Speech & Debate: Six-time state champs
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The Upper St. Clair High School Speech & Debate Team won its sixth Pennsylvania High School Speech League (PHSSL) State Championship and its fourth in a row. The event was held March 21-22, 2025, at Bloomsburg University.
The team is coached by high school teacher Ben Edwards with assistance from Logan Reynolds.
“This senior class won states each year in their high school careers,” Mr. Edwards said. “Forty-eight students competed for Upper St. Clair, which is the most competitors any school has brought to the state tournament.”
Seniors Ishaan Sharma and Harsh Mali won the Parliamentary Debate State Championship – marking Upper St. Clair’s sixth title in this event since it was introduced in 2011. Their overall ballot count was 16-4.
“It was Ishaan's second state title, and he became one of only a handful of competitors in PHSSL history to win championships in two different events,” Mr. Edwards said. “In 2024, Ishaan won in Extemporaneous Speaking.”
Seniors Isabel Vilensky and Aaryan Kumar won the Public Forum Debate State Championship. Their overall ballot count was 23-3.
“This was Upper St. Clair's first championship in Public Forum,” Mr. Edwards said. “They broke a streak of North Allegheny winning the last nine state titles.”
Advancing to Debate Semifinals (Top 4)
- Izzy Lin & Zahra Khan in Policy Debate
- Arth Italiya & Josh Anand in Parliamentary Debate
- Noshi Dabas in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Advancing to State Speech Finals (Top 6)
- Anoushka Barve in Persuasive Speaking(2nd)
- Prachi Chetlur in Commentary (3rd)
- Ali Hanna in Prose (3rd)
- Shreya Sriram in Poetry (4th)
- Divya Udhayakumar in Persuasive Speaking (5th)
- Robert Elliot & Harrison Barker in News Broadcasting (5th)
- Finn Stafford in Program Oral Interpretation (5th)
- Hansika Yanamadala in Prose (6th)
Advancing to Debate Quarterfinals (Top 8)
- Mana Barimani & Aadhi Bharath in Public Forum Debate
Advancing to Debate Octofinals (Top 16)
- Krishna Sathya Vagheeswar & Nikhil Chandran in Public Forum Debate
- Pritika Gupta in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
- Nikhita Thakuria in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Advancing to Speech Semifinals/Congress Supersession (Top 12)
- Rohan Mehta in Extemporaneous Speaking
- Tommy Slowey in Extemporaneous Speaking
- Vincent Watson in Informative Speaking
- Anushka Sharma in Poetry
- Manav Patel in Senate
- Daniyal Badaruddin in Senate
The following students qualified to compete at the state competition, but did not advance: Meera Alabed & Ahana Mendhi (Policy Debate), Luke An (Informative Speaking), Sal Crawford (Drama), Eva Dimanov & Helly Makadia (Parliamentary Debate), Margaux Gandon (House), Anand Jani & Saajin Laffin (Public Forum Debate), Devesh Jani (Impromptu Speaking), Siddharth Kumar (Commentary), Opal Miller (Extemporaneous Debate), Roshan Mishra (Extemporaneous Speaking), Medha Misra (Storytelling), Anushka Sen (Program Oral Interpretation), Harshini Sivakumar & Pari Varshney (Parliamentary Debate), Jeffrey Zhang (Lincoln-Douglas Debate).
Founded in 1961, the Pennsylvania High School Speech League’s purpose is to stimulate through educational competition an understanding and appreciation of all areas of speech.