Debate team defends state title

The West High debate team defended their state title at the IHSSA state tournament in Ankeny with 413 points on Jan. 8.

Hanah Kitamoto, Print Co-Editor-In-Chief
January 9, 2022

The West High debate team competed in an in-person tournament for the first time since 2020. The debate team traveled to Ankeny to compete in the IHSSA state tournament Jan. 7-8. West High repeated as state champions at the tournament earning 413 points.

West High placed four students in Congress. Fanshuo Cheng ’23 and Bivan Shrestha ’22 in B House, with Cheng as the top speaker in the B House. Pakshal Jain ’22 placed third and Advika Shah ’22 repeated as state champion in the event. In the Lincoln-Douglass debate, Aviva Fraer ’23 and Hanae Matsumoto ’23 were named state semi-finalists, and Flora Zhu ’25 was named as a state quarter-finalist. Jayden Shin ’23 and Nathan Weimer ’23 finished as first state runner-up and state champion, respectively. Alice Doresca ’23 and Catherine Yang ’23 were quarter-finalists and Andrew Dong ’24 and Ben Kleiman ’24 were named semi-finalists in Public Forum. Miles Clark ’22 and Akhil Bharanidhar ’22 won the Policy Debate state finals in a 3-0 decision. Kamakshee Kuchhal ’24 and Jane Lam ’24, Maya Chu ’23 and Andy Luo ’22 were named semi-finalists. Additionally, Ashley Seo ’23 and Kyle Chi ’23 were named quarter-finalists.