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The Ohio High School Speech League’s 2014 State Tournament saw the return of a former champion to the winner’s circle last weekend when Abhishek Bhargava, a former NFL National Tournament semi-finalist in International Extemp and MBA participant, recaptured the state International Extemp championship from Eric Wang of Solon High School. Bhargava took this year’s state title from Wang, the defending champion, by seven ranks in the final round. Bhargava’s victory is the fourth time in six years that a member of the Bhargava family has won the Ohio International Extemp title, as his brother Rohan, a former NFL finalist in International Extemp, won the title in 2009 and 2010.
In United States Extemp, James Gao of Mason High School, an octofinalist at last year’s NFL National Tournament in United States Extemp, denied two-time MBA participant and former NFL semi-finalist Jad Hamdan‘s bid for a state title with a four rank victory. The state title is Gao’s first. John DiGiacobbe of Highland High School placed third.
Seven of the thirteen finalists at this year’s state tournament earned automatic qualifications to the Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Northwestern University. They are indicated in italics in the results listing.
The state tournament phase of the 2013-2014 calendar continues next week when six states host their state tournaments: Georgia, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas (TFA), and South Dakota. If you are attending these tournaments and have results for them, please send them our way when you can.
Here are the results of the 2014 Ohio High School Speech League State Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):
International Extemp
Champion: Abhishek Bhargava (Jackson High School)
2nd: Eric Wang (Solon High School)
3rd: Yijia Liang (Upper Arlington High School)
4th: Cara Clark (Beavercreek High School)
5th: Brian Duricy (Howland High School)
6th: Brenden Kost (Wauseon High School)
7th: Allison Christopher (Cardinal-Mooney High School)
Semi-Finalists
*Richie Abel (Canfield High School)
*Clayton Cooper (Columbiana High School)
*Brooke Hisrich (Glen Oak High School)
*Harsha Ramesh (Mason High School)
*Natalie Syed (Hathaway-Brown School)
Quarter-Finalists
*Ross Bales (Centerville High School)
*Carmen Burk (Austintown-Fitch High School)
*Paige Clayton (Wooster High School)
*Allen Frietas (Stow High School)
*Alec Kan (Canfield High School)
*Cameron Maras (Canfield High School)
*Nikhil Nadler (Howland High School)
*Clay Owens (Perry High School)
*Dan Ostberg (Maumee High School)
*Jonathon Shapiro (Beachwood High School)
*Saurabh Vasil (Jackson High School)
*Bruce Wiggins (Columbiana High School)
United States Extemp
Champion: James Gao (Mason High School)
2nd: Jad Hamdan (Jackson High School)
3rd: John DiGiacobbe (Highland High School)
4th: Melissa Eperjesi (Cardinal-Mooney High School)
5th: Mary Grace Gorman (Wooster High School)
6th: Berthy Feng (Laurel School)
Semi-Finalists
*Christopher Benson (Wadsworth High School)
*Bharath Katragadda (Solon High School)
*Cameron Mathis (Middletown High School)
*Jayne O’Dwyer (Laurel School)
*Priyanka Podugi (Jackson High School)
*Sedona Rosenberg (Gahanna Lincoln High School)
Quarter-Finalists
*Ryan Barry (Maumee High School)
*Michael Eggiman (Cardinal-Mooney High School)
*Jordan Frederick (Niles McKinley High School)
*Jessica Harker (Austintown-Fitch High School)
*Owen Kienzle (Carrollton High School)
*Katy Krepp (Perry High School)
*Brianna Ledsome (Niles McKinley High School)
*Garrett McGitty (Austintown-Fitch High School)
*Eric Qian (Upper Arlington High School)
*Carly Sobol (Oakwood High School)
*Arjun Subramanyam (Canfield High School)
*Casandra Williams (Gilmour Academy)