The exterior of the Peter B Lewis Building under a clear sky
Peter B Lewis Building, home of the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University

Weatherhead School of Management students sweep ACG Cup Competition

For the third consecutive year, Weatherhead School of Management dominated the ACG Cup Competition, this year sweeping the entire event.

The ACG Cup is a unique case study competition designed to give students from leading business programs experience and insight into mergers and acquisitions, investment banking, financial advisory and private equity. This year, the competition took place via Zoom.

Weatherhead School’s cross-discipline teams represented several programs from the school, including the Master of Finance program, part-time MBA, full-time MBA, undergraduate programs and integrated programs.

“The undergraduate team and I had the unique opportunity to apply our skills learned in the classroom to a real-world scenario,” said Jaya Jolly, an undergraduate accounting major who was a part of the first-place team. “Our team was proud to represent Case Western [Reserve] in the ACG Cup competition geared toward graduate students.”

“As someone who is currently seeking employment in mergers and acquisitions, the ACG Cup was an invaluable learning experience and networking opportunity with industry leaders,” said Jim Kavalec, a member of the second-place team and a student in the MBA program. “Weatherhead programs prepared us greatly for the competition and I am proud that our performance reflected the strength of the school.”

The winning Weatherhead School teams were:

  • First place
    • Kyler Barnard—undergraduate finance major
    • Pavan Mody—undergraduate statistics and finance double major
    • Ryan Murray—undergraduate accounting major
    • Jaya Jolly—undergraduate accounting major
  • Second Place:
    • Ryan Alexander—Master of Finance (integrated)
    • Dee Gose—Master of Finance (integrated)
    • Jim Kavalec—full-time MBA
    • Katie Van Dusen—full-time MBA
  • Third Place:
    • Mason Hoge—part-time MBA
    • Luke Melsop—4+1 MBA student from John Carroll (took M&A in the fall at Weatherhead School)
    • Adam Pagon—part-time MBA

Local participating universities included Ashland University, Baldwin Wallace University, Ohio State University and University of Akron. 

“Our students once again showed their agility and skill in dominating this prestigious competition,” said Scott Fine, professor of banking and finance who coached the Weatherhead School teams during the ACG Cup. “Opportunities to connect with senior business professionals are an important element of our students’ success, especially so during COVID times.”

Learn more about the competition.

Learn more about the available programs at Weatherhead School of Management.