Average Ranking of 17.9, Ranked in 90% of ballots

T-17. Pratyush Jaishanker (Thomas Jefferson Science & Tech, 11), 131 Points, Average Ranking of 17.9, Ranked in 90% of ballots

19. Charles Young (Barrington, 9), 91 Points, Average Ranking of 21.9, Ranked in 80% of ballots

20. Zaid Siddiqui (Detroit Country Day, 12), 85 Points, Average Ranking of 22.5, Ranked in 80% of ballots

21. Daniel Liu (Detroit Country Day, 12), 80 Points, Average Ranking of 23, Ranked in 70% of ballots

22. Cooper Roh (Hotchkiss, 11), 60 Points, Average Ranking of 25, Ranked in 80% of ballots

T-23. Anish Kodali (Great Valley, 11), 58 Points, Average Ranking of 25.2, Ranked in 90% of ballots

T-23. Connor Blake (Kinkaid, 11), 58 Points, Average Ranking of 25.2, Ranked in 60% of ballots

25. William Groger (Miami Valley, 12), 57 Points, Average Ranking of 25.3, Ranked in 80% of ballots

26. Albert Ho (Montgomery Blair, 11), 56 Points, Average Ranking of 25.4, Ranked in 80% of ballots

27. Stan Melkumian (Macomb, 12), 53 Points, Average Ranking of 25.7, Ranked in 50% of ballots

28. Joshua Yi (East Brunswick, 12), 46 Points, Average Ranking of 26.4, Ranked in 50% of ballots

29. Louis Li (Ladue, 12), 38 Points, Average Ranking of 27.2, Ranked in 40% of ballots

30. Ayog Prasad (Russell, 12), 37 Points, Average Ranking of 27.3, Ranked in 60% of ballots

Also receiving votes: Karan Gurazada (Stanford Online, 12), 36 Points; Aiden Dartley (Ridgewood, 11), 35 Points; Ketan Pamurthy (TAG Magnet, 12), 23 Points; Abhinav Karthikeyan (Richard Montgomery, 12), 22 Points; Pedro Juan Orduz (Hunter, 12), 16 Points; Gokulan Anand (Greenhill, 11), 15 Points; Will McCurley (Baker, 11), 15 Points; Max Brodsky (High Tech, 11), 14 Points; Gabe Forrest (College Heights Christian, 11), 12 Points; Jason Luo (Chattahoochee, 12), 10 Points; Cerulean Ozarow (Hunter, 12), 9 Points; Jisoo Yoo (TAG Magnet, 12), 6 Points; Owen Riley (Northfield, 12), 6 Points; Tasis Gemmill-Nexon (Georgetown Day, 11), 6 Points; Rohan Shelke (Mira Loma, 12), 5 Points; Kile Stenoien (Strake Jesuit, 11), 4 Points; Owen Farra (St. Louis Patriots, 10), 3 Points; Gus Carvell (Richard Montgomery, 11), 2 Points; Josh Xu (Santa Monica, 12), 1 Point

History Category Poll

Plaque Given to Top Player, 11 Ballots Submitted

1. Arthur Delot-Vilain (Georgetown Day, 12), 1 First Place Vote, 78 Points, Average Ranking of 3.2, Ranked in 100% of ballots

2. Albert Ho (Montgomery Blair, 11), 2 First Place Votes, 76 Points, Average Ranking of 3.4, Ranked in 100% of ballots

3. Tegan Kapadia (Beavercreek, 12), 3 First Place Votes, 72 Points, Average Ranking of 3.8, Ranked in 100% of ballots

4. Cooper Roh (Hotchkiss, 11), 62 Points, Average Ranking of 4.8, Ranked in 80% of ballots

5. Amogh Kulkarni (Arcadia, 11), 2 First Place Votes, 59 Points, Average Ranking of 5.1, Ranked in 90% of ballots

6. Andrew Zeng (Hunter, 11), 2 First Place Votes, 52 Points, Average Ranking of 5.8, Ranked in 70% of ballots

7. Amogh Kulkarni (Wayzata, 12), 39 Points, Average Ranking of 7.1, Ranked in 90% of ballots

8. Pedro Juan Orduz (Hunter, 12), 27 Points, Average Ranking of 8.3, Ranked in 50% of ballots

9. Elliot Lee (Thomas Jefferson Science & Tech, 11), 23 Points, Average Ranking of 8.7, Ranked in 60% of ballots

10. Biniam Alaro (Stanton College Prep, 12), 22 Points, Average Ranking of 8.8, Ranked in 80% of ballots

Also receiving votes: Aayush Goodpaty (St. Mark’s School of Texas, 12), 13 Points; Arjun Nageswaran (Adlai E. Stevenson, 12), 12 Points; Justin Posner (Richard Montgomery, 12), 5 Points; Daniel Liu (Detroit Country Day, 12), 4 Points; Qingyu Zhang (Buchholz, 12), 3 Points; Costas Pavlou (Detroit Country Day, 10), 1 Point; Liam Starnes (Barrington, 12), 1 Point; Owen Riley (Northfield, 12), 1 Point

Science Category Poll

Plaque Given to Top Player, 9 Ballots Submitted

1. Pratyush Jaishanker (Thomas Jefferson Science & Tech, 11), 4 First Place Votes, 94 Points, Average Ranking of 2.45, Ranked in 100% of ballots

2. Connor Blake (Kinkaid, 11), 3 First Place Votes, 88 Points, Average Ranking of 3, Ranked in 100% of ballots

3. Aadi Karthik, 2 First Place Votes, 85 Points, Average Ranking of 3.27, Ranked in 100% of ballots

4. Geoffrey Wu (Naperville North, 12), 2 First Place Votes, 63 Points, Average Ranking of 5.27, Ranked in 81.82% of ballots

5. Pranav Sivaram (Solon, 12), 47 Points, Average Ranking of 6.73, Ranked in 63.64% of ballots

6. Nathan Sheffield (Belmont, 12), 45 Points, Average Ranking of 6.91, Ranked in 72.73% of ballots

7. Stan Melkumian (Macomb,12), 33 Points, Average Ranking of 8, Ranked in 54.55% of ballots

8. Ketan Pamurthy (TAG Magnet, 12), 25 Points, Average Ranking of 8.73, Ranked in 72.73% of ballots

T-9. Karan Gurazada (Stanford Online, 12), 24 Points, Average Ranking of 8.82, Ranked in 63.64% of ballots

T-9. Rasheeq Azad (North Carolina Science and Math, 12), 24 Points, Average Ranking of 8.82, Ranked in 45.45% of ballots

Also receiving votes: Rohan Shelke (Mira Loma, 12), 22 Points; Benjamin Hu (Millburn, 11), 15 Points; Joel Valan (Stanton College Prep, 12), 13 Points; Chris Tong (Montgomery Blair, 12), 11 Points; Zaid Siddiqui (Detroit Country Day, 12), 4 Points; Amogh Kulkarni (Arcadia, 11), 3 Points; Eric Yin (Ladue, 12), 3 Points; Alan Xie (Beavercreek, 11), 2 Points; Shruti Siva (Greenhill, 11), 2 Points; Ayog Prasad (Russell, 12), 1 Point; Benjamin Chapman (Hunter, 12), 1 Point

Literature Category Poll

Plaque Given to Top Player, 11 Ballots Submitted

1. Justin Chen (Thomas Jefferson Science & Tech, 11), 11 First Place Votes, 110 Points, Average Ranking of 1, Ranked in 100% of ballots

2. Ned Tagtmeier (St. Mark’s School of Texas, 12), 98 Points, Average Ranking of 2.09, Ranked in 100% of ballots

3. Karsten Rynearson (Phillips Academy, 11), 85 Points, Average Ranking of 3.27, Ranked in 100% of ballots

4. Jisoo Yoo (TAG Magnet, 12), 63 Points, Average Ranking of 5.27, Ranked in 100% of ballots

5. Gokulan Anand (Greenhill, 11), 39 Points, Average Ranking of 7.45, Ranked in 90.91% of ballots

6. William Orr (Langley, 11), 38 Points, Average Ranking of 7.55, Ranked in 54.55% of ballots

7. Zaid Siddiqui (Detroit Country Day, 12), 37 Points, Average Ranking of 7.64, Ranked in 81.82% of ballots

8. Rohan Ganeshan (Buffalo Grove, 9), 36 Points, Average Ranking of 7.73, Ranked in 72.73% of ballots

9. Anish Kodali (Great Valley, 11), 22 Points, Average Ranking of 9, Ranked in 81.82% of ballots

10. Amogh Kulkarni (Arcadia, 11), 18 Points, Average Ranking of 9.36, Ranked in 27.27% of ballots

Also receiving votes: Cindy Gao (Belmont, 10), 8 Points; Richard Lin (Bellarmine College Prep, 10), 8 Points; Aadi Karthik (Lambert, 11), 7 Points; Jason Luo (Chattahoochee, 12), 6 Points; Nathan Sheffield (Belmont, 12), 6 Points; Soham Mehra (Stanton College Prep, 12), 6 Points; Rosa Xia (Livingston, 12), 5 Points; Andrew Zeng (Hunter, 11), 4 Points; Joel Miles (Raymore-Peculiar, 12), 4 Points; Arjun Kala (University Lab, 10), 2 Points; Cerulean Ozarow (Hunter, 12), 2 Points; Aizaaz Faiz (Manheim Township, 11), 1 Point

Fine Arts Category Poll

Plaque Given to Top Player, 10 Ballots Submitted

1. Aaron Dantzler (Stanton College Prep, 12), 4 First Place Votes, 90 Points, Average Ranking of 2, Ranked in 100% of ballots

2. Max Brodsky (High Tech, 11), 2 First Place Votes, 87 Points, Average Ranking of 2.3, Ranked in 100% of ballots

3. Grant Maiorana (Solon, 11), 4 First Place Votes, 82 Points, Average Ranking of 2.8, Ranked in 100% of ballots

4. Adam Sun (Detroit Country Day, 12), 47 Points, Average Ranking of 6.3, Ranked in 90% of ballots

5. Joel Miles (Raymore-Peculiar, 12), 35 Points, Average Ranking of 7.5, Ranked in 80% of ballots

6. Gus Carvell (Richard Montgomery, 12), 31 Points, Average Ranking of 7.9, Ranked in 70% of ballots

7. Ketan Pamurthy (TAG Magnet, 12), 29 Points, Average Ranking of 8.1, Ranked in 60% of ballots

8. Rohan Ganeshan (Buffalo Grove, 9), 25 Points, Average Ranking of 8.5, Ranked in 70% of ballots

9. Stan Melkumian (Macomb, 12), 22 Points, Average Ranking of 8.8, Ranked in 60% of ballots

10. Charles Young (Barrington, 9), 21 Points, Average Ranking of 8.9, Ranked in 70% of ballots

Also receiving votes: Aadi Karthik (Lambert, 11), 17 Points; Aditya Shivaswamy (St. Mark’s School of Texas, 9), 17 Points; Ryan Sun (Arcadia, 11), 13 Points; Karan Gurazada (Stanford Online, 12), 12 Points; Gabe Forrest (College Heights Christian, 11), 10 Points; Kyunghwan Lim (Chattahoochee, 10), 5 Points; Aum Mundhe (Ridgewood, 12), 3 Points; Gokulan Anand (Greenhill, 11), 2 Points; Amogh Kulkarni (Arcadia, 11), 1 Point; Tegan Kapadia (Beavercreek, 12), 1 Point

Freshman Poll

Plaque Given to Top Player, 5 Ballots Submitted

1. Rohan Ganeshan (Buffalo Grove), 5 First Place Votes, 50 Points, Average Ranking of 1, Ranked in 100% of ballots

2. Charles Young (Barrington), 45 Points, Average Ranking of 2, Ranked in 100% of ballots

T-3. Aditya Shivaswamy (St. Mark’s School of Texas), 37 Points, Average Ranking of 3.6, Ranked in 100% of ballots

T-3. Cole Hartung (Kinkaid), 37 Points, Average Ranking of 3.6, Ranked in 100% of ballots

5. Nikky Nandipati (Greenhill), 30 Points, Average Ranking of 5, Ranked in 100% of ballots

6. Anurag Sodhi (Centennial), 21 Points, Average Ranking of 6.8, Ranked in 100% of ballots

7. Rohan Kher (Barrington), 18 Points, Average Ranking of 7.4, Ranked in 80% of ballots

8. Sahas Goli (Mission San Jose), 12 Points, Average Ranking of 8.6, Ranked in 80% of ballots

9. Soren Gjesfjeld (Bloomington), 9 Points, Average Ranking of 9.2, Ranked in 60% of ballots

10. Grace Liu (Thomas Jefferson Science & Tech), 6 Points, Average Ranking of 9.8, Ranked in 40% of ballots

Also receiving votes: Allie Hoffert (Northfield), 3 Points; Connor Feng (Del Norte), 2 Points; Shreyes Balachandran (St. John’s), 2 Points; Ethan Bosita (St. Mark’s School of Texas), 1 Point; Matthew Kohn (Hunter), 1 Point; Sam McNamee (Maggie Walker Governor’s School), 1 Point

Sophomore Poll

Plaque Given to Top Player, 10 Ballots Submitted

1. Geetan Madala (Wakeland), 9 First Place Votes, 99 Points, Average Ranking of 1.1, Ranked in 100% of ballots

2. Costas Pavlou (Detroit Country Day), 72 Points, Average Ranking of 3.8, Ranked in 100% of ballots

3. Arthur Gayden (Detroit Country Day), 71 Points, Average Ranking of 3.9, Ranked in 100% of ballots

4. Keshav Kumar (Homestead), 67 Points, Average Ranking of 4.3, Ranked in 100% of ballots

5. Tanuj Chandekar (East Brunswick), 58 Points, Average Ranking of 5.2, Ranked in 90% of ballots

6. Jacob Hardin-Bernhardt (Hunter), 47 Points, Average Ranking of 6.3, Ranked in 80% of ballots

7. Ian Lu (Hunter), 37 Points, Average Ranking of 7.3, Ranked in 70% of ballots

8. Cindy Gao (Belmont), 1 First Place Vote, 26 Points, Average Ranking of 8.4, Ranked in 80% of ballots

9. Richard Lin (Bellarmine College Prep), 25 Points, Average Ranking of 8.5, Ranked in 90% of ballots

10. Arjun Kala (University Lab), 10 Points, Average Ranking of 10, Ranked in 40% of ballots

Also receiving votes: Lukas Koutsoukos (Wilton), 8 Points; Andrew Minagar (Caddo Magnet), 7 Points; Cavan Gabaldon O’Neill (BASIS McLean), 7 Points; 4 Points; Siddharth Kamannavar (Saratoga), 4 Points; Param Gattupalli (Stanton College Prep), 3 Points; Joy An (Choate), 2 Points; Aeres Zhou (Detroit Country Day), 1 Point; Kyunghwan Lim (Chattahoochee), 1 Point; Will Carstens (Detroit Catholic Central), 1 Point

Full ballots and justifications can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19Nlr565YZqwfv34L7WnPi2CA0DguT0bsXeN8NBRkZ0g/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you to everyone in the community for continuing to support Groger Ranks! We hope to see you all next season.