The Bridgewater-Raritan High School Speech and Debate Team, also known as the Forensics team, competed at the New Jersey Speech and Debate League (NJSDL) state championship at Hunterdon Central Regional High School on March 14-15.
The team sent dozens of students to compete in a number of events, testing the debating, discussion, and public speaking skills of students.
The state tournament was, in most perspectives, the pinnacle of the debate season. To qualify to be eligible to attend, students had to have broken or placed highly at a previous tournament in order to attend. Being able to compete at states is a privilege that not every student comes by.
The competition began promptly after school on Friday, March 14; the team took two buses to Hunterdon Central High School, where the competition was held. A handful of rounds were held in the evening, accompanied by a free dinner service provided by Hunterdon High School. Afterward, the students made their way back to Bridgewater-Raritan at around 10 p.m.
The next morning, the competitors returned to the school on a bus, arriving at Hunterdon Central at around 8 a.m. The remaining preliminary debate rounds and speech events took place, finalizing the seeds for each student or team of students.
Once all the preliminary rounds were done, the outrounds began at the quarterfinal level. If students won that round, they would subsequently move onto the semifinals and then the final round. This sort of structure was used in all debate events at all levels: Novice, Junior Varsity and Varsity.
After all the elimination outrounds were completed, finalists at any level were recognized at a special awards ceremony at the end of the tournament in Hunterdon Central High School’s auditorium. There, guest speakers representing the NJSDL organization spoke on the success of the season as a whole, congratulating all the winners at the tournament.
In parliamentary debate, a loose two-on-two debate, the following Bridgewater-Raritan High School students placed: Abhay Sankar and Atharva Makode, champions in Varsity; Mayur Kashyap and Advik Joshi, quarterfinalists in varsity; Arav Kewalia and Manas Gumedelli, quarterfinalists in junior varsity; and Aishanya Makode and Eveleen Chander, quarterfinalists in novice.
In Lincoln-Douglas debate, a one-on-one event, the following students placed: Advika Prakash, finalist in varsity; Dhitika Madduri, semifinalist in varsity; Harshit Kondle, quarterfinalist in junior varsity; Mythili Madhusoodanan, quarterfinalist in junior varsity; and Arshiya Aggarwal, quarterfinalist in novice.
In Public Forum debate, a structured two-on-two event, the following debaters placed: Anton Fomin and Ishaan Shetty, semifinalists in junior varsity; Sreyash Sinha and Luvyakrish Manche, quarterfinalists in junior varsity; Om Shah and Rithvik Krish, quarterfinalists in junior varsity; and Mohnish Gumedelli and Darsh Gaur, quarterfinalists in novice.
Bridgewater-Raritan High School ended up ranking third overall in the state in the debate category, and fourth overall in the general tournament sweepstakes. The state tournament was a great display of all of the efforts of debaters.
Senior and Lincoln-Douglas team captain Riya Shenvi added some input on the tournament and a reflection of her debate career.
“After spending dozens of weekends at these tournaments over the past couple years, it felt unreal that States was my last time debating. My favorite part of the tournament was the award ceremony because it perfectly encapsulates all the things I’ve loved about Forensics: the supportive community, watching my team members grow as debaters, and herding everyone onto the stage for a final group photo,” she said.
Senior and team president Abhay Sankar spoke similarly on how the tournament went and his personal experience.
“I’m very proud of the success Bridgewater Forensics saw at the state tournament this weekend, and through the season as a whole. We have overcome many struggles, worked long nights, but it was all worth it in the end, as our program placed highly among the top schools in the state. This was also the last state tournament for our seniors (including myself), so it bore even more significance. I’m sure that we will succeed even more in the future,” he said.
The Forensics team will be competing at a final competition on March 21-22 for the Districts national-qualifier tournament at Delbarton School. A select number of qualified competitors will be attending.
