2014 NSDA Nationals: USX Final Round Preview

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Six competitors remain from the estimated 248 extempers that began the 2014 National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament on Monday.  The United States Extemp final will take place tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. CST.  Extemp Central will provide a recap of the round after it concludes.

Extemp Central has provided an overview to give its readers some background on who they will see in tomorrow’s final.  The format used for each participant is similar to that used for our “Sweet Sixteen” pieces for the Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin in January.

This year’s USX round is equally split between juniors and seniors and features four state champions, as well as the defending USX national champion.  The participants share nine Extemp TOC qualifying tournament titles between them.

COSMO ALBRECHT
*School: Robert E. Lee High School, Texas
*Class: Senior
*Notable 2013-2014 Finishes: Winston Churchill Classic USX-1st; University of Texas-2nd (IX), 2nd (USX); Texas Forensic Association State Tournament USX-3rd; Extemp TOC-Quarterfinalist; St. Mark’s USX-Quarterfinalist
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: Octofinalist-USX (2013); Extemp Commentary-3rd (2013)
*What’s at Stake: Largely unknown outside of Texas, where many of his notable finishes this season have come from, Albrecht has final round experience as he placed third in Extemp Commentary at last year’s NSDA Nationals in Birmingham. An extemp power in the 1990s, Texas not won a national championship in the 2000s. They have had some top three finishes in USX by the likes of Amanda Knight (’02) and Nick Cugini (’09) during this century, but have yet to return an NSDA extemp championship to the Lone Star State. Albrecht can end an extemp title drought that extends back to 1995 with a win on Friday.

JASPER PRIMACK
*School: Newton South High School, Massachusetts
*Class: Junior
*Notable 2013-2014 Finishes: Columbia-1st; George Mason-1st; Massachusetts Speech and Debate League State Tournament-2nd; Villiger-3rd; Harvard-5th; Yale-5th; Florida Blue Key-Semifinalist (USX), Quarterfinalist (IX); NCFL Nationals-Octofinalist
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: 13th-USX (2013)
*What’s at Stake: The last Massachusetts extemper to win an NSDA national championship was Becca Goldstein who competed for…you guessed it, Newton South High School. Goldstein won her title in 2008 and it has been historically seen as the end of Newton’s fantastic run between 2002 and 2008 when they had several extempers in the hunt for national titles. Primack looks to put his school back in the spotlight with a win on Friday, just as he did when he won the George Mason University Patriot Games to close out the first semester of national circuit competition. He is one of three juniors in Friday’s final round and is the first male extemper from Newton South to reach an NSDA extemp final since Ron Kendler (IX) in 2005.

AREL RENDE
*School: Booker T. Washington High School, Oklahoma
*Class: Senior
*Notable 2013-2014 Finishes: Harvard-1st; St. Mark’s-1st (USX), 3rd (IX); Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association State Tournament 6A USX-1st; University of Texas-1st (IX, USX); Extemp TOC-5th; MBA Extemp Round Robin-5th
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: 1st-USX (2013); Octofinalist-USX (2012)
*What’s at Stake: After flying under the radar to win the USX national championship last season, Rende has been an open target this year, but has beaten back the best competitors in the nation at several nationally recognized tournaments. Rende can become the first extemper since 2005 to successfully defend a USX national championship, something that only three other extempers have managed to do in the modern era. He also has the potential to win the final round in back-to-back years, which has never been done in USX. Rende would be the second extemper in the last three years to win Harvard, the largest regular season national circuit tournament, and an NSDA national championship.

JOE RUSSELL
*School: Brophy College Preparatory, Arizona
*Class: Senior
*Notable 2013-2014 Finishes: Arizona Interscholastic Association State Tournament Division I-1st;
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: N/A
*What’s at Stake: Very little is known about Joe Russell, but one accomplishment speaks for itself. Competing in Arizona this year, Russell won the state championship over teammate Christopher Jordan, last year’s USX runner-up, and Lyubov Kapko of Tempe Preparatory Academy, last year’s third place finisher in IX. That victory alone, not to mention the fact that Russell’s school won a USX national title in 2012, makes him a threat to walk away with the title on Friday. Russell is the only extemper in this year’s finals to have not competed at a single Extemp TOC qualifying tournament or NSDA Nationals.

JOSH WARTEL
*School: Lake Braddock Secondary School, Virginia
*Class: Junior
*Notable 2013-2014 Finishes: Villiger-1st; Virginia High School League State Tournament Group 6A-1st; MBA Extemp Round Robin-2nd; Wake Forest-2nd; Florida Blue Key-3rd (IX), 4th (USX); NCFL Nationals-3rd; Extemp TOC-4th; Harvard-4th; George Mason-Semifinalist (Patriot Games), Participant (Round Robin)
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: 5th-USX (2013); Octofinalist-USX (2012)
*What’s at Stake: Wartel came within one rank of tieing for the NCFL national championship three weeks ago, which would have given him the chance of pulling off a double crown of national titles on Friday. Wartel is the only one of Arel Rende’s five final round challengers from last year’s NSDA Nationals to make it back to round thirteen. Virginia last won an NSDA extemp championship in 1998, when Lucas Kline won USX. All of Virginia’s past national extemp winners have come from Blacksburg High School, so Wartel will be seeking to add Lake Braddock Secondary School to the list.

BRIAN YU
*School: Monte Vista High School, California
*Class: Junior
*Notable 2013-2014 Finishes: California High School Speech Association USX-1st; California Invitational-1st; Stanford USX-2nd; Glenbrooks-Quarterfinalist
*Previous NSDA Nationals Finishes: Did Not Break-LD (2013); Did Not Break-LD (2012)
*What’s at Stake: Coming into the tournament, Yu was a dark horse in the USX field. A two-time California USX state champion, most of Yu’s extemp participation has taken place on the West Coast, and he was this year’s California Invitational winner. Deciding to break away from Lincoln-Douglas debate appears to have been a good decision as Yu finds himself in the final round of his first foray into NSDA extemp. Yu’s school, Monte Vista High School, has never won an NSDA extemp title. Yu would become the first California USX winner since 2009, when Evan Larson won the title, and he would also be the first California Invitational winner since 2009 to win an NSDA national championship.