Bridgewater Raritan High School’s Forensics Club produced a sparkling effort when the students competed in the Hunterdon Central Regional High School’s annual Hunterdon Central Winter Invitational on Saturday, January 11.
At the tournament were debate categories: Lincoln-Douglas (LD), Public Forum (PF), and Parliamentary Debate, as well as many speech categories, including Declamation, Impromptu, and Original Oratory.
This was the first tournament for the January PF topic and January/February LD topic, so debaters prepared extensively in anticipation of this tournament.
“It took a ton of effort and hours to prepare for the tournament,” said novice PF debater Mohnish Gumedelli, referring to the intensive construction of cases, rebuttals and general topic knowledge needed for success. He and his partner, Darsh Gaur, debated on whether the African Union should recognize Somaliland as an independent state.
Students across the board enjoyed the tournament. “It was my first tournament and me and my partner Shantan Kumar Reddy Budamakayala broke,” said Aarush Shah, PF debater. “It was really fun to have a winning record,” he said.
Vivian Chao, who broke in novice LD also commented. “Hunterdon was really fun and I enjoyed it,” she said. The topic for Lincoln-Douglas related to two international treaties, the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea.
Speech participants also had positive things to say. They too worked tediously, spending hours perfecting their delivery. Achyut Nuli was a competitor in Original Oratory, in which students give a 10-minute speech on a chosen topic. “Hunterdon was an incredibly enjoyable tournament, and I always appreciate the opportunity to spend the day competing and connecting with students from other schools,” he said.
This month Bridgewater-Raritan’s ForensicsTteam will culminate in the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational, a national circuit tournament on the weekend of January 31 in Pennsylvania. Both debate and speech students will continue to work tirelessly to represent Bridgewater-Raritan against schools nationwide.
