Michael Stryker Wins 2023 NFBC Draft Champions & $40,000

[Greg Ambrosius]

Michael Stryker of Mill Valley, California won the 2023 NFBC Draft Champions National Championship and the $40,000 grand prize after topping a record field of 4,845 teams. Michael had an unbelievable finish as he made up 1,143.5 points in the final week of the season to capture the title and the $40,000 grand prize. He had started the week in third place overall, but thanks to that wild week he moved up two spots and claimed the title in this draft-and-hold national championship.

Michael finished 208.5 points ahead of Jim Ferrari, which is less than four-tenths of a percentage point when you consider that 48,450 points are available in this contest. This was one of the closest finishes we had in the NFBC national contests this year. The 39-year-old was actually in ninth place with only two weeks of the season left and more than 1,500 points out of the lead, but that incredible last week vaulted him to the title and to the $40,000 grand prize.

Michael has only been playing in the NFBC since 2020 and he has mainly stuck to Draft Champions leagues. He competed in three NFBC $150 Draft Champions leagues this year and won two league titles, finishing 1st and 441st overall. He also finished second in an NFBC $150 Online Auction Championship league as he cashed in three of the four NFBC leagues he competed in this year. Hmmm, could there be more leagues in this man's future after such a good year? I would think so.

Michael won his March 13th league title with 137 points (91.3%) and then won the overall title with 44,787 points, which was 92.4 percent of all available points. In the 12 years of this national contest, that's the third highest winning percentage of available points. Well done Michael.

Ferrari won $8,000 for his runner-up finish, while Jason Solway finished third and won $6,000. Rounding out the Top 5 were Clark Olson ($5,000) and Benjamin Dolven ($4,000). We paid the Top 45 finishers in the Draft Champions National Championship and the Top 3 in each league. Great job everyone and congrats to all of our prize winners.

And if you're ready to start drafting right now, the 2024 draft room is open for the Draft Champions leagues. Let's get a fresh start on a new season and start building those winning lineups today. Thanks all and enjoy.

Okay, here were the final standings:

2023 NFBC Draft Champions National Championship Top 100 Teams:
1 MICHAEL STRYKER The Farm II 44,787.00
2 JimJ Ferrari Ferrari RD7 44,568.50
3 Jason Solway Solway 43,460.00
4 Clark Olson Hell Bent For Leather 43,152.00
5 BENJAMIN DOLVEN The PTBNL2 43,138.50
6 Steven Weimer DC5 - Jackie Daytona 42,967.50
7 Tim Sansome Sansome DC12 42,476.00
8 Josh Pettersen Pettersen 1 42,318.50
9 Steven Weimer DC4 - The Sassy Cat Club 42,170.00
10 Jerry Kirby Kirby X 42,001.00
11 Eric Heberlig Braves 41,988.00
12 Michael Lins PT DC 3 2023 41,924.00
13 Jeffrey Cianci Broome 41,752.00
14 Brian Bellinger Hoss DC 41,686.00
15 Matthew Tantillo Joe Rogan is...Mandela 41,356.00
16 Thomas Olownia Olownia 41,345.00
17 Scott Feschuk FeschukDC7 41,197.00
18 Bryan Vogel Vogel 41,058.00
19 Rey Diaz Miami Mac 2 41,007.50
20 JORGE MONTANEZ MONTANEZ 40,983.50
21 Jim Niezgoda TheGuyDC3 40,895.50
22 Keaton Arneson Keaton DC 40,882.50
23 JON CLAIRMONT Level 4 Beer Pong 40,801.00
24 Robert Giese Tigers Slappy DC7 40,768.00
25 Konstantin K Frank-Kon DC4 40,749.50
26 David Wright Just the Racing Parts 40,697.00
27 Michael Hughes Hughes 40,676.50
28 Jeffrey Cianci Wasted Talent 40,597.00
29 Patrick Leon Rowdy Dow Dow 40,335.00
30 Matt Baumer Baumer 40,334.00
31 Trevor Gobble Poor Richard's Pub 40,166.50
32 Nate Anderson Tim McGraw 40,111.50
33 Allan Quis Chazz Jisshom DC14 40,104.50
34 Jeffrey Cianci Fried Calzone X 39,995.00
35 Benjamin Graff Graff 39,956.50
36 John Riccio LongjohnsDC1 39,943.00
37 SPENSER AYRES AYRE2 39,880.50
38 Dominic Rello FOLLOW THE BUZZARDS 39,865.50
39 TIMOTHY TUNKS DC-DC 39,839.50
40 Jason Cataldo Team Bartbino 39,821.50
41 geoffrey stein SteinDC7 39,761.00
42 Spencer Thurmond Electric Dream Machine 39,745.00
43 Matt Dozier Sponge Worthy 39,730.50
44 Eric Heberlig Celtics 39,707.50
45 Aaron Jones Jones DC1 39,678.00
46 Matthew Tantillo Who Dat Ninja 39,562.00
47 Drew Morris Morris 39,475.50
48 Russell Withers Draft Chumps VI ' 39,466.50
49 Christopher Torres Torres DC1 39,458.00
50 Robert Osgood Jr. Osgood Clegg 39,351.50
51 Kyle Pantalone Pantalone 39,296.50
52 Dennis Spink Side Piece 39,247.50
53 Brad Wilt Wilt 39,236.50
54 Jason Perkins Brad Wesley 39,221.00
55 Ronald Vackar Bichette Tatis Hader 39,217.00
56 Dominic Rello The Fiend 39,201.00
57 JOSEPH REIMSCHUSSEL Reim 39,167.50
58 Eric Albright EA Sports DC 2 39,161.50
59 Dave Bristow TB2DC 39,155.50
60 Brian Entrekin KC Bubba DC 1 39,115.00
61 Craig Clarke Voltron ASSEMBLE!!! 39,099.00
62 matt modica the bopper 39,046.00
63 Edward Skeehan Blue Rock 2023 38,955.50
64 Steve Tebbe Scorpion 38,852.00
65 Michael McMorrow Corvette SCIF 2 38,791.00
66 Robert DiPietro WHITECAPS DC4 38,784.50
67 Austin Sodders Sho me ur Tatis 38,778.50
68 Alan Davison Davison 38,754.50
69 James Tomony Cheap Sunglasses 38,699.00
70 Alex Van Ness Van Ness 7 38,685.00
71 ROBERT TERWILLIGER Chin Music 38,663.00
72 Abishai Al-Doory Al-Doory 38,651.00
73 Eric Heberlig RBI 38,624.00
74 Neil Petersen DC2 38,600.00
75 sean boldger boldger 38,575.00
76 Gregory Brown Pebble Creek Chumps 38,552.00
77 Nicholi Knutson Tanya McQouid 38,523.00
78 Isaac Cockburn Cockburn 38,472.50
79 Michael Mager Bronx Yankees 400 DC2 38,467.00
80 Clark Olson Hell Bent For Leather 38,440.50
81 Aaron Seefeldt I like lots of ice w my coffee 38,437.00
82 Allan Quis Johnny Friendly DC8 38,416.00
83 Jonathan Fox Fox DC6 38,354.00
84 Gordon Whitlow b-5 Experience 38,313.00
85 Brant Chesser Waves 38,290.00
86 Jared Radbel Radbel 38,267.50
87 ERICH SCHMITT SCHMITT 38,264.00
88 Zachary Waxman Waxman 38,245.00
89 James Gabal Gabal 38,230.00
90 Eric Heberlig Phillies 38,179.50
91 Jim Niezgoda TheGuyDC1 38,177.00
92 AARON LITTLE Cash Landing DC 38,143.00
93 Nicholi Knutson Michael Wags Wagner 38,108.00
94 THOMAS DURST Cheese Packer 38,086.50
95 David Bone Scott TINSTAAPP - DCS Red 38,042.00
96 Jared Radbel Radbel 38,032.00
97 Fred Moseley DC-kFredInCali8_1 38,028.00
98 Smirlock Daniel Smirlock Aquatica Avengers 37,999.00
98 Edwin Turnage @torpedotube 37,999.00
100 JimJ Ferrari Ferrari RD5 37,895.50

[Greg Ambrosius]

Michael drafted from the 6th spot in this March 13th slow draft league. Here are his draft results:

The Farm II
1 6 Tucker, Kyle OF The Farm II
2 25 Strider, Spencer P The Farm II
3 36 Clase, Emmanuel P The Farm II
4 55 Carroll, Corbin OF The Farm II
5 66 Smith, Will C The Farm II
6 85 Franco, Wander SS The Farm II
7 96 Kirby, George P The Farm II
8 115 Walker, Jordan 3B The Farm II
9 126 Pena, Jeremy MI The Farm II
10 145 Vaughn, Andrew 1B The Farm II
11 156 Rasmussen, Drew P The Farm II
12 175 India, Jonathan 2B The Farm II
13 186 Senga, Kodai P The Farm II
14 205 Lange, Alex P The Farm II
15 216 Martinez, J.D. UT The Farm II
16 235 Gonzalez, Oscar OF The Farm II
17 246 Drury, Brandon CI The Farm II
18 265 Mahle, Tyler P The Farm II
19 276 Mitchell, Garrett OF The Farm II
20 295 Bradish, Kyle P The Farm II
21 306 Duvall, Adam OF The Farm II
22 325 May, Trevor P The Farm II
23 336 Belt, Brandon 1B The Farm II
24 355 Keller, Mitch P The Farm II
25 366 Olivares, Edward OF The Farm II
26 385 Schoop, Jonathan 2B The Farm II
27 396 Steer, Spencer 3B The Farm II
28 415 Jameson, Drey P The Farm II
29 426 Campusano, Luis C The Farm II
30 445 Nelson, Ryne P The Farm II
31 456 McGough, Scott P The Farm II
32 475 Farmer, Kyle 3B The Farm II
33 486 Abreu, Bryan P The Farm II
34 505 Vierling, Matt OF The Farm II
35 516 Rucinski, Drew P The Farm II
36 535 Alfaro, Jorge C The Farm II
37 546 Biggio, Cavan 1B The Farm II
38 565 Taylor, Tyrone OF The Farm II
39 576 Liberatore, Matthew P The Farm II
40 595 Ragans, Cole P The Farm II
41 606 Westburg, Jordan SS The Farm II
42 625 Duran, Jarren OF The Farm II
43 636 Wentz, Joey P The Farm II
44 655 Montas, Frankie P The Farm II
45 666 Jones, Nolan OF The Farm II
46 685 Patino, Luis P The Farm II
47 696 Wisely, Brett 2B The Farm II
48 715 Barnes, Austin C The Farm II
49 726 Grove, Michael P The Farm II
50 745 Kreidler, Ryan SS The Farm II

[Greg Ambrosius]

We paid the Top 45 overall this year in the NFBC Draft Champions National Championship. Here's the prize pool:

2023 NFBC Draft Champions National Championship
Overall Prizes:
1 $40,000
2 $8,000
3 $6,000
4 $5,000
5 $4,000
6 $3,000
7 $2,500
8 $2,000
9 $1,750
10 $1,500
11 $1,400
12 $1,300
13 $1,250
14 $1,150
15 $1,100
16 $1,050
17 $1,000
18 $900
19 $850
20 $800
21 $750
22 $700
23 $650
24 $600
25 $575
26 $550
27 $525
28 $500
29 $475
30 $450
31 $425
32 $400
33 $375
34 $350
35 $325
36 $300
37 $275
38 $250
39 $225
40 $200
41 $190
42 $180
43 $170
44 $160
45 $150

League Prizes
$150 League:
1 $1,000
2 $350
3 $150

$400 DC:
1 $3,000
2 $1,100
3 $400

$1,000 DC:
1 $8,000
2 $3,000
3 $1,000

$2,500 DC:
1 $20,000
2 $7,500
3 $5,000

$5,000 DC:
1 $40,000
2 $20,000
3 $7,500

[Greg Ambrosius]

Michael Stryker becomes our 13th different champion of the NFBC Draft Champions National Championship since we started this in 2011. No one has ever won this national championship twice, which tells you how hard this draft 'n hold format really is.

Here's a look at the overall champions in the Draft Champions National Championship:

2011 - Terry Passalacqua
2012 - Steve Wells
2013 - Richard Van Fleet
2014 - Bill Cook
2015 - Eric Sorenson
2016 - Yoram Banter
2017 - Mark Hesters/Dave Vidaver
2018 - Dorian Kinman
2019 - Lindy Hinkelman
2020 - Rob DiPietro
2021 - Thomas Olownia
2022 - Steve Maier
2023 - Michael Stryker

[Greg Ambrosius]

The first four teams in the final overall standings all drafted from a different spot in the draft order. Twelve different draft spots are represented in the Top 25. Looking at the Top 25 overall teams, here's where they drafted in 2022:

No. 1 - 7 teams
No. 2 - 2 teams
No. 3 - 2 teams
No. 4 - 1 team
No. 5 - 3 teams
No. 6 - 3 teams
No. 7 - 0 teams
No. 8 - 0 teams
No. 9 - 2 teams
No. 10 - 0 teams
No. 11 - 1 team
No. 12 - 2 teams
No. 13 - 1 team
No. 14 - 1 team
No. 15 - 0 teams

Nos. 1-5: 15 teams
Nos. 6-10: 5 teams
Nos. 11-15: 5 teams

Number 1 was the favored spot for the Top 25 teams with seven teams drafting there. Fifteen teams drafted in the Top 5 spots, while only five teams from the back-end of the draft finished in the Top 25. Interesting mix.