Ridge Forensics Named State Champions For 22nd Consecutive Year

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Over the weekend, the Ridge Forensics Speech & Debate Team claimed the title of State Champion for the 22nd year in a row, beating second-place Summit High School by more than 100 points.

The NJ Speech and Debate League Championships took place at Hunterdon High School, where nearly a Ridge dozen students were named champions of their respective categories: seniors Natalie Ramirez with Alyssa Kim (Duo Interpretation), sophomore Aparna Iyer (Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking), and freshmen Aditi Terli with Vivian Liu (Novice Public Forum).

Co-champions were named for Novice Parliamentary Debate: freshmen teams Amandeep Manda with Rushil Jha, and Prabhav Kautickwar with Rhea Vasanthavada.

The rest of their teammates were high-performing competitors as well, running up the scoreboard in 20 different events. In Dramatic Interpretation, senior Alyssa Kim placed fifth, with sophomore Faye Fletcher coming in sixth. Faye Fletcher also ranked fifth with her partner Eden Chacko (sophomore) in Duo Interpretation.

The team of Alice Yeo (junior) with Anjali Dadlani (senior) were semifinalists in the category. Anjali Dadlani was also a semifinalist for Humorous Interpretation. Impromptu Speaking saw junior Mannan Pandey winning second place and senior Abby Lee making it to semifinals.

Informational Speaking included three semifinalists from the team: juniors Saketha Kedarsetty, Aayush Bhakey and sophomore Milie Gupta.

Continuing the team’s excellence, Senior Amy Cao placed second in International Extemporaneous Speaking and sophomore MJ Chu placed sixth. Srija Kasarla, a junior, placed fifth in Oral Interpretation while Adhirai Karthik, a sophomore, made it to semifinals.

The category of Original Oratory saw junior Sky-Rose Jaamann placing third and senior Abby Lee placing fourth. Program Oral Interpretation consisted of sophomore Eden Chacko taking third place and senior Natalie Ramirez taking fourth. Three of the top five competitors in Declamation were from Ridge as well: sophomores Ella Tadros (second), Amulya Kollipara (third) and Hasini Namburi (fifth).

Ridge competitors took the top four spots in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, too. From first to fourth: sophomore Aparna Iyer, sophomore Sherry Antil, junior Navya Raju and junior Sameer Wadhwa.

Meanwhile, sophomores Shivank Jha and partner Sarvagya Khanal advanced to semifinals in Novice Parliamentary Debate.

Additionally, Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate saw the following semifinalists: freshmen Aryav Gaddam and Anya Animesh, as well as the following quarterfinalists: freshmen Himnish Koul and Rosa Qin.

The freshmen teams of Ishani Butala with Tulasi Bonda, and Ravi Kamdar with Naitik Karang advanced to quarterfinals for Novice Public Forum. Junior Varsity Lincoln Douglas Debater Eva Chen (sophomore) made it to semifinals and Meera Shah (sophomore) was a quarterfinalist.

Junior Lucy Brodkin and her partner, senior Mariam Khan, became semifinalists in Varsity Parliamentary Debate. Shaurya Ganjoo, a junior, was a semifinalist for Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Seniors Vivian Zhu and partner Pranav Mahesh advanced to quarterfinals in Varsity Public Forum.

Finally, in Congress, Senior Ginny Kim placed third, junior Andy Cui placed tenth, sophomore Aanvi Khade placed eleventh, and junior Sameer Bagga was a semifinalist.

"Our students continue to motivate and inspire one another in amazing ways. I’m proud of every single student on our team, whether they competed this past weekend or not. It’s fantastic to hold our State Champion title for the twenty-second year in a row, and we’re ready to carry that momentum for the remaining competitions this year," said Director David Yastremski, who was recently recognized by two national organizations for his commitment to speech and debate.

The team has district qualifiers this weekend for the National Speech and Debate Association.

Parents interested in having their rising 5th-9th graders learn the art of speech and debate from the state champion team are encouraged to sign up for the Ridge Forensics Speech and Debate Institute, happening this summer at the high school July 8 to 12 and 15 to 19. Instructors will include the current Ridge coaches, as well as members of the award-winning team.

In addition to learning the art of speech and debate, students will also get the chance to take electives like Broadcasting, The Pitch (think: Shark Tank), Mock Trial and more. Plus, students will get time to run around and enjoy the summer sun.

More information can be found at ridgeforensics.com.

— Submitted by Ridge Forensics

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