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After finishing runner-up at the last four major championships, Justin Graham of Trinity Preparatory School (FL) finally broke through by winning the 2016 National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand National Tournament in Sacramento, California. The tournament was never in doubt as Graham captured twelve first place ranks (of fourteen available) from octofinals through the final round, thereby turning in one of the most dominant performances in NCFL history. Benjamin Hoffner-Brodsky of Davis Senior High School (CA) took advantage of the home field conditions and placed second.
Aside from Graham, Samhitha Sunkara of Ardrey Kell High School (NC) reached the NCFL final round for the second consecutive season. Sunkara finished three spots better than last year, ending the tournament in third place.
Trinity Preparatory continued its run of solid performances in recent years, placing two competitors in finals. Along with Graham, Varun Bhatia of Trinity made it into the final round and placed sixth.
Kevin Bi of East Ridge High School (MN) and Justin Kang of Syosset High School (NY) rounded out the final round, placing fourth and fifth, respectively. It was the first national final round appearance for both competitors.
All of the competitors that reached the quarter-final round will receive National Points Race points. Graham will receive 100 points for his victory and he created more separation between himself and rivals Vaikunth Balaji of Ridge High School (NJ) and Marshall Sloane of Milton Academy (MA). Balaji and Sloane were both eliminated in the quarter-final round. Balaji is the only competitor that can catch Graham in this year’s points race, but all Graham has to do at next week’s National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament is clear to octofinals to clinch the title.
Here are the results of the 2016 NCFL Grand National Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):
Champion: Justin Graham (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
2nd: Benjamin Hoffner-Brodsky (Davis Senior High School, California)
3rd: Samhitha Sunkara (Ardrey Kell High School, North Carolina)
4th: Kevin Bi (East Ridge High School, Minnesota)
5th: Justin Kang (Syosset High School, New York)
6th: Varun Bhatia (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
Semi-Finalists
*Madison Buzzard (Webb City High School, Missouri)
*Reagan Davis (Assumption High School, Kentucky)
*Marshall Feingold (Syosset High School, New York)
*Jose Francisco (St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida)
*Shawn Kant (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Alex Trobough (Sumner Academy, Kansas)
Quarter-Finalists
*Vaikunth Balaji (Ridge High School, New York)
*Charlie Barton (Regis High School, New York)
*Nick Guiliano (Holy Ghost Preparatory, Pennsylvania)
*Clare Halsey (Ridge High School, New Jersey)
*Andrew Langford (Lake Highland Preparatory School, Florida)
*Jack Odom (Unionville High School, Pennsylvania)
*David Polefrone (Marriotts Ridge High School, Maryland)
*Collin Quigley (Holy Ghost Preparatory, Pennsylvania)
*Nathaniel Saffran (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Ellis Sargeant (St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, Pennsylvania)
*Marshall Sloane (Milton Academy, Massachusetts)
*Divya Vijayakumar (Cary Academy, North Carolina)
Octo-Finalists
*Zan Ahmed (Syosset High School, New York)
*Arslan Ali (Blue Valley High School, Kansas)
*Karina Bratkov (Nixa High School, Missouri)
*William Brodner (Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches, Florida)
*Peter Charalambous (Chaminade High School, New York)
*Seth Douglas (Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School, New York)
*Manisha Dubey (Ardrey Kell High School, North Carolina)
*Michael Groves (Suncoast High School, Florida)
*Derek Hamre (Sioux Falls Lincoln High School, South Dakota)
*Cassidy Hardin (Topeka Seaman High School, Kansas)
*Megan Kline (El Dorado High School, Kansas)
*Alejandra Larriva-Latt (San Marino High School, California)
*Noah Lee (Cumberland Valley High School, Pennsylvania)
*Jason Ma (Newton South High School, Massachusetts)
*Bharat Modi (Cary Academy, North Carolina)
*Yasmine Nousari (St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida)
*Aaron Patel (Trinity Preparatory School, Florida)
*Sahil Patel (Danville Area High School, Pennsylvania)
*Sana Rahman (Pine View School, Florida)
*James Rao (Newton South High School, Massachusetts)
*Keshav Rastogi (Scarsdale High School, New York)
*William Wang (Pine View School, Florida)
*Brian Xu (San Marino High School, California)
*Nicole Zivkovic (New York City – Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York)
Extemp Central thanks the National Catholic Forensic League for putting the results of the tournament online.