2011 – HLS Trophy

A happy Daniel Eppolito (left) poses with the HLS Trophy (foreground) and EQ Convention Co-Director John Weber (right).
A happy Daniel Eppolito (left) poses with the HLS Trophy (foreground) and EQ Convention Co-Director John Weber (right).

The battle for the Harold L. Siegelman Trophy came down to the wire at EQ 2011. Heading into the final day of competition, two newcomers and one prior HLS winner were in contention. Former HLS Champ Rob Kircher had reached the final of the Settlers tournament but only managed to finish fourth, ending his bid for a repeat of his 2007 triumph. Thus, the competition came down to a two-way battle among two EQ first-timers. Israeli Haim Hochboim threatened to be the first non-U. S. winner when he moved to the top of the HLS leaderboard after adding a second-place finish in Agricola to an earlier win in Dominion. Daniel Eppolito, another EQ first-timer, moved to within three points of Haim and put himself in a position to do even better by reaching the Power Grid final. However, Haim was not done, qualifying for the Ticket to Ride final while Dan was battling it out in the Power Grid game. Thus, the results of these two games would determine the order of finish at the top of the HLS standings as well.

First to finish was the Power Grid final, and it ended with a win for Dan. This put him atop the HLS points table with a record total of 33 points (previous high had been 31). Haim, however, could surpass that total with a first or second place finish in Ticket to Ride. However, he could do no better than fourth, earning another two points to finish second to Dan with 30 HLS points. Third place overall went to Bill Zurn, who won his first EuroQuest title by winning the last event to be completed — the record-setting 7 Wonders tournament — to finish with 28 HLS points.

Dan secured his HLS lead by reaching the final in three tournaments, winning two of them — Power Grid and Ra. He met Haim in the Dominion final, finishing third in the event won by Haim. He won games in four other tournaments to pad his HLS points total. Haim reached four finals, winning Dominion and a second place plaque in Agricola, meaning there would be plenty of “wood” heading back to Israel. He took third in Thurn and Taxis in addition to fourth in Ticket to Ride.

Bill Zurn, a familiar face at final tables in recent EuroQuests, broke through with his first event win after reaching the final in Stone Age. He proved to be among the most versatile and consistent performers at EQ 2011, winning a total of 15 games in nine different tournaments.

Fourth, fifth and sixth positions went to a trio of former HLS winners. The aforementioned Rob Kircher topped out at 25 points, winning 18 games total — reaching the final in Thurn and Taxis for the fifth straight year (finishing second this time) in addition to another top three finish in the Wild Card competition. Defending HLS Champion Randy Buehler made a spirited defense of his crown, but victory continued to elude him in individual tournaments, as he fell just short — second, in 7 Wonders — but, like Bill Zurn, he managed to record wins in nine different events. 2009 HLS winner Sceadeau D’Tela finished one point behind Rob and Randy with “just” 24 HLS points, but he paced everyone with a record total of 23 wins — an all-time EQ record. Sceadeau, like Randy, came through at the end, taking a win in Ticket to Ride to keep alive a three-year streak of winning tournaments at EuroQuest.

This year, a total of 16 individuals scored 15 or more HLS points — reflective of the large fields that may require another revision in the HLS points table for next year. All told, over 100 gamers earned Siegelman points at EuroQuest this year. Here is a complete list of the final standings:

 

1.  Daniel Eppolito        33
2.  Haim Hochboim          30
3.  Bill Zurn              28
4.  Rob Kircher            25
5.  Randy Buehler          25
6.  Sceadeau D'Tela        24
7.  Ben Scholl             23
8.  Raphael Lehrer         18
    Aran Warszawski        18
10. Rodney Davidson        16
11. Alex Bove              16
12. Virginia Colin         16
13. Vien Bounma            15
14. Henry Dove             15
15. Jon Senn               15
16. Norman Rule            15
17. Doug Galullo           13
18. Jim Castonguay         13
19. Andrew Emerick         12
20. Lee Mewshaw            12
21. Helen Powell           12
22. Cissi Astrom           12
23. Chris Gnech            11
24. Steven Schroeder       11
25. Cliff Ackman           10
26. Amy Rule               10
27. Mary Ellen Powers      10
28. Brian Reynolds         10
29. Eric Sokolowsky        10
30. Eric Freeman            8
31. Eugene Yee              8
32. Donna Davis             8
    Chris Suarez            8
34. Robert Murray           8
35. John Min                8
    Pat Onufrak             8
37. Kevin Walsh             8
38. Jeremy Oppenheim        7
39. Eric Kleist             6
40. Brian Mongold           6
41. Rodney Bacigalupo       6
    Michael Brazinski       6
    Eric Cheatham           6
    Marcy Morelli           6
45. Jason Porta             6
    Allyson Thoma           6
47. Rod Spade               6
48. Alyssa Poletti          6
49. Robert Cranshaw         5
50. Al Autovino             4
    Richard Shay            4
52. Donna Dearborn          4
    Barb Flaxington         4
54. John Weber              4
55. Marissa Bianco          4
    Jeffrey Herr            4
    Doug Hoylman            4
    Meredith Martini        4
    Christian Moffa         4
    Eric Monte              4
    Jeff Mullet             4
    Michael Sosa            4
63. John Barringer          4
    Bill Crenshaw           4
    Tom DeMarco             4
    Andy Gerb               4
    William Hoch            4
    Legend Dan Hoffman      4
    Nick Keulmann           4
    Cheryl Mallon           4
    Chris Mattos            4
    Zorina Pop              4
    Mike Rudmann            4
    Peter Stein             4
    Brian Waterhouse        4
    Andrew Yao              4
77. Chris Entwhistle        2
78. Larry Loiacono          2
    Kristina Lynch          2
    Jacob Nixon             2
    Eve Secunda             2
    Rik Van Horn            2
    David Walton            2
84. Jeff Adams              2
    Kerrin Addis            2
    David Bohnenberger      2
    Keith Boone             2
    Steve Boone             2
    Laura Brown             2
    William Burch           2
    Matt Calkins            2
    Mike Cannon             2
    Tim Carnahan            2
    Joshua Cooper           2
    Rob Correll             2
    Laure DeWalt            2
    John Downing            2
    Bill Duke               2
    Phil Esposito           2
    Camille Eustice         2
    Rob Flowers             2
    James Freeman           2
    A. J. Gagliardi         2
    Kevin Gardner           2
    Ryan Houman             2
    Carol Jones             2
    Chris Koth              2
    Vassili Kyrkos          2
    Chester Lanham          2
    Ivan Lawson             2
    Keith Levy              2
    Jud Lewis               2
    Perrianne Lurie         2
    Lori Miskoff            2
    Nessa Mongold           2
    Lyman Moquin            2
    Justin Morgan           2
    Eyal Mozes              2
    Ziad Munson             2
    Marvin Pinkert          2
    Lauren Poletti          2
    Alan Pysnack            2
    Chuck Quintero          2
    Ben Rosset              2
    Rob Russo               2
    Ron Secunda             2
    Rich Shipley            2
    Lawrence Solomon        2
    Brian Stallings         2
    Mike Tanner             2
    Lauren Vessey           2
    Jim Vroom               2