Erik Sudigala Wins 2023 NFFC Mini Post-Season & $50,000

[Greg Ambrosius]

Erik Sudigala of Saratoga Springs, New York and Daniel Epstein of Danvers, Massachusetts tied for first place in the 2023 NFFC Mini Post-Season Contest, with Erik currently winning the tie-breaker and the $50,000 grand prize. We won't make that official at this point and will wait for Elias Sports to finalize stats tonight. If there is no scoring change that affects the top spot then we'll have our first tie ever in this contest and will have to break it according to our rules' tie-breaker system.

The rules clearly state that "In the event that there is a tie for the grand prize or any of the overall prizes, the following tie-breakers will be used:

1) Highest score of the teams involved from the final playoff game."

Erik's team scored 525.40 points in Round 4, while Daniel's team scored 508.50 points. Again, we will wait for any scoring changes before making this official, but right now Erik would win the $50,000 grand prize. Wow, what a finish.

Interestingly, Erick and Daniel each took just one entry in this $50 contest. We finished with a record 2,302 teams this year as this grand prize grew from $20,000 last year to $50,000 in 2023.

Erik and Daniel each finished with 1,370.85 points but they didn't have the same lineups. Erik scored 525.40 points in Round 4 to jump from 226th place to 1st place, while Daniel's team scored 508.50 points in Round 4 to jump from 113th place to 1st place. Those scores are being used in the tie-breaker process to determine the champion at this point.

Both players had Jalen Hurts at 4x and Patrick Mahomes at 4x, while Erik had Kelce and A.J. Brown at 3x. Daniel also had Kelce at 3x, but he had Davonta Smith at 3x instead of Brown. They both had Isiah Pacheco at 2x and Dallas Goedert at 1x, so it really came down to Erik having JuJu Smith-Schuster at 1x and Daniel having MVS at 1x. Here were both of their lineups in Round 4:

Erik Sudigala's Team:
Jalen Hurts (4X) PHI 188.8
Patrick Mahomes (4X) KC 126
DeVonta Smith (2X) PHI 34
Travis Kelce (3X) KC 60.3
Isiah Pacheco (2X) KC 27.2
A.J. Brown (3X) PHI 64.8
Dallas Goedert PHI 12
JuJu Smith-Schuster KC 12.3

Daniel Epstein's Team:
Patrick Mahomes (4X) KC 126
Jalen Hurts (4X) PHI 188.8
DeVonta Smith (3X) PHI 51
Travis Kelce (3X) KC 60.3
Isiah Pacheco (2X) KC 27.2
A.J. Brown (2X) PHI 43.2
Marquez Valdes-Scantling KC 0
Dallas Goedert PHI 12

The path to the top was an interesting one for both guys. Erik's team was in 1,781st place after Round 1, 542nd after Round 2 and 226th after Round 3. Daniel's team was in 1,332nd place after Round 1, 289th after Round 2 and 113th after Round 3. It was a helluva ride after that as the Super Bowl came right down to the last play of the game.

Congrats to Erik, Daniel and all of our prize winners from this great contest as we paid the Top 30 teams overall. Here's the final standings:

2022 NFFC Post-Season Contest Final Standings:
1 Erik Sudigala 1,370.85
1 Daniel Epstein 1,370.85
3 Travis Loontjer 1,362.35
4 Gary Bunch 1,360.55
5 Anthony Cifelli 1,357.15
6 Anthony Cifelli 1,356.15
7 Jack Mardesich 1,355.35
8 Steven Caswell 1,354.85
9 PAUL HANEK 1,351.15
9 Duke Viveros 1,351.15
11 Bill Cleavenger 1,350.05
12 Colin Campbell 1,349.15
13 MARK MONZONES 1,348.95
14 Terry Simmons 1,348.35
15 MICHAEL GAMBURG 1,348.05
16 Jeff Caywood 1,346.45
17 Ross Cleveland III 1,345.55
18 john hickey 1,345.15
19 Pat Tremaglio 1,343.95
19 Chris King 1,343.95
21 Kenneth Enfield 1,343.85
21 Guillaume Lalonde 1,343.85
23 Jason Jenks 1,342.65
24 Timothy BRAULT 1,341.65
25 JOHN FRAZIER 1,340.95
26 william hare 1,340.40
27 Alexander Resch 1,339.95
28 Doug McCord 1,339.85
29 Eric King 1,338.95
30 Roy Ericson III 1,338.85
31 Steve Hussey 1,338.75
32 Jeremy Bomgardner 1,338.15
32 Joseph O'Mealia 1,338.15
34 Ted Baehman 1,336.55
35 Derek DowDell 1,335.35
36 Eliot Stevenson 1,334.95
37 Jeff Clampitt 1,334.55
38 Kenneth Enfield 1,333.75
39 THOMAS DICOSTANZO 1,332.95
40 Shawn Crowther 1,332.90
41 Mark Jahns 1,332.65
41 David Longood 1,332.65
43 Duke Viveros 1,332.55
43 Ronald Bennett 1,332.55
45 Eric Heberlig 1,331.65
46 Stephen Garren 1,331.25
47 Robert Goldman 1,330.85
48 David DiDonato 1,330.25
49 Seanna Mccracken 1,330.15
50 Nick Whalen 1,330.05
50 Ron Kraus 1,330.05
52 Steven Wagner 1,329.45
53 Dominic Mignano 1,329.35
54 daniel beck 1,329.15
55 Craig Koenig 1,329.05
55 Robert Sepe 1,329.05
57 Dave Petroziello 1,328.95
58 Chris Oliver 1,328.45
59 Chris Gillman 1,327.60
60 Scott Lutjen 1,326.35
61 Steven Wagner 1,326.05
62 JEFF GIOVAGNOLI 1,325.35
62 Richard Mcatee 1,325.35
62 DANIEL FOLLENIUS 1,325.35
65 Michael Thompson 1,324.35
65 JEFF MOOS 1,324.35
65 PAUL CORTRIGHT 1,324.35
65 DONALD SOUTHARD 1,324.35
65 John Riccio 1,324.35
70 JESSE HUDSON 1,322.95
70 MIKE KUZMA 1,322.95
72 joseph salukas 1,322.85
73 Chad Surratt 1,322.05
74 Matthew Carpenter 1,321.65
75 Steven Hroncich 1,321.45
76 Michael Fuerstman 1,321.35
76 Kristopher Carroll 1,321.35
78 Joe Colonna 1,321.25
79 KEN TRINH 1,321.15
80 John Fousek 1,320.95
80 Guy Stillings 1,320.95
80 Molik Johnson 1,320.95
83 Jodicus Prosser 1,320.45
83 Biplab Mandal 1,320.45
85 John Minner 1,320.35
86 Frank Matsko 1,320.25
87 Adam Stredney 1,320.15
88 richard schulenberg 1,319.95
89 Frank Matsko 1,319.30
90 Charles begley 1,319.15
91 Matt Dodd 1,318.55
92 Les Dinsmore 1,318.35
92 Chris Olmstead 1,318.35
94 Isaac Koppel 1,317.95
95 Nicholas Meens 1,317.85
96 Martin Kleinbart 1,316.75
97 scott woltemath 1,316.45
98 Chris Fernquist 1,316.15
99 daniel beck 1,316.05
100 Neal Compton 1,315.85

[Greg Ambrosius]

Here was the payout from the 2023 NFFC Mini Post-Season Contest:

Overall Prizes
1 - $50,000
2 - $10,000
3 - $5,000
4 - $4,000
5 - $3,000
6 - $2,500
7 - $2,000
8 - $1,500
9 - $1,250
10 - $1,100
11 - $1,000
12 - $800
13 - $750
14 - $700
15 - $650
16 - $600
17 - $550
18 - $500
19 - $450
20 - $400
21 - $350
22 - $300
23 - $250
24 - $200
25 - $175
26 - $150
27 - $125
28 - $100
29 - $75
30 - $50

In the event that there is a tie for the grand prize or any of the overall prizes, the following tie-breakers will be used:

1) Highest score of the teams involved from the final playoff game.
2) Highest score of the teams involved from the third round games.
3) Highest score of the teams involved from the second round games.
4) Highest score of the teams involved from the first round games.
5) Highest weekly score of the teams during the playoffs (i.e. one team had a high of 220 points and the other team’s high score was 215, the 220 would win).
6) Split the prize money in question.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We started a second NFFC Post-Season Contest at a lower price point in 2008 and then took a break from that price level from 2014-20. But let's keep a historical look at our overall champions at this price point:

NFFC Mini Post-Season Contest winners (year listed is from regular season):
2008 $60 - Matthew Bayley, $5,000
$30 - Rochelle Darrenkamp, $2,500
2009 $60 - John Fousek, $5,000
$30 - Matt Selter, $2,500
2010 $60 - Ream & Val Lazaro, $5,500
$30 - Kurtis Homkes, $2,750
2011 $60 - Nelson Sousa, $5,000
$30 - Nelson Sousa, $2,500
2012 $75 - David Zwickel, $8,000
$50 - Tom Trezza, $9,000
2013 $100 - Gregg Sturtevant, $28,000
2020 $40 - Jeremy Jurewicz, $20,000
2021 $40 - Colin Jones, $20,000
2022 $50 - Erik Sudigala/Daniel Epstein (tie) $50,000