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After a thrilling five days of competition in Dallas, the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) wrapped up its annual national tournament by crowning new national champions in International and United States Extemp in some of the closest contests in recent memory.
Brian Anderson of LaRue County High School ended Kentucky’s twenty eight-year-long main event national championship drought by staging a come from behind victory in International Extemp. Anderson entered the final round ten ranks behind Justin Graham of Trinity Preparatory School (FL), but won the final round by five ranks over Alex Ye of Gabrielino High School (CA) to overtake Graham and win by two ranks. If Graham had won, Trinity Preparatory would have retained the International Extemp championship for the second consecutive year. Anderson is the first NSDA International Extemp champion to win the overall tournament and the final round since 2012. His win also marks the fourth time that a Kentucky extemper has either won or tied for first place in an NSDA extemp final since 2003.
By winning the final round, Anderson earned fifty National Points Race points and this broke what would have been a tie at the top of this year’s standings in his favor. Although Graham will finish runner-up in the National Points Race, he will get an opportunity to win the competition, as well as an NSDA national championship, next season. More details about the National Points Race, including complete rankings, will be provided next week.
Brian Yu of Monte Vista High School became his school’s first extemporaneous speaking national champion, edging out Jay Sirot of Montville Township High School (NJ) in a West Coast-East Coast clash of state champions by one rank. Yu, a three-time California state champion in United States Extemp, is the first California extemper to win the event since Evan Larson of Bellarmine College Preparatory did so in 2009.
Although Josh Wartel of Lake Braddock Secondary School (VA) came up short in his quest for a third major championship, he did end his carer by winning the United States Extemp final round national championship. Entering the final round six ranks behind Yu, Wartel made up three ranks and won the final round by judges’ preference over Sirot. However, he did not cut enough into Yu’s lead to win the overall national title. This marks the third time in six years that the winner of the final round in United States Extemp was not the overall winner of the tournament.
Here are the results of the 2015 NSDA National Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):