Skylar Wang of Blake earns second consecutive Public Forum title

Increasing protection of water resources and legalizing all illicit drugs were two of the topics argued at the 2022 Debate State Tournament – the 121st edition and longest-running event of the Minnesota State High School League. This was the second consecutive year the tournament was held in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Skylar Wang and Elizabeth Terveen of Blake took top honors in Public Forum. Their victory came after nine rounds of debate and they won 6-1 with the affirmative argument over Eastview’s Isaiah Dalzell and Izhan Qureishy. Wang and Terveen argued for the United States federal government legalizing all illicit drugs.

This was the second consecutive title for Wang; she won with Joshua Enebo in 2021. This was also the third consecutive Public Forum win Blake. Morgan Swigert and Jack Johnson claimed top honors in 2020.

Dalzell and Qureishy also came into the tournament with previous experience. They bowed out in the semifinals in 2021.

Molly Welch of Minnetonka claimed her first title in the Lincoln-Douglas competition. She defeated Ananth Veluvali of Edina 5-2 in the final round.

Welch’s argument against the appropriation of outer space by private entities being just followed nine rounds of debate conducted over two days.

The results of eight rounds of debate proved that Eric Li and Archan Sen of Eagan were the best policy debaters. Li and Sen argued for the federal government substantially increasing its protection of water resources in the United States as they defeated Clara Conry and Annabelle Niblett of Minneapolis South 4-1.

This was a reversal of the 2021 championship for Conry when she and Gabe Chang-Deutsch defeated Li and Sen 4-1 with a negative argument. Conry was in the hunt for a third consecutive Policy crown, also having won with Chang-Deutsch in 2020.

Connor Brynteson of Robbinsdale Cooper won his first title in Congressional debate. Brynteson placed fourth in 2021.

Congressional is a mock legislative assembly competition where students draft bills (proposed laws) and resolutions (position statements). Their peers then debate the legislation and vote whether or not to pass it into law. There were six rounds of Congressional debate, concluding with two Super Sessions on Saturday afternoon.

The Policy debate portion of the tournament has been conducted since 1902 and the Lincoln-Douglas portion of the tournament, which was an invitational event from 1986 through 1989, was added to the tournament in 1990. Public Forum was introduced in 2013 and Congressional was added in 2018.

Results are available at https://www.mshsl.org/sports-and-activities/debate.