2014 California Invitational: Yu Keeps Teammate Liao From Winning Second TOC Qualifying Tournament

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Eighty-nine extempers arrived in Berkeley, California last Saturday to compete in the 2014 California Invitational. The tournament traditionally features the top schools in California and this year’s event was won by Brian Yu of Monte Vista High School (CA). The tournament was cumulative and when the tournament’s eight rounds were completed Yu was tied with teammate Charlie Liao, who won the United States Extemp portion of last week’s Stanford National Invitational. Yu defeated Liao eight ranks to eleven in the tournament final, which gave him the championship. Giancarlo Musetti of Cypress Bay High School (FL) was the only non-California extemper in the tournament’s final round and he took third.

The size of this year’s field means that all of the extempers that reached elimination rounds earned a qualification leg to this year’s Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Northwestern University. Aaron Baum of Miramonte High School (CA), Ian Buckman and Ethan Hu of Leland High School (CA), Steven Chen and Jamie Shen of Dougherty Valley High School (CA), Arjun Desai of St. Francis High School (CA), Clayton Jacobs of Torrey Pines High School (CA), Armand Jhala of Montgomery Bell Academy (TN), and Prachi Laud of Lynbrook High School (CA) completed their at-large TOC qualification and eleven other extempers earned their first qualifying leg. They are indicated in italics in the results listing.

Here are the results of the 2014 California Invitational (Click here for tab sheet):

Champion: Brian Yu (Monte Vista High School, California)
2nd: Charlie Liao (Monte Vista High School, California)
3rd: Giancarlo Musetti (Cypress Bay High School, Florida)
4th: Anoeil Odisho (Leland High School, California)
5th: Karan Kolwalkar (Leland High School, California)
6th: Jamie Shen (Dougherty Valley High School, California)
7th: Andrew Zou (Leland High School, California)

Semi-Finalists

*Aaron Baum (Miramonte High School, California)
*Cameron Bonnewell (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Steven Chen (Dougherty Valley High School, California)
*Arjun Desai (St. Francis High School, California)
*Ethan Hu (Leland High School, California)
*Clayton Jacobs (Torrey Pines High School, California)
*Prachi Laud (Lynbrook High School, California)

Quarter-Finalists

*Omer Bensaadon (Cypress Bay High School, California)
*Ian Buckman (Leland High School, California)
*Eric Hagen (Lake Highland Preparatory, Florida)
*Sam Hurd (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
*Armand Jhala (Montgomery Bell Academy, Tennessee)
*Sneha Karkala (Coppell High School, Texas)
*Rishi Krishnan (Dougherty Valley High School, California)
*Victoria Lu (Dougherty Valley High School, California)
*Jestin Ma (San Gabriel High School, California)
*Ann-Kathrin Merz (Leland High School, California)
*Mihika Ram (Leland High School, California)
*Gerard Recinto (James Logan High School, California)
*Katia Stern (Rancho Bernardo High School, California)
*Mohan Sudabattula (Bingham High School, Utah)
*Lucas Tung (James Logan High School, California)
*Bryan Wang (Miramonte High School, California)