Hot on the heels of a successful showing at the Jan. 11-12 section tournament, the St. Paul Academy and Summit School debate team had a near-perfect showing at the Jan. 18-19 Public Forum State Tournament. Each school sends two teams to the tournament, and SPA sent the duos of seniors Hagop Toghramadjian and Sam Wood with senior Jeron Mariani and junior Mason Mohring. Both SPA teams advanced to the quarterfinals and defeated the remaining opponents to face each other in a final round, which the team of Toghramadjian-Wood won on a 7-0 decision.

Both teams were ecstatic with the results. “I enjoyed the competition as well as the challenge of competing against such great debaters,” Mariani said. “I am especially happy for my classmates and my partner, Mason.”

Spartan Debate’s next journey will be to the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Birmingham, AL on June 16-21. SPA will send Toghramadjian and Wood as well as the team of senior Ibad Jafri and sophomore Thomas Toghramadjian.