Speech and Debate Students Qualify for National Tournament

Published March 5, 2024

Several WCS high school students have earned State recognition and will now compete this summer at the National Speech and Debate Tournament.

At the Tennessee National Speech and Debate Association's (NSDA) National Qualifying Event tournament in March, Brentwood High's Matthew Greer won first place in the Original Oratory category, and his classmate Wali Sidiqyar placed first in the International Extemporaneous Speaking category. Two Brentwood High students, Ali Sidiqyar and Arjun Nayagadurai, have auto-advanced to the national tournament based on their fourth-place finish in Public Forum Debate at the 2023 National Speech and Debate Tournament. Their coaches are Harriet Medlin and Matt Grimes.

Ravenwood High's Chetan Yenigalla and Vedant Misra won the Public Forum Debate. Ashley Yearsley and Brittany Stidham are the faculty advisers for the Ravenwood High team.

At the tournament, students competed in individual competitions testing various skills, including dramatic interpretation, informative speaking and US extemporaneous speaking.

WCS students who placed in their category or were named as alternates for the national tournament are listed below:

Original Oratory

• Matthew Greer, Brentwood High - First Place
• Joanna Li, Brentwood High - Finalist and Third Alternate
• Anika Pandey, Ravenwood High - Finalist and Fourth Alternate

International Extemporaneous Speaking

• Wali Sidiqyar, Brentwood High - First Place
• Grant Carpenter, Brentwood High - Third Place
• Aryan Shaikh, Ravenwood High - Finalist and First Alternate

Public Forum Debate

• Chetan Yenigalla and Vedant Misra, Ravenwood High - First Place
• Kate Mize and Parsa Khairollahi, Brentwood High - Second Place
• Neha Thanigaivelan and Ariana Martin, Brentwood High - Third Place
• Ajay Balaje and Sophie McAtee, Ravenwood High - Fourth Place and First Alternate
• Meredith Yount and Jasmine Merrikh, Brentwood High - Second Alternate
• Grady Pazona and Paul Jude Schneider, Brentwood High - Third Alternate

US Extemporaneous Speaking

• Sam Babu, Brentwood High - First Alternate
• Arshia Malhotra, Brentwood High - Third Alternate

Program of Oral Interpretation

• Joy Margaret Scheuren, Brentwood High - Fifth Alternate

Informative Speaking

• Vandita Vatturi, Brentwood High - Fifth Alternate
• Peniel Ogunde, Ravenwood High - Sixth Alternate

Duo Interpretation

• Aditya Nandina and Aryan Gupta Pokal, Ravenwood High - Finalists and Second Alternate

Dramatic Interpretation

• Caroline Moore, Summit High - Fourth Alternate