December 7, 2017
The MPA Upper School Debate team competed at the State Debate Tournament last weekend, placing third overall! The varsity team of Pranay Somayajula and Meg Wilkening were semifinalists, losing on an extremely close decision. As a senior, Pranay was both proud and nostalgic as the tournament came to a close.
“I’m really proud of Meg and myself for getting as far as we did. Competing at state was definitely a little bittersweet for me, as it was my last high school debate tournament and debate has meant a lot to me over the last four years,” he said.
Though he’ll be graduating from MPA this spring, he is anticipating a lot of success for the team he is leaving and knows that they’re ready to learn more and conquer new challenges next year.
“The competition was definitely tough, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen MPA compete at the State Tournament with more determination than we did this past weekend, and that’s been reflected throughout the season. I was really happy to see my debate career at MPA end so well,” Pranay said. “I’m also especially proud of our younger debaters who are easily the most dedicated and successful group of novices I’ve ever seen. After what I saw this weekend, I’m confident MPA debate is in a great spot for next year and years to come.”
The younger, novice teams showed an absolute promise for growth and devotion to MPA Debate. Freshmen Garrett Hollihan and Hana Miller were champions of their division (69 teams!), freshmen Ellen Vergin and Isak Dai were in the semifinals. and sophomore Quincy Lewis and freshman Ryan Ghose made it to the octofinals.
“I am still kind of in shock,” Hana said. “Never in a million years could I possibly have guessed we won. I remember the teams in each playoff round being announced, and I was astonished that we were mentioned, all the way to finals.”
Congratulations, Panthers! We’re so proud of all of you!
