2025 Points Race Update (Fall)

We're down to the wire now with only two IWA Reports left for 2025. At the top of the leaderboard, Tommy Zulu (~TZ~) continues to dominate the rankings with a healthy 355 point lead over second place, Jake Duvall. It's worth noting again, however, that Jake is no longer active, which makes his next actual challenger the #3 Frank Belcher who stands a very distant 525 points out of the top spot. Given Zulu's stranglehold over the multi-man scene this year, gaining 263 points on him in each of the final two cycles doesn't seem likely.

The battle for the rest of those prestigious top-5 spots is heating up, though. Within the top-5, a mere 100 points stands between Belcher, Derek Tuttle, and Solomon Shaw leaving the positioning of these spots up in the air. Furthermore, any of those three managers can pass Duvall in the #2 spot just by winning some multis each of the last two cycles. And, then from the outside looking in is Brad Norman at #6. With Duvall inactive, Brad actually holds his Top-5 destiny in his own hands regardless of what the other spots ahead of him do. He needs 445 (average of 223) points to catch Jake. If he were to hit a multi-man sweep in both cycles, he would then need 165 points to match him which he could do by netting himself a couple of majors.

Another hot battle to keep an eye on is for the Top-10 spots. While Brad's status inside of the Top-10 seems pretty solid, it's going to be a rat race in the spots behind him as several managers continue to jockey for position - ONLY 190 points separates #7 through #11! Furthermore, only 270 points separates #10 through #17! And, finally, trying to crack into the Top-25 before the end of the season are Glenn Della Pesca, Jake Joyce, and Hall of Fame Manager, Michael Eaves. GDP is just 20 points shy of Steven Shotliff for the #25 position, while Joyce and Eaves are 150 and 160 points out, respectively.

Flipping over to the Stable race, there's really not much to talk about. With a 1500+ point barrier separating #1 SOS and #2 EDGE, and then a 2500+ point barrier separating #2 EDGE and #3 CURE, this is proving to be one of the most lackluster stable scenes in recent memory. Perhaps the only real races occurring at this point are a battle for #3 where 430 points separates #3 CURE from #4 COT and 350 points that separates #5 AOD from #6 TBABIT. It will be interesting to see whether the lack of a stable race at this point in the year leads to any roster movement a little earlier than normal.

In other rankings news, the top spot for the Singles Rankings is up for grabs. With Jake Duvall still holding that lead, everyone else in the Top-5 (Boyd, Henry, Shaw, Cook) are all within shouting distance of the crown with only 175 points standing between #1 and #5. It's worth noting that one more Report title (any of them) will move Terrence Boyd ahead of Jake. Meanwhile, Justin Vickers is hot on the trail and sits only 15 points behind Frank Belcher for the #1 spot in the Ladies Rankings. And, finally, Tommy Zulu has already mathematically secured the Multi-Man title with a 450 point lead over #2 Derek Tuttle.

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MILESTONES TO KEEP AN EYE ON:

• SOS has quietly positioned themselves to break the single-season AI points record, which was set by VIRUS in 2022. The Society needs only 70 points to tie.

• Tommy Zulu is now 805 points off of the single season AI Points record (set by Rich Reilly in 2021). This would require him to produce 400+ points (under the AI system) in each of the final two cycles, which is difficult but doable. Meanwhile, he needs 555 points in total to set a new record for most average AI points per cycle, which was previously set by Frank Belcher in 2024.

• This year will give ~ TZ ~ his second points victory and fifth consecutive Top-5 finish. Five consecutive Top-5s is a feat that has otherwise only ever been accomplished by Frank Belcher. If Frank maintains his position, this will become his 12th consecutive Top-5 finish.

• If Brad Norman fails to catch Jake Duvall in the standings, this would give Jake his first career Top-5 finish. Meanwhile, Derek Tuttle his gunning for his second consecutive (and overall) Top-5. Solomon Shaw is looking for his third Top-5 and Brad Norman is hoping to make a run to capture his fourth Top-5 rather than his third #6 finish.

• Jeff Annable is positioned for his fifth consecutive Top-10 finish and Michael Drake is hoping to hold on and do the same. Jeff Manning is on the outside looking in at #14 and in danger of snapping his streak of four consecutive Top-10 finishes.

• Meanwhile, Caleb Crawdad made a surprise return this year and has a shot at capturing his first Top-10 since 2000. Justin Vickers, on the other hand, is about to not only have his first ranked season ever, but has a shot at doing it inside the Top-10.

• Glenn Della Pesca is hoping to capture his first-ever Top 25 ranking, but could do so at the expense of Steven Shotliff, who risks dropping out of the Top-25 for the first time since 2018.

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