11W Heart of It All Classic: Business/Science Region Round Two

By Jason Priestas on March 22, 2014 at 7:15 am
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Welcome to the second round of the 11W Heart of It All Classic. Voting is now open in the Business & Science region.

This region went off relatively upset-free in the opening round, with only one lower seed emerging: No. 11 William Procter took out No. 6 Ted Turner with 71% of the vote. The Wright Brothers, seeded third, were the most impressive in round one, throttling No. 14 seed Roger Ailes, 1,345-42.

Bookmakers don't expect any upsets in round two, with all four of the top seeds heavily-favored to advance.

2nd ROUND VOTING: The Arts | Sports | Politics & Military

#1 Thomas Edison vs. #8 Jack Warner

Thomas Edison: Edison was born on the shores of Lake Erie, grew up and then went about revolutionizing and creating new fewer than five industries. He founded GE, which is now one of the largest and most-admired corporations on earth.

The holder of 1,093 patents, Edison left his mark on music, film, and utility power.

Edison clocked No. 16 "Jungle" Jack Hanna of the Columbus Zoo in the opening round, collecting 80% of the vote.

Jack Warner: A native of Youngstown, Jack Warner, along with his brother Sam, founded the Warner Brothers motion picture studio. Warner Brothers was the first studio to go in on "talkies" and were rewarded with the success of The Jazz Singer.

Warner Bros. – as it's spelled now – is now a subsidiary of Time Warner.

Warner topped No. 9 Charles Martin Hall of ALCOA fame, surviving by just 42 votes, the closest margin of any round one matchup.

#4 Neil Armstrong Vs. #5 Les Wexner

Neil Armstrong: There's only one first man to set foot onto the Moon and that man is Neil Armstrong. Armstrong's line upon completing the feat, “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” is eternal.

He was later honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, and the Congressional Gold Medal among many, many other awards.

Armstrong destroyed No. 13 George Steinbrenner in the first round, capturing 90% of the vote.

Les Wexner: The founder of the Limited Brands was born in Dayton and later attended Ohio State. After flirting with law school, Wexner borrowed some money from his aunt and started The Limited minutes away from OSU's campus.

The Limited would grow to include Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, Abercrombie & Fitch and several other brands.

Wexner topped No. 12 Charles Kettering, 744-651 in the opening round, to much consternation from Dayton bros.

#3 The Wright Bros. vs. #11 William Procter

The Wright Bros: Thanks to Wilbur and Orville Wright, Ohio is known as the "Birthplace of Aviation."

From their bicycle shop in Dayton, the two brothers designed and built the world's first successful airplane and later made the first controlled, powered and “sustained heavier-than-air human flight.”

The Wright brothers destroyed No. 14 Roger Ailes in the first round, taking 97% of the vote, good enough for the fourth-largest margin of victory in opening round matchups.

William Procter: Procter was born in England, but the candlemaker made his mark in Cincinnati. With his brother-in-law, he formed Procter & Gamble in 1837 and through hard work and fortuitous contracts with the Union Army during the Civil War, built a consumer product juggernaut.

Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Dawn, Downy, Duracell, Iams, Oral-B, Pampers, Scope, Tide – if you've used a product around the house lately, chances are, it's a Procter & Gamble product.

Procter upset No. 6 Ted Turner in the first round, 976-398.

#2 John D. Rockefeller vs. #7 Dave Thomas

John D. Rockefeller: A graduate of Cleveland's Central High School, Rockefeller built his first oil refinery in "The Flats" at the age of 20. Seven years later, he formed Standard Oil of Ohio, which quickly grew to over 100,000 employees.

Standard Oil had grown so large, the Supreme Court found it a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1911, splitting it up into 34 new companies.

No. 15 Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler, was no match for Rockefeller in the opening round, going down 1,259-142.

Dave Thomas: In 1969, Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy's restaurant in Columbus and quickly grew that into hundreds and then thousands of franchises. 

Famous as for being a CEO and a spokesman, appearing in dozens of Wendy's ads, the company lost its footing after his death in 2002, and was later sold.

Thomas defeated No. 10 Harvey Firestone in the first round, capturing 62% of the vote.

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