How a Pinball Newbie Qualified for the Ohio State Championship

When I first rediscovered pinball, it was in late 2022 after attending a local convention (The Cleveland Pinball and Arcade Show). Long story short, it was an eye-opening experience, and soon after, I joined some local leagues and started attending tournaments. By late 2023, I considered myself a decent player, but due to playing in Ohio, widely considered a “super state” that holds some of the best pinball players in the world, my prospects of climbing the competitive ladder were slim. Pushing my way into the top 24 players was a pipe dream, plain and simple. Yet, in January of 2025, I found myself at the IFPA Ohio State Pinball Championship, not as a spectator, but as one of the lucky few who had made the cut. “How in the hell did I get here?” was the foremost question on my mind. Well, the road was long, exhausting, and full of learning experiences, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

The Road to Ohio State Pinball Championship

I won't bore you with a rundown of every tournament I played and the ups and downs of my 2024 season, since that's all kind of negligible in the grand scheme of things. That said, it's important to note that I attended over 80 IFPA-sanctioned events during 2024, including local league nights, launch parties, one-off competitions, and plenty of Stern Pro Circuit tournaments. Events like The Amazing Pinball Race, Pincinnati, CLEPin, and monthly tournaments at locations like Kidforce Pinball, Pinball Planet, and Superelectric all helped me hone my skills from a relative newbie into a proficient pinballer. I also quickly learned the importance of attending large-scale tournaments with skilled players, like the Past Times Mega Matchplay, and the FlipOUT! Tournament at Pinball Expo, which further exposed me to high-level strategy.

Practice was frequent and necessary, but I found the most help in excellent teachers, who were more than happy to teach me the ropes of any given machine. Although I'm sure there are a fair share of competitors who would rather keep the juicy secrets all to themselves, I encountered quite the opposite and was particularly mindful to take their tips to heart. Stephen Prusa helped me figure out tap passing, drop catching, and shatzing, three absolutely invaluable flipper skills. Carlos DeLaSerda explained the intricacies of countless pins whenever asked. Tedd Mirgliotta encouraged me to rip shots and trust the game flow. Zak Bowers taught me the importance of having a clear and confident mindset. Maybe even more importantly, though, my partner and an equally eager pinball player, Sabrina Dugandzic, offered unconditional support in both victory and defeat. In retrospect, these people (and the literal hundreds of others that I did not have space to mention) were the foundation for my continued evolution as a player throughout 2024.

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I performed admirably in some big tournaments during the year, like nabbing a 4th place finish at the Sweeper City Pinball Championships, but by the time December rolled around, I was ranked somewhere in the mid-30s out of all Ohio players. Since only the top 24 players advance to State Championships, it seemed like I had come up short. However, as luck would have it, several players started to decline their spots so they could play in other state championships, inching me closer and closer to the cut line. By some pinball miracle, I barely slipped in at the buzzer, becoming the last player to qualify and the 24th seed overall for the IFPA Ohio State Pinball Championship. So, I packed up my bags and, braving the winter cold, headed to the familiar Past Times Arcade, ready to test my mettle against some truly talented competition.

A Weekend of Winners

Although the State Championship didn't start until Saturday, I arrived at Past Times a day early, eager to get as much practice as possible. Plus, Friday night held the “Shayko Cup”, a non-IFPA tournament organized in memory of Nic Shayko, an avid Ohio player and mainstay of the tournament community, who unfortunately passed away in 2024. A tournament that Nic had brewed up years prior, this competition pitted the top 8 players from Southern Ohio against the top 8 players from Northern Ohio in a variety of non-traditional formats, like split flipper and doubles play. Streamed live on the NEOPinball channel on Twitch, it was a perfect warm-up for the weekend ahead, and the Southern Ohio crew asserted their dominance with an overwhelmingly commanding victory.

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The next day, I cleared my mind and prepared for the undeniably tough head-to-head battles that awaited. In the first round, my opponent was Jesse Baker, owner of Arcade Legacy and a wickedly good player with heaps more experience than I. Our match started well, as I toughed out a win on Pulp Fiction, but this was a best of 7 battle, meaning I needed 4 wins in total to advance. The next game, Stars, treated us both pretty poorly, but Jesse bested me with some fine shatzing and controlled play. A similar story played out on our next game, Cosmic Princess, as Jesse surpassed my score in spades and gained the edge in the series. After a hilariously close game of Attack from Mars, I managed to even the score, with our series sitting tied at 2-2. From there, it was downhill, though, as I fumbled our final two games, Jaws and James Bond 007, granting a well-earned victory to Jesse and ending my States run simultaneously.

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Although my tournament had ended, an Ohio State Pinball Champion was still to be crowned, so I spent the majority of the day watching the rest of the competition. Matches were close, and there were quite a few upsets and underdog victories, but when all was said and done, it came down to two finalists: defending state champion Gregory Kennedy from Plain City and Galvin Morgan from Olmsted Falls. After 7 heated games, it all came down to a final match of Jaws, with Galvin Morgan nabbing the title of 2024 IFPA Ohio State Pinball Champion.

Sunday marked the Women's Ohio State Pinball Championship, which was another extremely intense tournament, with staggering scores and some unbelievably clutch play from the top 16. With a great view of the action from the NEOPinball commentary booth, I rooted on Sabrina and the rest of the competitors, leading up to an exceptionally climactic finale. For the Women's finals, two Cleveland-based players, Nicole Turk and Krista Liem, fought their way through a 7-game series, leaving it all up to a winner-takes-all match on Cosmic Princess. Ultimately, Krista Liem flipped her heart out and won the 2024 IFPA Women's Ohio State Pinball Championship, a feat even more impressive considering this is only her second year of competitive play.

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For my first time at States, I have to admit, it was way different than what I pictured. Much like IFPA Rookie of the Year Jaden Rich explained in our interview, state championships have this ultra-serious and intimidating aura, but in practice, they feel more relaxed than most other tournaments. Sure, everyone's a bit nervous, but the atmosphere is mostly excitable, positive, and encouraging, especially when you're among friends. Now that it's all said and done, I'm more determined than ever to make it to the State Championship in 2025, not just due to the potential of pinball glory, but because it was an incredibly fulfilling weekend with my pinball pals, and that's time well spent.