For the first time in two years, the National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) was able to host its annual national tournament. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was held virtually from May 28-30.
Ananth Veluvali of Edina High School (MN) was crowned national champion, defeating TOC Champion Mukta Dhamapurikar of Durham Academy (NC) by seven composite ranks. Veluvali is the first Minnesota extemper to win the NCFL National Championship since Dylan Slinger of Lakeville South High School won back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011.
Another Minnesotan, Faye Zhang of Eastview High School (MN), finished in sixth place.
The final round was diverse, featuring competitors from five different states. In addition to the finishes above, Cade Savoy of Teurlings Catholic High School (LA) finished third, Rushikesh Kulkarni of Upper St. Clair High School (PA) finished fourth, and Karam Weigert of Woodrow Wilson High School (DC) finished fifth.
Several notable names fell just short of reaching the final round. These included Harvard Champion Daniel Kind of Lake Highland Preparatory (FL) and MBA Round Robin Champion Kay Rollins of the Potomac School (VA).
The unorthodox 2020-2021 extemp season will come to a close in two weeks when the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament takes place online. The tournament kicks off on Monday, June 14 and will conclude on Saturday, June 19.
Here are the results of the 2021 National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):
National Champion: Ananth Veluvali (Edina High School, Minnesota)
2nd: Mukta Dharmapurikar (Durham Academy, North Carolina)
3rd: Cade Savoy (Teurlings Catholic High School, Louisiana)
4th: Rushikesh Kulkarni (Upper St. Clair High School, Pennsylvania)
5th: Karam Weigert (Woodrow Wilson High School, Washington, D.C.)
6th: Faye Zhang (Eastview High School, Minnesota)
Semi-Finalists
*Tanvi Adige (Rosemount High School, Minnesota)
*Diya Bhatt (Providence High School, North Carolina)
*Rowan Haffner (Scarsdale High School, New York)
*Daniel Kind (Lake Highland Preparatory School, Florida)
*Rithika Prasad (Shrewsbury High School, Massachusetts)
*Kay Rollins (The Potomac School, Virginia)
Quarter-Finalists
*Chirag Choudhary (Unionville High School, Pennsylvania)
*Antonina Clementi (Teurlings Catholic High School, Louisiana)
*Iesh Gujral (Eden Prairie High School, Minnesota)
*Amanda Hulver (North Allegheny Senior High School, Pennsylvania)
*David Lee (Shrewsbury High School, Massachusetts)
*Kevin Li (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Asher Moss (Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Florida)
*Tanay Nisar (Newton South High School, Massachusetts)
*Sophia Shi (Upper St. Clair High School, Pennsylvania)
*Alex Sorgini (La Salle High School, Pennsylvania)
*Chloe Yang (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Marc Zavarro (Western High School, Florida)
Octo-Finalists
*Jana Amin (Milton Academy, Massachusetts)
*Rishika Bansal (Scarsdale High School, New York)
*Evan Becker (Francis Howell North High School, Missouri)
*Miles Brown (Pine-Richland High School, Pennsylvania)
*Ian Cass (Regis High School, New York)
*Sabrina Chen (Syosset High School, New York)
*J.R. Cobb (Cary Academy, North Carolina)
*Levi Cromwell (McPherson High School, Kansas)
*James Cullen (Chaminade High School, New York)
*Maya Daily (Salina South High School, Kansas)
*Truman DiBartolo (Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School, New York)
*Samay Gandhi (Wayzata High School, Minnesota)
*Roan Guidry (Teurlings Catholic High School, Louisiana)
*Jason Hu (Strath Haven High School, Pennsylvania)
*Shriya Iyer (Munster High School, Indiana)
*Nikayla Karda-Marok (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Owen Killoran (Marquette High School, Wisconsin)
*Audrey Lee (Potomac High School, Virginia)
*Neha Modak (Milton Academy, Massachusetts)
*Nitya Nalamothu (Cary Academy, North Carolina)
*Trace Nash (Mount Spokane High School, Washngton)
*Sean Nguyen (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Virginia)
*Ashna Patel (North Allegheny Senior High School, Pennsylvania)
*Yotam Pe’er (Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School, New York)
*Lillian Perrin (Sacred Heart High School, Kansas)
*Wilder Pitofsky (Collegiate High School, New York)
*Rhea Rajvansh (Eastview High School, Minnesota)
*Giselle Rasquinha (Syosset High School, New York)
*Rishika Rohatgi (Parkland High School, Pennsylvania)
*Hannah Jude Rost (Oak Grove High School, Mississippi)
*Amit Shenoy (Shrewsbury High School, Massachusetts)
*Shria Shyam (North Allegheny Senior High School, Pennsylvania)
*Conner Thrash (Concordia High School, Kansas)
*Tyler Tjan (Milton Academy, Massachusetts)
*Jack Ververis (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Eric Xie (Princeton High School, New Jersey)
Extemp Central thanks the National Catholic Forensic League for posting the results of the tournament online.