More TOC History: Octafinals Bid Tournaments Since 1996-1997

In order to qualify for the Tournament of Champions, debaters must earn bids at invitational tournaments by reaching the designated elimination round. The most competitive TOC qualifying tournaments award bids to all teams in the octafinals. Since the 1996-1997 season, the number of octafinals bid tournaments has remained between seven and ten: Greenhill, St. Mark’s, Glenbrooks, MBA, Emory, Harvard, and Berkeley have been mainstays while Wake Forest, Redlands, Stanford, Blake, and Michigan have spent at least one year on the list. Since that season, 37 schools have won at least one octafinals bid tournament with 20 schools winning more than one tournament and 16 schools winning at least one tournament in multiple seasons.

What school has won the most octafinals bid tournaments? How many teams have won multiple octafinals bid tournaments in the same season? Who holds the record for most octafinals bid wins in a career by a debater? The answers—as well as a complete listing of the winners and runners-up at every octafinals bid tournament held in the last 15 seasons—are below the fold.

Most Wins By A School

Westminster tops the list of schools with the most wins. Impressively, all 17 of the Wildcats’ wins have come since the 2001-2002 season.

  1. Westminster — 17
  2. Glenbrook North — 15
  3. Colleyville Heritage — 9
  4. Greenhill — 7
  5. Head Royce — 7
  6. Georgetown Day — 6
  7. Kinkaid — 5
  8. Lexington — 5
  9. Glenbrook South — 5
  10. St. Mark’s — 5

Most Years With A Win By A School

Glenbrook North has won at least one octafinals bid tournament in eight of the last 15 seasons, two more than any other school.

  1. Glenbrook North — 8
  2. Westminster — 6
  3. Greenhill — 6
  4. Colleyville Heritage — 4
  5. Georgetown Day — 4
  6. Kinkaid — 4
  7. Lexington — 4
  8. Head Royce — 3
  9. Glenbrook South — 3
  10. Bronx Science — 3
  11. Pace Academy — 3

Most Wins By A Team In The Same Season

Only one team has won four octafinals bid tournaments in the same season:

  • Westminster — Anshu Sathian & Stephen Weil (2006-2007)

The following eight teams have won three octafinals bid tournaments in the same season:

  • Glenbrook North — Jordan Hurder & Andrew Silverman (1997-1998)
  • St. Mark’s — Josh Branson & Michael Martin (2001-2002)
  • Colleyville Heritage — Jonathan Lewis & Jason Murray (2003-2004)
  • Westminster — Anusha Deshpande & Stephen Weil (2004-2005)
  • Colleyville Heritage — Evan DeFilippis & James Hamraie (2007-2008)
  • Westminster — Rajesh Jegadeesh & Anshu Sathian (2008-2009)
  • Glenbrook South — Richard Day & Will Thibeau (2009-2010)
  • Westminster — Ellis Allen & Daniel Taylor (2010-2011)

The following 18 teams have won two octafinals bid tournaments in the same season:

  • Caddo Magnet — Kamal Ghali & Andy Ryan (1996-1997)
  • Iowa City West — Will Toomey & Emily Wynes (1996-1997)
  • Georgetown Day — Alex Berger & Matt Ornstein (1997-1998)
  • Head Royce — Jake Foster & Sebastian Kaplan-Sears (1997-1998)
  • Glenbrook North — Shawn Powers & Dan Shalmon (1998-1999)
  • Head Royce — Jake Foster & Tina Valkanoff (1998-1999)
  • Lexington — Yoni Cohen & Josh Lynn (1998-1999)
  • Montgomery Bell Academy — Raja Gaddipati & Robbie Quinn (1998-1999)
  • Glenbrook North — Michael Lewis & Dan Shalmon (1999-2000)
  • El Cerrito — Rebecca Heller & Dan McKenzie (1999-2000)
  • Greenhill — Raquel Bracken & Jordan Pietzsch (2000-2001)
  • St. Thomas Academy — Darrin Gamradt & Scott Phillips (2000-2001)
  • Colleyville Heritage — Aimi Hamraie & Justin Murray (2002-2003)
  • Glenbrook North — Michael Rosecrans & Jake Ziering (2003-2004)
  • Kinkaid — Nick Miller & David Roosth (2004-2005)
  • Georgetown Day — Zack Beauchamp & James Brockway (2005-2006)
  • Westminster — Josh McLaurin & Stephen Weil (2005-2006)
  • St. Mark’s — Rishee Batra & Alex Miles (2010-2011)

Most Final Round Appearances By A Team In The Same Season

Eight teams have appeared in at least four final rounds of octafinals bid tournaments in a single season:

  1. Westminster — Anshu Sathian & Stephen Weil, 6 (4-2) — 2006-2007
  2. Greenhill — Josh Goldberg & Rashad Hussain, 5 (1-4) — 1996-1997
  3. Bronx Science — Regan Bozman & Andrew Markoff, 4 (1-3) — 2008-2009
  4. Colleyville Heritage — Jonathan Lewis & Jason Murray, 4 (3-1) — 2003-2004
  5. Georgetown Day — Alex Berger & Matt Ornstein, 4 (2-2) — 1997-1998
  6. Glenbrook North — Michael Lewis & Dan Shalmon, 4 (3-1) — 1999-2000
  7. St. Mark’s — Rishee Batra & Alex Miles, 4 (2-2) — 2010-2011
  8. Westminster — Ellis Allen & Daniel Taylor, 4 (3-1) — 2010-2011

Wins By A Team In Multiple Seasons

Only three teams have won octafinals bid tournaments in two different seasons:

  • Colleyville Heritage — Andrew Murray & Alex Nasr (2007-2008, 2008-2009)
  • Head Royce — Jake Foster & Sebastian Kaplan-Sears (1996-1997, 1997-1998)
  • Westminster — Ellis Allen & Daniel Taylor (2009-2010, 2010-2011)

Most Wins By A Debater

Westminster’s Stephen Weil won an incredible ten octafinals bid tournaments in his career: Glenbrooks, MBA, and Harvard as a sophomore, Greenhill, Glenbrooks, and Emory as a junior, and Greenhill, St. Mark’s, Emory, and Harvard as a senior. He was also in the finals of two more octafinals bid tournaments during his senior year, Glenbrooks and MBA.

  1. Stephen Weil — Westminster (10)
  2. Anshu Sathian — Westminster (7)
  3. Jake Foster — Head Royce (5)
  4. Dan Shalmon — Glenbrook North (5)

Weil’s record at octafinals bid tournaments is as follows:

  1. Emory — did not clear*, Win, Win
  2. Glenbrooks — Win, Win, Runner-Up
  3. Greenhill — Semifinals, Win, Win
  4. Harvard — Win, Octafinals, Win
  5. MBA — Win, Semifinals, Runner-Up
  6. St. Mark’s — Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Win

(* The 2005 Emory tournament cleared to semifinals after four preliminary rounds because of an ice storm.)

Only two other students have won an octafinals bid tournament in three consecutive seasons:

  • Matthew Andrews — Greenhill (2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007)
  • Jake Foster — Head Royce (1996-1997, 1997-1998, 1998-1999)
  • Stephen Weil — Westminster (2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007)

TOC Champions at Octafinals Bid Tournaments

Only three teams have won the TOC after not winning an octafinals bid tournament during the course of the regular season:

  • Glenbrook South — Todd Fine & Adam Goldstein (1997-1998)
  • Greenhill — Asher Haig & Jordan Pietzsch (1999-2000)
  • College Prep — Eli Anders & Michael Burshteyn (2002-2003)

In the latter two cases, one member of the TOC champion team had lost in the final round of an octafinals bid tournament while debating with a different partner.

Seven TOC runners-up have not won an octafinals bid tournament during the regular season:

  • Woodward Academy — Avery Dale & Peter Miller (2000-2001)
  • Greenhill — Maggie Ahn & Saad Hussein (2002-2003)
  • Chattahoochee — Garrett Abelkop & John Warden (2004-2005)
  • Glenbrook South — Abe Corrigan & Mima Lazarevic (2005-2006)
  • Bellarmine — Will Rafey & Sagar Vijay (2008-2009)
  • St. Mark’s — Rishee Batra & Alex Miles (2009-2010)
  • Lexington — Tyler Engler & Arjun Vellayappan (2010-2011)

Five of these teams did not reach the final round of an octafinals bid tournament during the season in which they were runner-up at the TOC: Greenhill in 2003, Glenbrook South in 2006, Bellarmine in 2009, St. Mark’s in 2010, and Lexington in 2011.

Complete Year-by-Year Listing

The following is a complete list of the champions and runners-up at every octafinals bid tournament since the 1996-1997 season. There are two tournaments missing from these results: the 1997 Stanford tournament and the 2003 California-Berkeley tournament. If anyone can help fill in those missing results, please contact the author.

1996-1997:

  1. Berkeley — Head Royce Foster/Kaplan-Sears d. Centennial Eastwood/Scoville
  2. Emory — Caddo Magnet Ghali/Ryan d. Greenhill Goldberg/Hussein
  3. Glenbrooks — Caddo Magnet Ghali/Ryan d. Greenhill Goldberg/Hussein
  4. Greenhill — Iowa City West Toomey/Wynes d. Lexington Enrich/Golay
  5. Harvard — Newburgh Free Academy Bonura/Gribbin d. Greenhill Goldberg/Hussein
  6. MBA — Greenhill Goldberg/Hussein d. Iowa City West Toomey/Wynes
  7. Redlands — Bronx Science Frost/Malle d. Glenbrook South Goldstein/Helfand
  8. St. Mark’s — Iowa City West Toomey/Wynes d. Caddo Magnet Ghali/Ryan
  9. Stanford — results missing
  10. Wake Forest — Brookfield Central Friess/McKenna d. St. Mark’s Cotton/Hodges

1997-1998:

  1. Berkeley — Head Royce Mangold/Valkanoff d. El Cerrito Lai/McIntyre
  2. Emory — Greenhill Bradt/Talmadge d. East Grand Rapids Lundeen/Van Dam
  3. Glenbrooks — Head Royce Foster/Kaplan-Sears d. Georgetown Day Berger/Ornstein
  4. Greenhill — Georgetown Day Berger/Ornstein d. Montgomery Bell Gaddipati/Humbracht
  5. Harvard — Georgetown Day Berger/Ornstein d. Tampa Prep Rains (maverick)
  6. MBA — Glenbrook North Hurder/Silverman d. Woodward Brown/Zampol
  7. Redlands — Glenbrook North Hurder/Silverman d. Damien Broadwater/Sohrn
  8. St. Mark’s — Glenbrook North Hurder/Silverman d. Georgetown Day Berger/Ornstein
  9. Stanford — Head Royce Foster/Kaplan-Sears and Tampa Prep Gorda/Rains
  10. Wake Forest — Dreher A’Hern/Wachter d. Chattahoochee Schindler/Zweigel

1998-1999:

  1. Berkeley — Head Royce Foster/Valkanoff d. Bellarmine Simmons/Singh
  2. Emory — Glenbrook South Bashkin/Fine d. Montgomery Bell Gaddipati/Quinn
  3. Glenbrooks — Montgomery Bell Gaddipati/Quinn d. East Lansing Matheson/Siegman
  4. Greenhill — Glenbrook North Powers/Shalmon d. Lexington Cohen/Lynn
  5. Harvard — Lexington Cohen/Lynn d. Greenhill Eickmeyer/Talmadge
  6. MBA — Head Royce Foster/Valkanoff d. Glenbrook North Powers/Shalmon
  7. Redlands — Glenbrook North Powers/Shalmon d. Head Royce Foster/Valkanoff
  8. St. Mark’s — Lexington Cohen/Lynn d. Caddo Magnet Hornbuckle/Savoie
  9. Stanford — Brophy Prep Makridis/Susak d. Pace Academy Gordon/Rosefeld
  10. Wake Forest — Montgomery Bell Gaddipati/Quinn d. Edgemont Blank/Garg

1999-2000:

  1. Berkeley — Glenbrook North Lewis/Shalmon d. College Prep Beckley/Tarloff
  2. Emory — Glenbrook North Klinger/Mazur d. College Prep Beckley/Tarloff
  3. Glenbrooks — El Cerrito Heller/McKenzie d. Pace Academy Harbour/Thorpe
  4. Greenhill — Pace Academy Harbour/Thorpe d. Lexington Enrich/Sturtevant
  5. Harvard — Lexington Enrich/Sturtevant d. Greenhill Frankel/Haig
  6. MBA — Centerville Liang/Liu d. Glenbrook North Lewis/Shalmon
  7. Redlands — Glenbrook North Lewis/Shalmon d. College Prep Beckley/Tarloff
  8. St. Mark’s — Glenbrook North Lewis/Shalmon d. Pace Academy Harbour/Thorpe
  9. Stanford — El Cerrito Heller/McKenzie d. Georgetown Day Gilburne/Hornback
  10. Wake Forest — Brother Rice Grimm/Van Horn d. Pine Crest Blaut/Gaetz

2000-2001:

  1. Berkeley — Bellarmine Reddy/Warneck d. New Trier Oddo/Tansey
  2. Emory — Greenhill Bracken/Pietzsch d. Woodward Academy Dale/Miller
  3. Glenbrooks — Greenhill Bracken/Pietzsch d. Caddo Magnet Asher/Ghali
  4. Greenhill — St. Thomas Academy Gamradt/Phillips d. Dallas Jesuit Ackels/Bireley
  5. Harvard — Glenbrook North Klinger/Nathan d. Pace Academy Hancock/Thomas
  6. MBA — Edgemont Ballen/Wiener d. Glenbrook North Greenstein/Nathan
  7. Redlands — College Prep Kenney/Tarloff d. Valley Johnson/Kumar
  8. St. Mark’s — St. Thomas Academy Gamradt/Phillips d. Greenhill Bracken/Pietzsch
  9. Stanford — Nevada Union Haley-Hill/Meagher d. Head Royce Schuler/Tribble

2001-2002:

  1. Berkeley — Glenbrook South Hartmann/Shankar d. Leland Chien/Singh
  2. Emory — Woodward Academy Cohen/Dale d. Pace Academy Allen/Smith
  3. Glenbrooks — St. Mark’s Branson/Martin d. Marquette Aggarwal/Bhatnagar
  4. Greenhill — St. Mark’s Branson/Martin d. Westminster Ahmed/Chaudoin
  5. Harvard — Marquette Aggarwal/Bhatnagar d. Pace Academy Allen/Smith
  6. MBA — St. Mark’s Branson/Martin d. College Prep Burshteyn/Donoho
  7. St. Mark’s — Pace Academy Allen/Smith d. Greenhill Pace/Sentilles

2002-2003:

  1. Berkeley — results missing
  2. Emory — Woodward Academy Cohen/Tanis d. College Prep Burshteyn/Richards
  3. Glenbrooks — Colleyville Heritage Hamraie/Murray d. Westminster Lakhani/Ramji
  4. Greenhill — Georgetown Day Gentile/Luxembourg d. Valley Clark/Cowart
  5. Harvard — duPont Manual Miller/Mirachandani d. Woodward Academy Cohen/Tanis
  6. MBA — Colleyville Heritage Hamraie/Murray d. Westminster Lakhani/Ramji
  7. St. Mark’s — Caddo Magnet Larey/Zweig d. Colleyville Heritage Hamraie/Murray

2003-2004:

  1. Berkeley — Glenbrook North Rosecrans/Ziering d. College Prep Anders/Burshteyn
  2. Emory — C.R. Washington Bader/Vernon d. Glenbrook North Nadell/Stern
  3. Glenbrooks — College Prep Anders/Burshteyn d. Greenhill Haig/Stohlbach
  4. Greenhill — Colleyville Heritage Lewis/Murray d. Glenbrook North Rosecrans/Ziering
  5. Harvard — Colleyville Heritage Lewis/Murray d. Miami Palmetto Bucciero/Landau
  6. MBA — Glenbrook North Rosecrans/Ziering d. Colleyville Heritage Lewis/Murray
  7. St. Mark’s — Colleyville Heritage Lewis/Murray d. College Prep Anders/Burshteyn

2004-2005:

  1. Berkeley — Highland Park Andrews/Iola and Clear Lake Schwab/Scruggs
  2. Emory — Kinkaid Miller/Roosth d. Highland Park Andrews/Iola
  3. Glenbrooks — Westminster Desphande/Weil d. Chattahoochee Abelkop/Warden
  4. Greenhill — Lexington Jenson/Zimmerman d. Clear Lake Schwab/Scruggs
  5. Harvard — Westminster Deshpande/Weil d. Lexington Jenson/Zimmerman
  6. MBA — Westminster Deshpande/Weil d. Chattahoochee Abelkop/Warden
  7. St. Mark’s — Kinkaid Miller/Roosth d. Caddo Magnet Martin/Jones

2005-2006:

  1. Berkeley — Kinkaid Hantel/Tilney d. College Prep Koo/Yuan
  2. Emory — Westminster Sathian/Weil d. Woodward Bhatia/Bose-Kolanu
  3. Glenbrooks — Westminster McLaurin/Weil d. Centerville Jacobs/Wright
  4. Greenhill — Westminster McLaurin/Weil d. Bishop Guertin Ewing/Presenti
  5. Harvard — Georgetown Day Beauchamp/Brockway d. Greenhill Andrews/Polley
  6. MBA — Greenhill Andrews/Polley d. Woodward Bhatia/Bose-Kolanu
  7. St. Mark’s — Georgetown Day Beauchamp/Brockway d. Lexington Caporal/Green

2006-2007:

  1. Berkeley — Glenbrook North Fisher/Spies d. Caddo Magnet Giglio/Grossi
  2. Emory — Westminster Sathian/Weil d. Greenhill Andrews/Huang
  3. Glenbrooks — Greenhill Andrews/Huang d. Westminster Sathian/Weil
  4. Greenhill — Westminster Sathian/Weil d. Woodward Academy Bose-Kolanu/Rosenbleeth
  5. Harvard — Westminster Sathian/Weil d. Greenhill Andrews/Huang
  6. MBA — Centerville Cronin/Jacobs d. Westminster Sathian/Weil
  7. St. Mark’s — Westminster Sathian/Weil d. Groves Kirsh/Warsh

2007-2008:

  1. Berkeley — Colleyville Heritage Defilipis/Hamraie and Colleyville Heritage Murray/Nasr
  2. Emory — Cathedral Prep Carlotti/Hayes d. St. Mark’s Blumenthal/Katz
  3. Glenbrooks — Chattahoochee Foretich/Lacy d. Kinkaid Beiermeister/Sharp
  4. Greenhill — Colleyville Heritage Defilipis/Hamraie d. St. Mark’s Blumenthal/Katz
  5. Harvard — Greenhill Rogan/Rogan d. Chattahoochee Foretich/Lacy
  6. MBA — Colleyville Heritage Defilipis/Hamraie d. Stratford Academy Cole/Karlson
  7. St. Mark’s — Pace Academy Armstrong/Lee d. Westminster Allan/Sathian

2008-2009:

  1. Berkeley — Notre Dame Duran/Powell d. Damien Ehrlich-Quinn/Hernandez
  2. Emory — Westminster Jegadeesh/Sathian d. St. Mark’s Gulakov/Miles
  3. Glenbrooks — Westminster Jegadeesh/Sathian d. St. Mark’s Gulakov/Miles
  4. Greenhill — Kinkaid Kirshon/Smyser d. Bronx Science Bozman/Markoff
  5. Harvard — Bronx Science Bozman/Markoff d. Colleyville Heritage Murray/Nasr
  6. MBA — Colleyville Heritage Murray/Nasr d. Bronx Science Bozman/Markoff
  7. St. Mark’s — Westminster Jegadeesh/Sathian d. Bronx Science Bozman/Markoff

2009-2010:

  1. Berkeley — Kinkaid Bontha/Kirshon d. Glenbrook North Makuch/Pappas
  2. Blake — Bronx Science Elias/Markoff d. Rowland Hall Arsht/Feola
  3. Emory — Glenbrook South Day/Thibeau d. Westminster Allen/Taylor
  4. Glenbrooks — Westlake Baker/Mullins d. Damien Ehrlich-Quinn/Gannon
  5. Greenhill — Westminster Allen/Taylor d. Whitney Young Gonzalez/Hirn
  6. Harvard — Glenbrook South Day/Thibeau d. Bronx Science Elias/Markoff
  7. MBA — Glenbrook South Day/Thibeau d. New Trier Carpenter/Slomski-Pritz
  8. St. Mark’s — Glenbrook North Makuch/Pappas d. Woodward Academy Pesce/Plithides

2010-2011:

  1. Berkeley — Georgetown Day Krakoff/Levy d. College Prep Pai/Yamamura
  2. Blake — Lexington Caporal/Suo d. Beacon Davis/Feliciano
  3. Emory — Mountain Brook McCarty/Quinn d. Beacon Davis/Feliciano
  4. Glenbrooks — St. Mark’s Batra/Miles d. Gulliver Prep Adler/Toledo
  5. Greenhill — Westminster Allen/Taylor d. St. Mark’s Batra/Miles
  6. Harvard — Westminster Allen/Taylor d. St. Mark’s Batra/Miles
  7. MBA — St. Mark’s Batra/Miles d. Greenhill Patel/Patterson
  8. Michigan — Glenbrook North Pappas/Parker d. Westminster Allen/Taylor
  9. St. Mark’s — Westminster Allen/Taylor d. Gulliver Prep Adler/Toledo

The data in this article was gathered entirely by hand from a variety of sources. As always, corrections are appreciated — please email the author.