For the fifth consecutive year, Weatherhead School of Management has won first place in the Association of Corporate Growth (ACG) Cup Competition.
The ACG Cup is a unique case study competition designed to give students from leading university business programs experience and insight into mergers and acquisitions, investment banking, financial advisory and private equity.
This year’s competition was held at The Union Club in Cleveland. Three teams from Weatherhead took home first-, third-, and (an unofficial) fourth-place, and competed against Ashland University, Baldwin Wallace University, John Carroll University, Notre Dame College and University of Akron.
“I am so proud of all fifteen students who participated and excelled in this year’s competition,” said Scott Fine, professor of banking and finance, who coached the Weatherhead teams. “It reflected a return to an in-person event and our school’s domination of this important event, something that has persisted for over a decade.”
Weatherhead’s cross-discipline teams represented several programs from the school including part-time MBA, full-time MBA, undergraduate majors, dual-degree and integrated studies programs.
“Representing Case Western Reserve University [at the competition] was a great experience,” said Max Ganzhorn, a member of the first-place team and a student in the full-time MBA program. “Attending CWRU provided me this opportunity to grow my finance experience and network with professionals in the Cleveland area.”
“My biggest takeaway from this experience was figuring out how to put together everything we’ve learned at Weatherhead, from quantitative financial analysis and negotiation tactics to time management and presentation skills, and applying it outside the classroom walls,” said Elizabeth Finazzo, member of the third-place team and a student in the MBA and Juris Doctor dual-degree program. “As my classmates and I prepare to begin our post-graduation careers in just a few short months, this experience makes me feel confident in the education we received here at Weatherhead.”
The winners include:
First place:
- Tyler Fond – Full-time MBA
- Max Ganzhorn – Full-time MBA
- Cooper Lyons – undergraduate finance major
- Youseff Massoud – undergraduate finance major
- Jack Rafoth – Full-time MBA
Third place:
- Brady Bunnell – MBA and Master of Finance dual-degree
- Elizabeth Finazzo – MBA and Juris Doctor dual-degree
- Sean Moss – Full-time MBA
- Kyle Regan – Full-time MBA
- Hank Rumpke – Part-time MBA
(Unofficial) Fourth place:
- Lila Albershtat – undergraduate finance and Master of Finance integrated studies
- Nikita Davidenko – undergraduate finance major
- Brandon Gathagan – Full-time MBA
- Miles Kostolansky – Undergraduate finance major
- Chris Min – Undergraduate finance major