North Carolina State Championship
and 25th Memorial Tournament
September 26, 2026, at Umstead State Park in Raleigh, NC
The North Carolina State Championship and 25th Memorial Tournament was held September 26, 2026, at Umstead State Park in Raleigh, NC. Thirty-nine players participated, as well as a few parents, friends and supporters. The weather was beautiful and the games were quite nice as well. The new State Champion title was won by Shiqin Song, who achieved a 4-0 record in intense competition. Second place was secured by Sheng Huo. whose only loss was to Shiqin. Michael Simms was awarded 1st place in Section A, with Alexander Parrot in 2nd. First place in Section B was seized by Neal Siekierski, who also racked up a perfect 4-0 score. Ben Parrott was close behind in 2nd. Michael H. Lash won top honors in Section C, with Elijah Ide taking 2nd place. Jacob Harrison took first after posting another perfect 4-0 record in Section D, with John Senegal in 2nd. And in Section E, the 4th 4-0 performance of the day placed Daniel Tregeagle in 1st, with newcomer Heather Mantica taking 2nd. This was the first AGA tournament for 9 of our attendees, and we hope they attend many more.
A delicious lunch was provided by the Triangle Go Group's Arlene Bridges, and Jeff Kuang again performed TD duties skillfully with his familiar grace and calm, keeping the tournament on time yet unrushed. In addition to trophies we awarded $1,500.00 in prize money at this event.
Special recognition is due to our wonderful parents and friends who provided encouragement, transportation and support.
A grid of all players, their records and results of each round appear below. A few more photos are posted below the grid.
Tournament Win/Loss Records | ||||
| Name | AGA-ID | Rating | Wins | Losses |
| Toby Chen | 30735 | 4D | 2 | 2 |
| Shiqin Song | 30639 | 4D | 4 | 0 |
| Sheng Huo | 24076 | 4D | 3 | 1 |
| David Fang | 25542 | 4D | 2 | 2 |
| Jeff Kuang | 13845 | 4D | 1 | 3 |
| Joshua Guarino | 12197 | 2D | 2 | 2 |
| Alex Parrott | 22903 | 1D | 2 | 2 |
| Thomas Bitonti | 3540 | 1D | 2 | 2 |
| Chris Liu | 32837 | 1D | 2 | 2 |
| Bingyue Su | 31164 | 1D | 1 | 3 |
| Tao Ma | 23534 | 1K | 0 | 3 |
| Mengyuan Zhu | 31235 | 1K | 2 | 2 |
| Michael Simms | 31645 | 1K | 3 | 1 |
| Matthew Pickard | 31537 | 2K | 2 | 2 |
| Paul Celmer | 4910 | 2K | 2 | 2 |
| Adam Bridges | 9995 | 3K | 0 | 1 |
| Ben Parrott | 22897 | 4K | 3 | 1 |
| Corey Chapman | 31597 | 4K | 1 | 3 |
| Mike Keith | 26283 | 5K | 1 | 2 |
| Brockton Moore | 31977 | 5K | 2 | 2 |
| Neal Siekierski | 25939 | 5K | 4 | 0 |
| Elijah Ide | 31219 | 6K | 2 | 2 |
| Peter Standard | 13508 | 6K | 2 | 2 |
| Michael Lash | 57 | 6K | 3 | 1 |
| Bob Bacon | 11286 | 7K | 0 | 3 |
| Martin Kelley | 12097 | 9K | 2 | 2 |
| Chue Vang | 31968 | 9K | 2 | 2 |
| Jeff Martyn | 16259 | 10K | 1 | 3 |
| Patrick Kelley | 32480 | 11K | 2 | 2 |
| Steven Manning | 9085 | 11K | 0 | 4 |
| Jacob Harrison | 32823 | 16K | 4 | 0 |
| John Senegal | 32854 | 16K | 3 | 1 |
| Ryan Duncan | 32845 | 17K | 2 | 2 |
| Rio Abreu | 32056 | 17K | 1 | 3 |
| Heather Mantica | 32835 | 20K | 2 | 2 |
| Daniel Tregeagle | 32844 | 20K | 4 | 0 |
| Maxim Poslavsky | 32850 | 20K | 2 | 2 |
| Yi Li | 32831 | 25K | 1 | 3 |
| Zoey Zhang | 32849 | 25K | 1 | 3 |
Round One |
||||
| White | Black | Winner | Handicap | Komi |
| Toby Chen | Shiqin Song | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| David Fang | Sheng Huo | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Joshua Guarino | Jeff Kuang | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Bingyue Su | Alex Parrott | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Thomas Bitonti | Chris Liu | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Michael Simms | Paul Celmer | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Mengyuan Zhu | Tao Ma | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Matthew Pickard | Corey Chapman | W | 1 | 0 .5 |
| Ben Parrott | Brockton Moore | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Mike Keith | Neal Siekierski | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Michael Lash | Elijah Ide | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Peter Standard | Martin Kelley | W | 2 | 0 .5 |
| Chue Vang | Jeff Martyn | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Patrick Kelley | Steven Manning | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Jacob Harrison | John Senegal | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Rio Abreu | Maxim Poslavsky | B | 2 | 0 .5 |
| Zoey Zhang | Yi Li | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Daniel Tregeagle | Heather Mantica | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Bob Bacon | Ryan Duncan | B | 9 | 0 .5 |
Round Two |
||||
| White | Black | Winner | Handicap | Komi |
| Shiqin Song | Jeff Kuang | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Sheng Huo | Toby Chen | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Chris Liu | David Fang | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Alex Parrott | Joshua Guarino | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Bingyue Su | Mengyuan Zhu | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Thomas Bitonti | Michael Simms | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Tao Ma | Matthew Pickard | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Paul Celmer | Ben Parrott | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Neal Siekierski | Corey Chapman | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Brockton Moore | Michael Lash | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Peter Standard | Mike Keith | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Elijah Ide | Bob Bacon | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Martin Kelley | Chue Vang | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Jeff Martyn | Patrick Kelley | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Steven Manning | Jacob Harrison | B | 3 | 0 .5 |
| John Senegal | Ryan Duncan | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Rio Abreu | Yi Li | W | 1 | 0.5 |
| Maxim Poslavsky | Daniel Tregeagle | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Heather Mantica | Zoey Zhang | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
Round Three |
||||
| White | Black | Winner | Handicap | Komi |
| Sheng Huo | Shiqin Song | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Jeff Kuang | David Fang | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Toby Chen | Joshua Guarino | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Alex Parrott | Mengyuan Zhu | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Michael Simms | Chris Liu | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Tao Ma | Bingyue Su | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Matthew Pickard | Thomas Bitonti | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Paul Celmer | Neal Siekierski | B | 1 | 0.5 |
| Ben Parrott | Mike Keith | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Corey Chapman | Brockton Moore | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Elijah Ide | Peter Standard | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Michael Lash | Bob Bacon | W | 1 | 0.5 |
| Martin Kelley | Jeff Martyn | W | 1 | 0.5 |
| Chue Vang | Patrick Kelley | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Steven Manning | John Senegal | B | 3 | 0 .5 |
| Jacob Harrison | Rio Abreu | W | 1 | 0.5 |
| Ryan Duncan | Daniel Tregeagle | B | 1 | 0.5 |
| Yi Li | Heather Mantica | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Zoey Zhang | Maxim Poslavsky | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
Round Four |
||||
| White | Black | Winner | Handicap | Komi |
| Shiqin Song | David Fang | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Jeff Kuang | Sheng Huo | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Alex Parrott | Toby Chen | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Joshua Guarino | Michael Simms | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Chris Liu | Bingyue Su | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Mengyuan Zhu | Thomas Bitonti | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Paul Celmer | Matthew Pickard | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Brockton Moore | Neal Siekierski | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Adam Bridges | Ben Parrott | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Corey Chapman | Elijah Ide | W | 0 | 7 .5 |
| Michael Lash | Martin Kelley | W | 2 | 0 .5 |
| Peter Standard | Chue Vang | W | 1 | 0.5 |
| Patrick Kelley | Jacob Harrison | B | 3 | 0 .5 |
| Steven Manning | Jeff Martyn | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
| John Senegal | Rio Abreu | W | 1 | 0.5 |
| Ryan Duncan | Heather Mantica | W | 1 | 0.5 |
| Daniel Tregeagle | Zoey Zhang | W | 1 | 0.5 |
| Yi Li | Maxim Poslavsky | B | 0 | 7 .5 |
