Three advance at Tournament of Champions

April 25, 2024

Three members of the Upper St. Clair High School Speech & Debate Team reached the top 15 in their respective events at the 53rd annual JW Patterson Tournament of Champions. The event was held April 20-22, 2024, at the University of Kentucky.

 

• Junior Ishaan Sharma advanced to the Semifinals in Extemporaneous Speaking, placing ninth.
• Senior Ashe Sobel advanced to the Semifinals in Congress, placed ninth.
• Senior Aarav Patil advanced to the Quarterfinals in Original Oratory, finishing 15th.

The Speech & Debate Team is coached by high school teachers Ben Edwards and Dave Watson with assistance from Erin Wolf, Oscar Heller and Saif Durrani.

“Qualification to the Tournament of Champions is very challenging as a student must compete and win at specific tournaments determined by the national organization to reflect an advanced level of competition,” Mr. Edwards said. “Every competitor is among the best nationally.”

This marks the first time that Upper St. Clair High School students have competed in the Tournament of Champions. In total, seven USC students qualified for the tournament.

Senior Ujal Gautam, Congress; senior Maxwell Gresh, Extemporaneous Speaking; and junior Roshan Mishra, Extemporaneous Speaking; qualified and competed. Senior Priyasha Itani, Original Oratory, also qualified but declined the invitation to attend.

The USCHS Speech & Debate Team is currently preparing to compete at the NCFL and NSDA national tournaments in May and June.