The Bridgewater-Raritan High School Forensics Speech and Debate Team participated in the final state tournament at Hunterdon Central Regional High School from March 21-22.
A total of 46 selected students from Bridgewater competed in different categories during the two-day tournament, facing students from schools across the state.
On Saturday, March 21, the first day of the state competition began with all students arriving prepared, wearing suits and bringing weeks of preparation. In the weeks leading up to states, practices included many rounds and drills. On Saturday, students competed throughout the day, and the night ended with the announcement of who qualified for the next day’s finals.
The next morning, students who had won most of their preliminary rounds or reached the quarterfinals boarded a bus back to Hunterdon Central Regional High School. The second day, Sunday, concluded with an awards ceremony celebrating all participants who broke during the championship.
From Bridgewater-Raritan, in the Lincoln-Douglas debate, Gia Agrawal, Anika Nandi, and Advik Narasimhan, all competing in junior varsity, were quarterfinalists. In speech, Anay Gade won 7th place in impromptu speaking. In parliamentary debate, Hrishi Patel and Jasmeet Singh placed 2nd in varsity. Paritosh Bhole and Ohmal Suresh were also quarterfinalists in varsity parliamentary debate. Overall, this tournament was very successful, with multiple breaks across different categories.
Even for the many students who did not break, this tournament concluded the forensics season on a positive note, showing the amount of effort, time and hard work each competitor puts in to excel at speech and debate.
Senior and vice president of the Forensics Club, Paritosh Bhole, reflected on the last state tournament of his career and the overall 2025-2026 speech and debate season.
“It was bittersweet to know that this was my last debate tournament ever. It’s been a very rewarding four years of debate; I’ve met a lot of inspiring people and made lifelong memories. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my debate career and it was a great conclusion to our team’s season,” he said.
This last state tournament marked the end of the 25-26 Speech and Debate Season, with countless memories, preparations, and breaks made. The banquet, where students will be given certificates and awards for their participation and hard work, will take place in the coming weeks.
