Quarter-finalists have been posted at the 2011 NFL National Tournament. The thirty-one extempers who have advanced in International Extemp and the thirty that have advanced in United States Extemp will fight it out tomorrow morning and by late tomorrow we will know the names of the six extempers who will be in Saturday’s final rounds.
As per usual, the octofinal round claimed several notable names in this year’s National Points Race and from around the national circuit. Ben Constine, the winner of this year’s Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions, was the highest ranked National Points Race competitor to fall. Alessandro Pauri, who was the combined winner of St. Mark’s this year in the National Points Race, was also eliminated in IX. Paavan Gami, who was in the top twenty-five heading into NFL, was eliminated and Justin Kieran, who won the Liberty Bell Classic this year, were also knocked out in IX. The octofinal round was also unkind to many of this year’s participants of the Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin, as Pauri, Matthew Yasuoka, and Susan Czaikowski were eliminated. Czaikowski was the biggest name to fall in USX, as she had been a semi-finalist last year in Kansas City.