Needham Speech and Debate Hosts Annual March Merryness/Kicks of States

While simultaneously hosting the largest Massachusetts Speech and Debate League Tournament since the onset of COVID at over forty schools and six hundred students, the competing NHS Speech and Debaters did splendidly themselves, rocketing to a third place sweepstakes on March 16th.
Sophomore Don Golmohamadi and ninth graders Zoe Berg, Maggie Sharrard, and Miles Yountz excelled in both ‘regular’ and ‘Needham Special’ events to tie for fourth to earn ‘Show Them Greatness’ accolades. The latter three were second, sixth ,and fourth in declamation. Sharrard and Yountz were the opposite of frozen by finishing third and fourth in freeze improv while Berg ranked highly in sales impromptu to seal their performance. Golmohammadi was an impromptu semifinalist and 5th place in impromptu sales while also participating in novice extemporaneous.
The Multiple Reading team of juniors Ben Fogler, Mia Maffeo, Anika Ray, Simon Shoemaker, Emma Zhang and took a break from tournament administrative duties to show they, as Renaissance humans, can walk, talk, and chew over administrative duties at the same time. Folger and Zhang were also ' ‘interstellar by any other name” in finishing fourth, joined on stage by the ninth grade team of Clara Brough and Hari Prasad Kumar in sixth. The latter two were also the top novices
Ninth grader Madeleine Clark proved she was a lion at heart and in the courtroom by invoking Simba as tournament champion in impromptu storytelling 10th grader. Clark also added to her collection of state bids in declamation. Ninth grader Vaneezah Khan sent no mixed messages be earning the tournament championship in mixed duo with her Catholic Memorial partner, joined on stage by fourth place finisher junior Lily Bridgers, who did so by ‘Standing in by standing out’ as a last minute replacement with an Acton-Boxborough student.

Alex Gurchenkov 'rehabilitated’ his break from competition to go undefeated to be tournament champion in varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate while also earning enough recognition to ‘had been’ first palace speaker. Sophomore Jon Fleischer was third place speaker. Sophomore Lulu Wang earned a state bid, while sophomores Fleisher Kalina Mihova and Kevin Xu advanced to the ‘play-in’ round to do so.

In novice Lincoln Douglas ninth grader Casey Canzano was undefeated on the day, ranking third. Junior Rina Fisch was sixth placer. On the speaking side of the equation,ninth grader Maisie Berger was the champion speaker, junior Clayton Pachus forth and ninth grader Gemma Noukas fifth place. Ninth grader Brooke Donohue,sophomore Andrey Kalashnikov and Pachus earned state bids. Gemma Noukas and Reis Conway advanced to the ‘play-in’ round for that particular ribbon.
Junior Jiyu Li was first place in Big questions debate, joined by third place finisher Julia Gendin, third place finisher and second place speaker overall, both showing there was nothing supernatural about their talents.

Ninth grader Sienna Tow was fourth place in novice oral interp, coinciding with a state bid in poetry .She was joined in earning accolades for reading prowess by sophomore Silvia Robetrson who ranked sixth place in children’s literature.

Sophomore Matias Welch was sixth in sales.

Strong performances were turned by kiddie lit readers Ivy Brough ,Mihret Hopkin(in her debut) and Khan, the double-entered Maddy Weirup in prose and declamation, impromptu speaker sophomore Suriya Keshava, informative speaker junior Leah Wang, orator Ayla-Ryann Thompson, prose reader ninth grader Asha Padmanabhan and radio broadcaster Shreyan Dahiya. Strong debating was done in varsity LD Debate by sophomore Sid Karjee ‘shaking off the rust’ and novice LD by ninth graders Giselle Millien, Rafael Morales, and Riley Nauyokas in her own debut.

Judging for Needham were parents Mark Allen, Daryn Berger, Linda Lin,Karen Morales, Eric Pressman,Ariel Shoemaker, Amanda Weirup and Tom Welch. Coach Greg Cunningham along with fellow coaches Tyler Bates, Jackson Carr. Joanna Goldenberg Adam Nir. and Beth Peters. These, and a wealth of Needham parents helped organize a vast swatch of tournament organization and hospitality, according to coach PJ Wexler. “Needham would be not nearly as merry as it is without them”

At the State Debate Tournament March 22-23 Sophomore Jon Fleisher reached semifinals, dropping to eventual state champion Concord-Carlisle Junior Lilly Allen and sophomore Alex Gurchenkov ranked in the top ten, with Allen dropping a 2-1 decision to and Gurchenkov being ‘coached over’ by a coaches decision to teammate Fleisher. In novice LD Debate, ninth grader Casey Canzano was 7th place speaker while Allen was twelth place speaker in varsity. Sophomore Andrey Kalashnikov missed advancing to elimination rounds in novice LD on speaker points. Similarly, ninth grader Maise Berger and junior Rina Fisch had very strong days. In varsity LD debate junior Jeremy Tsung and sophomores Dan Golmohammadi, Kalina Mihova, Matias Welch, and Lulu Wang did the same. Junior Julia Gendin earned the state reserve championship in Biq Quesions debate. Judging for Needham were co-capatin Leah Wang, alums Sophie Bierman, Jackie Hazan and Sean Kelleher and parents Alan Canzano, Daryn Berger, Sudshana Fisch, Marina Mihova, and Tom Welch, friend of the program Gabby Knight,with coach Paul Wexler in tabulation.