As the 86th OHSSL finals in Canfield, Ohio on March 1-2, 2013 came to a close the results were fantastic. There were 65 schools and more than 700 contestants competing in three debate categories and nine speaking and acting events.
Kadeem Yorke ’13 finished in 3rd place Prose Interpretation while Andrew Beddow ’14 and Privthi Pendekanti ’14 were semi-finalists in Policy Debate after advancing another Saint Ignatius team.
The 2013 Policy Debate champions are Kevin Pucci ’14 and Sean Lavelle ’14 finished with a record of 9-1. This is Kevin’s second, back-to-back state championship and 5th for Saint Ignatius. Kevin and Sean will represent Saint Ignatius and the North Coast district at the National Forensic League finals in Birmingham, Alabama the June 17-21, 2013. Kevin and his former partner, Cameron Colella ’12, competed in this event last year and finished 14th in the nation. Saint Ignatius also received 2nd place team award for overall performance at the finals and 10th place sweepstake award.
This year the school, on behalf of Rory O’Mally, a Dramatic Interpretation state champion in 1999, sponsored the Humorous Interpretation awards. Rory has been quite active in television and theater and has been nominated for a Tony for his performance in The Book of Mormon.
Previously the policy debate teams attended the 46th Annual Homewood-Flossmoor Viking Classic Invitational on February 22-24, 2013 was a Policy Debate Semifinals Tournament of Champions bid. There were 56 teams in attendance from multiple states. The 8th seed octo-finalists Kevin Pucci and Sean Lavelle finished with a 5-2 record. Just missing the bracket was the team of Andrew Beddow and Privthi Pendekanti with a 3-3 record. Kevin also received 21st speaker, Sean 19th from a field of 112.
In early February, Saint Ignatius was host to the NorthCoast district of the National Forensic League qualifying competition with more than 200 competitors in nine events from twenty-four schools in attendance for the two-day event. Kevin Pucci ’14 and Sean Lavelle ’14 became district champions in Policy Debate being undefeated and will represent the NorthCoast district at the National Forensic League finals. The 3rd alternate in policy debate is the team of Andrew Beddow ’14 and Privithi Pendekanti ’15 had only two losses. Also achieving alternate status in their events was Kadeem Yorke ’13 in Dramatic Interpretation and Adam Calogeras ’14 in Orginal Oratory.
The National Forensic League National Speech & Debate Tournament marks the capstone of high school speech and debate activities for nearly 120,000 students around the country. To attend, students must place among the top competitors at one of 109 District Tournaments. Qualifiers compete for more than $200,000 in college scholarships in a variety of speech, debate, and performance events. Final rounds are judged by blue ribbon panels including CEOs, former Cabinet members, stage and screen celebrities, sponsors, and acclaimed community members.
Closer to home, GlenOak High School was host to the OHSSL state qualifying policy debate tournament on December 7-8, 2012. There were twenty-eight teams from 15 schools from across the state in attendance. Kevin Pucci ’14 and Sean Lavelle ’14 (5-1), Andrew Beddow ’14 and Privthi Pendekanti ’15 (4-2) and Daniel Counihan ’13 and Bronson Hausmann ’14 (3-3) all advanced to the quarterfinal rounds and secured a place at the state finals.
Lincoln West High School hosted the Cleveland area forensics teams on November 10, 2012. Prithvi Pendekanti and Sean Lavelle received a 1st place in Policy Debate, Kadeem Yorke 2nd in Prose/Poetry, Adam Calogeras 2nd in Original, and Vincent Hwang 6th in Original Oratory.
And the first state OHSSL qualifying policy debate tournament began at John Carroll University in October. There were 24 teams from ten schools and two states in attendance and at the end of the tournament Kevin Pucci ’14 and Andrew Beddow ’14 advanced to the semi finals while Sean Lavelle ’14 and Prithvi Pendekanti ’15 advanced to the finals. Bronson Hausmann ’14 and Daniel Counihan had a 3-2 record but did not advance to the trophy rounds. In addition, Daniel Counihan ’13 received 10th speaker award, Prithvi 8th speaker, Sean 5th speaker and Kevin Pucci 3rd place speaker.
And so another year in competitive forensics comes to a close with students preparing for summer debate and speech camps readying themselves for the Fall season to begin.
