The previous weekend was a big one for Tomball High School’s Debate Team, with multiple finalists in many events as well as many students making significant moves towards qualifying for the state competition in March of 2024.
The tournament, which took place at Grand Oaks High School, was a push towards qualifying for the Texas Forensics Association’s State tournament. The Varsity World Schools Debate team worked hard for weeks to prepare for the tournament; writing cases and practicing with professional judges in and out of school. Ross Stroble, Sisi Altom, and Arav Mehta comprised the Varsity team for this tournament, and led the school to a second place award. The runner ups earned six out of the ten total points required to qualify for the state competition this year and plan to continue their efforts to qualify.
Along with the accomplishments of the World Schools debate team, there were many others that broke to both quarterfinals and semifinals for other events. Extemporaneous speaker, Peyton Tegeder, earned a place in the quarterfinals. Victoria Ellent made it to semifinals for her performance in poetry. In Cross-Examination Debate, Aayan Pattnayak and Mario represented Tomball as semifinalists.
After a highly successful tournament, the debate team continues to prepare for further competition, with their next tournament coming up in December.
