This past weekend, the HHS Debate team traveled to Liberty University in Lynchburg for the two-day state debate tournament. After an uncountable number of rounds, points, and arguments, the debate team emerged state champions.

“It’s great to see everything we’ve accomplished this year,” said Lincoln-Douglas debate captain Ryan Waligora. “We’ve come a long way, and it’s nice to see that pay off for everyone.”

At the state meet, debaters competed in a total of five preliminary rounds, after which approximately half of each debate group “broke” into a single-elimination, tournament style bracket. The first three preliminary rounds occurred on Friday, with the following two preliminary rounds and all of the break rounds on Saturday.

After winning both the district and regional competitions, HHS sent fifteen debaters to states, just shy of the sixteen possible. Between each of the debaters, HHS received a total of sixteen sweepstakes points, rocketing the team to first place over Dominion, who received twelve.

Lydia Hatfield and Michelle Waligora were semifinalists in public forum. Ryan Waligora and Daniel Roth were each quarterfinalists in Lincoln-Douglas, with Ben Marks placing first. In policy, the team of Howard Zuo and Samantha Heitsch were semifinalists, and Aubtin Heydari and Neil Mehta were finalists. Student Congress debater Isaac Falk was a finalist in super session.