The Classic Debate State Tournament took place at Two Rivers High School in West Saint Paul on December 1st and 2nd. Debaters Clark Hazard and Leon Yang participated in the novice division which is reserved for students in 7th-9th grade or in their first year of debate competition. After 5 rounds of debate, Leon and Clark advanced to the elimination portion of the tournament with a 4-1 record where they debated other top ranking teams from the tournament.
Fairmont HY then advanced over Two Rivers JB in a 3-0 decision and then advanced again over Mounds Park Academy LM on a 2-1 decision. Fairmont HY then lost to Mounds Park Academy KL on a 3-0 decision. A top 4 ranking at the state tournament is a first for Fairmont Classic Debate. There were 15 schools and more than 260 individual competitors at the tournament.
Classic Debate is a switch-side debate format where students prepare arguments both for and against a resolution. The resolution for the state tournament was, Resolved: The United States federal government should break up big tech companies by strengthening and enforcing antitrust legislation. As a part of their preparation, the team collectively prepared more than 100 individual pieces of evidence to support a variety of arguments on the topic.
We are proud to give a big congratulations to Clark Hazard and Leon Yang for their success at the state tournament.
