Ridge Forensics Dominates Local Circuit In November

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The Ridge Forensics Speech & Debate Team was busy in November, winning multiple tournaments and seeing some students qualify for upcoming national championships.

Most recently, the team won the Randolph Fall Classic Tournament, with special congratulations going to the team’s champions:

• senior Aayush Bhakey (Original Oratory),
• junior Shrey Sharma and senior Kuber Sarwal (Varsity Public Forum Debate),
• juniors Zoey Qin (Impromptu Speaking), Jia Aggarwal (Varsity Congressional Debate), and Sherry Antil (Extemporaneous Speaking),
• sophomore Krish Kumar (Declamation)

Additionally, the following students advanced to the finals:

• senior Sameer Wadhwa (2nd, Extemporaneous Speaking),
• senior Aarya Raval (2nd, Improvisational Acting),
• junior Aanvi Khade (2nd, Congressional Debate),
• junior Meera Shah and senior Lucy Brodkin (2nd, Varsity Parliamentary Debate),
• junior Adhirai Karthik (2nd, Program Oral Interpretation),
• sophomore Anoushka Jasrai (2nd, Declamation),
• freshmen Shlok Jalani and Liam Olesnyckyj (Novice Public Forum),
• senior Navya Raju (3rd, Extemporaneous Speaking),
• senior Ami Singh (3rd, Impromptu Speaking),
• freshman Sahil Jiwani (3rd, Declamation),
• freshman Ishani Pillai (3rd, Oral Interpretation),
• sophomore Himnish Koul (Varsity Lincoln Douglas),
• junior Zoey Qin (4th, Extemporaneous Speaking),
• junior Eden Chacko (4th, Dramatic Interpretation),
• sophomore Aryav Gaddam (4th, Varsity Lincoln Douglas),
• freshman Warren Ding (4th, Novice Lincoln Douglas),
• freshman Raghav Shekhar (4th, Declamation),
• freshman Rachael Snowsson (4th in Oral Interpretation & 5th in Improvisational Acting),
• senior Sameer Bagga (5th, Congressional Debate),
• senior Alice Yeo (5th, Humorous Interpretation),
• senior Mannan Pandey (5th, Impromptu Speaking),
• sophomore Rosa Qin (Varsity Lincoln Douglas),
• senior Celine Huang (6th, Impromptu Speaking),
• junior Shivank Jha (7th, Congressional Debate),
• freshman Elizabeth Gnoinski (9th, Congressional Debate)

Also, shout out to top novice, freshman Aakash Mehta.

Head coach of Ridge Forensics, David Yastremski, commented on the team’s victory: "Our success at Randolph was in part due to the wonderful efforts of our novices, as well as the truly supportive environment we have cultivated this year. I hope Randolph continues to fuel us and serves as inspiration for the powers of hard work and cooperation."

The team also recently attended the first Newark Catholic Forensics League Tournament of theyear, where many Ridge students qualified to attend the esteemed national tournament in Chicago this coming May.

Ridge won the tournament overall, with the following competitors placing first in their respective categories:

• Junior Eva Chen and sophomore Rosa Qin (co-champions in Varsity Lincoln Douglas),
• sophomore Matthew Li with junior Advik Sateeja (Varsity Public Forum),
• juniors Zoey Qin (Congressional Debate),
• MJ Chu (Extemporaneous Speaking),
• sophomore Krish Kumar (Declamation),
• senior Aayush Bhakey (Original Oratory)

Furthermore, the tournament runner-ups in second place were:

• junior Aanvi Khade (Congressional Debate),
• sophomore Arjun Kumar (Extemporaneous Speaking),
• senior Srija Kasarla (Oral Interpretation),
• sophomore Aarush Joginipally (Declamation),
• senior Celine Huang (Original Oratory),
• junior Faye Fletcher (Dramatic Performance)

Both the champions and runner-ups in their respective events received an automatic qualification to the national tournament.

Additional congratulations also go to the team’s finalists:

• Senior Aditya Rai (3rd, Congressional Debate),
• senior Sky Jaamann (3rd, Original Oratory),
• seniors Mannan Pandey and Saketha Kedarsetty (3rd, Duo Interpretation),
• junior Sherry Antil (3rd, Extemporaneous Speaking),
• sophomore Anoushka Jasrai (3rd, Declamation),
• senior Andrew Cui (4th, Congressional Debate),
• senior Ami Singh (4th, Original Oratory),
• junior Aparna Iyer (4th, Extemporaneous Speaking),
• junior Eden Chacko (4th, Dramatic Performance),
• freshman Fabiola Johnson (4th, Junior Varsity Lincoln Douglas),
• sophomore Adalia Karda-Marok (5th, Extemporaneous Speaking),
• junior Jia Aggarwal (Finalist, Congressional Debate)

Additional congratulations to:

• junior Sameer Kandra (Quarterfinalist, Varsity Lincoln Douglas),
• sophomore Aryav Gaddam (Quarterfinalist, Varsity Lincoln Douglas),
• sophomores Charan Pyloore and Naitik Narang (Quarterfinalists, Varsity Public Forum),
• sophomore Anya Hira and senior Matthew Sherman (Quarterfinalists, Varsity Public Forum)

Members traveled to Pennsylvania to compete at Council Rock North (CRN) in November. Two novices championed this tournament: freshmen Risha Madan and Ishani Mallik (Novice Congressional Debate and Declamation, respectively).

Additionally, a job well done to the finalists:

• junior Milie Gupta (2nd, Varsity Original Oratory),
• junior Hasini Namburi (3rd, Varsity Original Oratory),
• sophomore Cat Shen (3rd, Declamation),
• sophomore Rameen Nazim (4th, Declamation),
• sophomore Madhavi Mohanakrishnan (6th, Impromptu Speaking),
• freshman Elizabeth Gnoinski (9th, Novice Congressional Debate)

Finally, at the beginning of the month, the team’s freshmen and sophomores competed at the 2024 Scarsdale Invitational.

Sophomores Naitik Narang and Aditi Terli championed in Junior Varsity Public Forum debate, and freshmen Samar Arora and Michael Li championed in the novice division.

Many other students were also crowned finalists in their respective events:

• sophomores Matt Li with Anya Hira (2nd, Junior Varsity Public Forum),
• Amandeep Manda (2nd, Junior Varsity Lincoln Douglas),
• Krish Kumar (4th, Declamation),
• freshmen Shlok Janani and Liam Olesnyckyj (5th, Novice Public Forum),
• Risha Madan (6th, Congressional Debate),
• Anjini Naik (6th, Oral Interpretation),
• Fabiola Johnson (7th, Novice Lincoln Douglas),
• sophomore Rosa Qin (7th, Junior Varsity Lincoln Douglas),
• freshman Sarah Gulati (9th, Declamation),
• Simran Dawra (10th, Declamation),
• Luke Ginsberg with Cooper Ostapczuk (14th, Novice Public Forum)