Our Coaches

Matthew Zhang
Founder
Harvard University

  • Matthew Zhang is a rising Senior at Harvard University. From 2020 to 2023, he served as the captain of the Livingston High School Debate Team. During his five-year Public Forum Debate career, Matthew was ranked as high as #1 in New Jersey and #3 in the United States. He has reached late elimination rounds at almost every tournament he has ever attended, winning 8 championships. At the local level, Matthew has championed four NCFL qualifying tournaments. At the national level, he has many outstanding accomplishments at the most prestigious tournaments in the country. They include placing 7th at the Princeton University Invitational, 5th at the Georgetown University Invitational, 3rd at the University of Pennsylvania Liberty Bell Classic, 3rd at the Columbia University Invitational, 1st at the Ridge Debates, 1st at the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational, 6th at the Yale University Invitational, 9th at the Harvard University Invitational, and more. Due to these impressive finishes, Matthew is a 3x qualifier to the NCFL Grand National Tournament, 3x qualifier to the NSDA National Tournament, and a 4x qualifier to the Tournament of Champions—a competition that only the top 1% of all debaters can attend. Matthew placed 3rd in the 2022 NCFL Grand National Tournament. And most notably, he championed the 2020 Tournament of Champions, which made him the youngest debater to ever win a national championship. Matthew now aspires to train his students at Omega into the next generation of national-championship-level debaters!

Dennis Liu
Program Director
University of Pennsylvania

  • Dennis recently graduated from University of Pennsylvania. He debated at Peddie for 2 years where he and his partner became the first team from their school to compete on the national circuit. They also became the first team in school history to qualify for the Tournament of Champions earning 5 bids and an auto qualification. Most notably he reached late elimination rounds at Stanford, Berkeley, and Princeton invitationals. He also Championed the Berkeley Round Robin and the New Jersey district tournament to qualify for NSDA Nationals where they placed 9th in the country.

Eli Solomon
Debate Coach
Harvard University

  • Eli Solomon is a rising Junior at Harvard University concentrating in Government. He is a former Parliamentary debater for Montclair Kimberley Academy, where he captained his team for two years and placed at multiple statewide tournaments while earning the National Speech & Debate Association’s Degree of Honor for his exceptional performance. In addition to his achievements in debate, Eli has also received recognition for his research endeavors at both the state and international levels, having been published in the Concord Review and named a 2023 New Jersey Scholar while in high school. Eli is eager to work with students as they begin to develop their research and rhetorical skills as budding debaters this summer!

Ryan Jiang
Debate Coach
Harvard University

  • Ryan is a rising Senior at Harvard University. He debated for Edina High School for 5 years in Varsity Public Forum Debate, qualifying for the Tournament of Champions 4 times with 14 career gold bids. Throughout his career, he captained the team and won the National Speech and Debate Season Opener, New York City Debate and Speech Invitational, Apple Valley Tournament, Dowling Catholic Paradigm, and Milo Cup, semi-finaled the Florida Blue Key Tournament and Round Robin, and reached late elimination rounds at tournaments like Glenbrooks, Yale, and the TOC. Individually, Ryan top spoke Minnesota sections and districts and Apple Valley, and earned second speaker at Bronx and Dowling. He prefers substantive debates but has had his fair share of theory and kritical rounds. He is excite to help Omega students to achieve their goals this summer

Anvay Sur
Director of Novice Education
Emory University

  • Anvay Sur is a rising Sophomore at Emory University and has been involved in debate since 8th grade. Since the summer of 2023, he has also been teaching at Omega. Throughout his high school career, Anvay has consistently placed at district tournaments and advanced to the late rounds at other competitions. Notably, he reached the quarterfinals at the UK Season Opener and earned a gold bid to the Tournament of Champions (TOC). With four years of teaching experience across various age groups, Anvay has also worked at Kumon as a Math and English tutor since 9th grade.

Yitao Wang
Debate Coach
Northwestern University

  • Yitao Wang is a junior at Northwestern University. She did four years of Varsity Public Forum Debate at Livingston High School, where she served as the Public Forum Debate Team Captain. Yitao has extensive experience debating on local and national circuits. Frequently placing in the top 4 at local competitions, Yitao qualified for the National Catholic Forensics League National Championship Tournament during her junior year. On the national circuit, Yitao has reached the quarterfinals of the Jean Ward Tournament, octofinals of the Milo Cup, triplefinals of the Yale Invitational, and earned the 9th best speaker award at the Tournament of Champions Digital Series #2. Outside of debate, Yitao is an avid writer and has received national and international recognition. Most notably, she won a National Gold Medal from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, was runner-up and published in the New York Times Op-Ed Contest, won 3rd place in the NJCTE statewide writing contest, and was published in Susquehanna University's literary magazine. In her free time, you can find Yitao taking long walks listening to Taylor Swift, venturing to NYC with her friends, finding new anime to watch, and obsessing over NYT games.

Daniel Zhang
Executive Director
Livingston High School

  • Daniel Zhang, Livingston High School Debate Captain, has been an active participant in Public Forum Debate for six years, earning multiple notable accolades at major national circuit tournaments. Recently, he placed in the top 16 of the Varsity division at the Northwestern University Invitational, championed the Varsity division at the Big Blue Invitational, and won the Opal Cup on the North American debate circuit. Daniel also reached the finals at the Ed Long Invitational, the semifinals at the Tournament of Champions (TOC) Digital Series 3, Quarterfinals at CFL, and placed in the TOC varsity triple finals at the Stanford Invitational, Princeton Classic and the Harvard National Speech and Debate Tournament.

    Beyond his success as a debater, Daniel is deeply passionate about coaching and mentoring. He has taught at Omega Speech and Debate's 2023, 2024 and 2025 summer camps and led the Omega’s semester debate programs, introducing Public Forum debate to over one hundred students from 5th to 9th grade through year-round weekly classes.

    Daniel is also committed to guiding and inspiring young children. He serves as a group leader at his Christian church, overseeing a group of elementary students during the church's summer Vacation Bible School (VBS). Additionally, he leads a weekly Bible study at CCCNJ.

Stephanie Yan
Debate Coach
NYU Stern

  • Stephanie Yan is a rising freshman at NYU Stern. She served as debate captain of the Speech and Debate team for two years at Livingston High School. Competitively, she earned three gold bids and five silver bids, and qualified for the Tournament of Champions. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading, and spending time with friends.

Amanda Zhong
Debate Coach
Rutgers University

  • Amanda Zhong is a rising freshman at Rutgers University. She has been actively competing in Public Forum Debate for the past four years. During that time, she has participated in numerous local and national circuit tournaments, earning a wide range of competitive honors.

    Her most notable achievements include earning three Varsity Gold Bids and four Silver Bids to the Tournament of Champions (TOC). She has advanced to late elimination rounds at prestigious tournaments such as the Harvard National Speech and Debate Tournament, Digital TOC Series 2, Arizona State HDSHC Invitational, University of Pennsylvania Liberty Bell Classic, and the National John Lewis SVUDL Tournament. She also reached the Semifinals of the Catholic Forensics League (CFL) Grand National Tournament, where she was named Second Alternate to NCFL Nationals, and qualified for the NJSDL State Championship.

    In addition, Amanda placed Top 16 at the Georgetown National Tournament, earning a 15th Place Speaker Award, advanced to the Top 32 at the Lexington Invitational, and was a Triple Octafinalist at the Stanford Invitational.

    Beyond debate, Amanda has completed over 100 hours of community service, earning the President’s Volunteer Service Award (Gold). She also competed in badminton for several years, achieving strong competitive results. In her free time, Amanda enjoys painting, graphic design, reading webtoons, and spending time with friends.

Neel Sahni
Debate Coach
University of Southern California

  • Neel Sahni is a senior at the University of Southern California. Through his four years at Livingston High School, he garnered impressive accolades from local and national circuit tournaments alike in Public Forum Debate. Notably, Neel qualified to the National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand Nationals Tournament in both his junior and senior year, placing as high as in the top 64 teams his junior year. Additionally, he reached top 32 at the Jack Howe Memorial Tournament his junior year and placed top 6 in his local Catholic Forensics League his junior and senior year, championing a local CFL tournament in the process. Beyond debate, Neel enjoys playing the flute and participating in his local HOSA Chapter, where he served as the club’s President and placed 1st internationally in Family Medicine last year. Overall, Neel is eager to teach his debate skills this summer at Omega!

Shreya Saravanan
Debate Coach
Cornell University

  • Shreya Saravanan (she/her) is a rising Sophomore at Cornell University. This has been Shreya's 4th year competing with Dalton and 2nd as the captain of the PF debate team, mentoring and coaching her teammates. Competitively, Shreya has won a gold bid, silver bid and qualified for the NSDA nationals. She has also reached octofinals at the Harvard Invitational, octofinals at the California State University Tournament, and places 2nd in the New York City District Tournament among other achievements. In her spare time, Shreya enjoys baking, hiking, and reading! She is so excited to join the Omega community this summer! `

Eric Wang
Debate Coach
Washington University in St. Louis

  • Eric is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis on a Full Tuition Scholarship from QuestBridge's National College Match program. He competed in Public Forum Debate for 4 years, amassing notable accolades from various local and national circuit tournaments. His most impressive awards include qualifying to NCFLs his junior and senior year, breaking to the top 64 his junior year. He has also reached top 16 at the Lakeland Westchester Classic, top 32 at Jack Howe Memorial Tournament, and placed top 6 at his local Catholic Forensics League. Beyond competing, Eric is an avid leader, helping to run practices for Varsity debaters both in person and on zoom. Outside of debate, Eric enjoys playing the alto saxophone, volunteering at the local Chinese School, and participating in HOSA, in which he has placed as high as 3rd place internationally for Family Medicine Careers.

Joanna Liu
Speech Coach
University Of Michigan

  • Joanna Liu is a freshman at University of Michigan. As the Speech captain of the Livingston High School Speech & Debate team, Joanna has thorough experience in competing and guiding others to success. Some of her notable individual finishes on the national level include being a finalist (6th place) out of 165 in Declamation at the NCFL Grand National Tournament (2023), a semi-finalist (9th place) out of 325 in Original Oratory at the 50th Annual Harvard National Speech & Debate Tournament (2024), and a finalist (3rd place) at the 48th University of Pennsylvania Speech & Debate Tournament (2023). Joanna also qualified for the forthcoming 2024 NCFL Grand National Tournament. Joanna's extensive experience in Speech & Debate has directly allowed her to succeed in various other areas. She is a 3x national FBLA qualifier (1x National Finalist) and back-to-back NJ FBLA champion, all in presentation-based events (Business Presentation & Public Speaking). In her free time, she enjoys listening to Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift, hanging out with friends, crying over the most random movies, and karaoke

Emma Wang
Speech Coach
New York University

  • Emma Wang is a freshman at New York University. Competing for four years at Livingston, Emma currently serves as a Speech Captain, actively leading team members to improve their speaking skills. Locally, Emma has finished as a finalist for almost every CFL tournament her junior year, qualifying for the Grand National Tournament in 2023. Nationally, as a Dramatic Performance competitor, she was a semi-finalist at the 48th University of Pennsylvania Speech and Debate Tournament. Outside of speech, Emma is an avid musician, competing internationally for piano, and serving as a co-principal cellist. Since 2017, she has qualified annually for state, regional, and national NAfME and ACDA Honor Choirs. This summer, she looks forward to empowering Omega students to express themselves with confidence!

Jasper Datta
Debate Coach
Claremont McKenna College

  • Jasper Datta is a junior at Claremont McKenna College. He debated at Newton South High School for four years. During his illustrious debate career, Jasper won the Columbia University Invitational, the New England District Tournament, placed 3rd at the Tournament of Champions, and placed top-16 at the National Speech and Debate Tournament. In his free time, Jasper researches public policy for think tanks, plays classical piano, and watches Oscar-nominated movies.

Aarush Raj
Debate Coach
Duke University

  • Aarush Raj is a junior at Duke University. He did Varsity Public Forum Debate at Livingston High School for 4 years. Over his debate career, Aarush garnered extremely notable accolades from multiple large, national circuit debate tournaments. His most impressive accomplishments include reaching the top 16 at the Lakeland Westchester Classic, top 16 at the University of Pennsylvania Liberty Bell Classic, and the top 32 at the prestigious Villiger National tournament. He has also placed in the top 10 on the New Jersey Catholic Forensics League circuit. Furthermore, Aarush was an active leader on his high school’s speech and debate team. There, he consistently interacted with new members and beginners, especially by helping them learn Public Forum debate skills. In his free time, Aarush enjoys playing soccer and the violin.

Ishan Saxena
Debate Coach
University of California, Berkeley

  • Ishan Saxena graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He debated Varsity Public Forum at Livingston High School for four years, serving as Team Captain and building the team up to the largest membership in its history. He is the first debater in the history of his high school to qualify for the Tournament of Champions, National Catholic Forensics League Grand Nationals, and the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament in the same season. He is also Livingston’s first-ever debater to secure multiple gold bids to the Tournament of Champions. Ishan has earned a multitude of individual and team accolades. Some of his notable accomplishments include reaching the quarterfinals of the University of Pennsylvania Liberty Bell Classic, the Scarsdale Invitational, and the Ridge Invitational, as well as reaching the Round of 16 at the Sunvitational and the Columbia Invitational. Ishan also earned a silver bid at the Princeton Invitational Tournament. Additionally, Ishan championed two consecutive NCFL qualifying tournaments in order to qualify for the NCFL Grand National Tournament. Individually, Ishan’s numerous competitive accomplishments include winning the award for Top Speaker at the Villiger National Tournament as well as the award for Fourth Best Speaker at the Blake Invitational. In terms of experience in the realm of coaching, Ishan has previously taught fifth through eighth-graders at a debate academy in the Fall and Winter. Additionally, he has privately taught debate to individual students. Finally, he was tasked with teaching the novice debaters at his high school. His instruction enabled them to reach elimination rounds at multiple local and national tournaments.

Chris Sylvester
Debate Coach
Yale University

  • Chris Sylvester is a junior at Yale University. He did Varsity Public Forum Debate at Walt Whitman High School for 4 years. Throughout his illustrious debate career, Chris earned four gold bids, reached the semifinals at Columbia Invitational, and co-championed the Fall Georgetown Invitational. He was ranked as high as 16th in the nation in Public Forum debate.

Samuel Hall
Debate Coach
University of Chicago

  • Samuel Hall graduated from the University of Chicago with Bachelor’s Degrees in Math and Economics. He is a former public forum debater for Livingston High School. During his four-year career, he qualified for the Tournament of Champions twice, a tournament reserved for the top 200 debate teams in the nation. In addition, he reached deep elimination rounds in many national tournaments, including Octafinals at the Sunvitational and Quarterfinals at the University of Pennsylvania Invitational. Overall, he has found debate to be a home to find his voice and to explore his passions in foreign policy and economics. He is very excited to share those passions with younger debaters!

Brandon Lu
Debate Coach
University of Michigan

  • Brandon Lu is an MD/PhD student at the University of Michigan Medical School. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from New York University, where he was a member of the Phi Lambda Upsilon National Chemistry Honor Society. Over his 4-year high school Varsity Public Forum debate career, Brandon earned top 16 or top 8 finishes at multiple, prestigious national circuit debate tournaments, such as the Princeton University and University of Pennsylvania invitationals. He also nearly championed the competitive Pennsbury National tournament. Through these impressive performances, Brandon earned qualifications to the Tournament of Champions (TOC), where he placed in the top 16, the NCFL Grand National Tournament, and the NSDA National Championship, where he placed in the top 60. Brandon has since continued his career by doing college policy debate, in which he has championed two national tournaments: The New York University and Rutgers University invitationals. Additionally, Brandon has extensive coaching experience. As a private debate coach for Livingston High School, he elevated their debate teams to national prominence by coaching them to reaching late elimination rounds at countless, large national circuit tournaments. Most notably, he coached the very first Gold TOC qualifiers, as well as the first national champions who won the silver TOC, in Livingston’s school history. Furthermore, Brandon has helped lead extremely successful debate classes, summer workshops, and tournaments for the New York City Urban Debate League—the largest debate league in the United States, which thousands of New York students participate in.