Steve Jupinka Wins 2024 NFBC Diamond League & $75,000

[Greg Ambrosius]

NFBC Hall of Famer Steve Jupinka of Waldwick, New Jersey won the 2024 NFBC Diamond League and that $75,000 league prize in a wild finish during the final weekend. Steve entered the final week in second place, but he picked up two points on the final Sunday of the season and held off Doug Gruber to win the title by two points.

Steve has won 11 Main Event league titles during his Hall of Fame career, but he's never won the Diamond league title. He finished with 115 points to win this one by two points over Doug Gruber. NBA Hall of Famer Doug Moe finished third with 103 points and Anthony Botzo finished fourth with 102 points. This league was so tight that Greg Lathrop missed a money spot by a half point.

Doug Gruber won $35,000 for his runner-up finish, Doug Moe won $20,000 and Anthony Botzo won $10,000.

Cost of entry for this league was $10,000.

Jupinka and Gruber flipped between first and second place from the middle of August until the final days of the season. There were five teams in contention and within the 100-point mark for most of the season, but over the last six weeks it became a two-team race for the top spot with Jupinka winning the final battle. Great job everyone in a really, really good league.

The Diamond League will again be held in Las Vegas at Park MGM and Online on Sunday, March 23rd at 4 pm PT/7 pm ET. All owners from this year's Diamond League will have first dibs on their spots through December 31st and then after that we'll open Registration to the public.

Steve is now our 12th different champion in the 15 years of hosting the Diamond League. Only Jim Ferrari, Bob Particelli and KC Cha have won this title twice.

Congrats to all of the money winners and great job everyone in a year-long battle. Here's the final standings:

2024 NFBC Diamond League Final Standings:
1 Stephen Jupinka Quahogs Diamond 115
2 Douglas Gruber Dougs Dawgs DIA 113
3 doug moe moe 103
4 Anthony Botzo Botzo-Gaffney Diamond 102
5 Greg Lathrop Triple Crown - Diamond D 101.5
6 Leonard Ringle Diamonds & Rust 95.5
7 Philippe Dussault The Robot D6 94
8 John Thompson Thompson 90

Here's the prizes payout for the Diamond League:
League Prizes
1 $75,000
2 $35,000
3 $20,000
4 $10,000

[Greg Ambrosius]

We started the NFBC Diamond League in 2010 and have now had 12 different champions in 14 years, consisting of 15 Diamond Leagues (we had two Diamond leagues in 2013). Here's a look at all of our Diamond League champions:

2010 - Jim Stanard
2011 - Jim Ferrari
2012 - Donn Johnson
2013 - Jim Ferrari
2013 - Bob Particelli (League 2)
2014 - Bob Particelli
2015 - John Lemke
2016 - Joe Berg
2017 - Bill Phipps & Eric Kesselman
2018 - KC Cha
2019 - KC Cha
2021 - Larry Schechter
2022 - Philippe Dussault
2023 - John Thompson
2024 - Steve Jupinka

[Greg Ambrosius]

Steve Jupinka drafted from the 9th spot in the Diamond League, which used FAAB dollars to bid for your draft spots for the first time ever. I'll try to find what Steve bid for the 9th spot, but it wasn't all that much. Here were his draft results:

Quahogs Diamond
1 9 Freeman, Freddie 1B Quahogs Diamond
2 22 Lopez, Pablo P Quahogs Diamond
3 39 Henderson, Gunnar 3B Quahogs Diamond
4 52 Arozarena, Randy OF Quahogs Diamond
5 69 Rutschman, Adley C Quahogs Diamond
6 82 Smith, Will C Quahogs Diamond
7 99 Stott, Bryson 2B Quahogs Diamond
8 112 Imanaga, Shota P Quahogs Diamond
9 129 Berrios, Jose P Quahogs Diamond
10 142 Naylor, Josh CI Quahogs Diamond
11 159 Tovar, Ezequiel SS Quahogs Diamond
12 172 Bello, Brayan P Quahogs Diamond
13 189 Kikuchi, Yusei P Quahogs Diamond
14 202 Yoshida, Masataka OF Quahogs Diamond
15 219 Meadows, Parker OF Quahogs Diamond
16 232 Littell, Zack P Quahogs Diamond
17 249 Hall, DL P Quahogs Diamond
18 262 Benson, Will OF Quahogs Diamond
19 279 Mize, Casey P Quahogs Diamond
20 292 Crawford, J.P. MI Quahogs Diamond
21 309 Smith, Will P Quahogs Diamond
22 322 Blanco, Ronel P Quahogs Diamond
23 339 Rosario, Amed UT Quahogs Diamond
24 352 Thomas, Alek OF Quahogs Diamond
25 369 Winn, Masyn SS Quahogs Diamond
26 382 Brito, Jhony P Quahogs Diamond
27 399 Cowser, Colton OF Quahogs Diamond
28 412 Kinley, Tyler P Quahogs Diamond
29 429 Smith-Shawver, AJ P Quahogs Diamond
30 442 Conforto, Michael OF Quahogs Diamond

[Greg Ambrosius]

Here were Steve Jupinka's winning free agent bids throughout the year in the NFBC Diamond League:

Quahogs Diamond
May 31:
Giovanny Gallegos 4

April 7:
Jason Adam 23
Aroldis Chapman 15
Harold Ramirez 10

April 14:
James Wood 79

April 21:
Hector Neris 36
Jesus Sanchez 11
Albert Suarez 10

April 28:
Carlos Santana 23
Justin Slaten 1
Josh Rojas 21

May 5:
Ezequiel Duran 4
Nick Gordon 16
Jon Singleton 21

May 12:
Jarred Kelenic 19
J.P. Crawford 5

May 19:
Hunter Brown 20
Jose Abreu 4
Mark Leiter Jr. 2

May 26:
Albert Suarez 29
Nick Gonzales 26
Edmundo Sosa 14
Cal Quantrill 17
Brandon Drury 7

June 2:
Jose Siri 29
Pete Crow-Armstrong 26
Willson Contreras 16

June 9:
Luis L. Ortiz 6

June 16:
DJ Herz 13

June 23:
Orion Kerkering 1
Forrest Wall 4
Kyle Hendricks 2

June 30:
Derek Hill 12
Hayden Wesneski 13
Michael Mercado 8
Clarke Schmidt 3

July 7:
Luis L. Ortiz 18
Xavier Edwards 12
James Outman 8

July 14:
Sam Hilliard 2
Jake Bloss 2

July 21:
Victor Robles 23
Gavin Lux 7
Carson Spiers 4

July 28:
Cal Quantrill 4
Curtis Mead 3
Jacob Wilson 3

August 4:
Cody Bradford 9
Santiago Espinal 13
Victor Scott II 7

August 11:
DL Hall 26
Grant Holmes 5
Derek Hill 8

August 18:
Cedric Mullins 23
Spencer Torkelson
Jacob Wilson 4

August 25:
Jonny DeLuca 10
Jack Leiter 7
Jake Cave 6
Victor Scott II 4

September 1:
Anthony Rizzo 5
Rhett Lowder 6
Paul DeJong 3
Garrett Crochet 2

September 8:
Jonny DeLuca 10
Grant McCray 4
Pavin Smith 3

September 15:
Jacob deGrom 23
Hunter Goodman 3
Jordan Westburg 2

September 22:
Ramon Laureano 3
Tyrone Taylor 1