This past weekend, the Delbarton Forensics Program (Speech & Debate), directed by Mary Gormley and Noah Mengisteab, competed at the annual Princeton Classic at Princeton University. In Varsity Public Forum Debate, Team President Alex Calder '24, on left, and Debate captain Zeke Ehrenberg '25, on right, went undefeated to win Delbarton's third Princeton tournament championship in debate.

The exceptionally talented pool was comprised of 179 teams, including several top 25 nationally-ranked teams from New Jersey and the broader Northeast. Alex and Zeke's tournament win comes after the duo finished runners-up in the competitive Minneapolis Tournament (MN) in November. For the second consecutive year, Alex and Zeke now rank in the top 10 nationally and are the highest nationally-ranked debate team in New Jersey. Here they are in action last weekend in Princeton...

Additionally, Delbarton earned several other outstanding finishes. The partnership of Suhaas Valiveti '25 and Aiden D'Souza '25 reached double-octofinals (17th overall). They also earned their first qualification bid to the prestigious Tournament of Champions, a national championship hosted by the University of Kentucky each April. Suhaas and Aiden will join Alex and Zeke as well as Debate Captain Romir Patel '25 and Michael Xu '26, who earned qualifications for the Tournament of Champions earlier this season with their impressive performances at tournaments, including the Minneapolis event.

Michael Aiello '26 and Raymond Xu '26 reached triple-octofinals (top 33) before bowing out to the eventual tournament runners-up from Acton-Boxborough (MA). Our newest debate members, Chase Eagan '26 and Trevor Wyso '26, enjoyed an incredible run in the novice division, finishing in 5th out of 83 teams. In the speech events division, Speech captain Jack Grbic '24 had a strong performance in extemporaneous speaking, finishing as a quarterfinalist.

Next, the team competes at Summit High School and the John Edie Holiday Debates (MN) to round out the first semester of tournaments. The Delbarton community salutes our Speech and Debate competitors, and congratulates the Varsity Public Forum Debate duo Alex Calder '24 and Zeke Ehrenberg '25 for their championship performance at the Princeton Classic!