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District 196 Excels at MSHSL State Debate Tournament

 

District 196 students showcased their exceptional debate skills at the 124th Annual Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) State Debate Tournament, earning top honors across multiple categories.

Eagan High School distinguished itself as the only school in Minnesota to place in every debate category, and their Policy Debate team of Tristin Nguyen and Param Thakkar won the State Championship. Notable performances from Eagan High School also included:

  • Congressional Debate: Saanvi Seth (3rd place) and Nabiha Kashif (5th place)
  • Lincoln Douglas Debate Semifinalist: Alex Huang (top 4 finisher)
  • Public Forum Debate Semifinalists: Shreyan Jena and Hayagiriv Sajja (top 4 finishers)
  • Policy Debate Quarterfinalists: Mia Werden and Karyn Wochnick (top 8 finishers)

Eastview High School students Herawie Kebede and Abby Tranter also made the quarterfinals in Public Forum Debate.
 

Debate All-State Honorees: The Minnesota Debate Teachers Association (MDTA) recognized 11 District 196 debaters with All-State Honors:

  • Policy Debate: Tristin Nguyen, Param Thakkar, and Maddie Risk of Eagan High School 
  • Lincoln Douglas Debate: Peter Klingberg of Eagan High School 
  • Congressional Debate: Saanvi Seth and Nabiha Kashif of Eagan High School and Ebrahim Mohamed of Eastview High School 
  • Public Forum Debate: Sayf Aziz, Herawie Kebede, Ari Miranda Morales, and Abby Tranter of Eastview High School
     

Team Awards: Eagan High School earned the MDTA Challenge Cup in Policy Debate and Congressional Debate, securing its position as the top-performing school in these categories. The Challenge Cup is awarded annually to the school with the highest cumulative success at local and state tournaments. 

Chris McDonald coaches the Eagan High School Debate Team, which is 147 debaters strong. He spoke about the program's success at the District 196 School Board Meeting on Feb. 10. “When we started the program at Eagan High School, we made a commitment that no student would ever be cut, and we would do every form of Debate that the State High School League recognizes,” said Coach McDonald. “To get to the state tournament in any one category is outstanding. To excel in all four is a testament to the students’ hard work, effort, and dedication. Eagan High School was the only school to place in the top five in each debate format.”

Individual Highlights

  • Param Thakkar of Eagan High School capped off his high school debate career with three state medals in Policy Debate—quarterfinalist as a sophomore, semifinalist as a junior, and state champion as a senior. He was also honored as the MDTA Tamar Kaplan Student of the Year.
  • Mia Werden, Karyn Wochnick, and Tristin Nguyen of Eagan High School also secured their second state medal.

Congratulations to the following students who qualified and competed at state; Nick Melvin, Mia Werden, Karyn Wochnick, Josiah Schaffhausen, Hayden Davis, Abhinav Vaddi, Ashwin Kalyan, and Adhitya Balasubramanian from Eagan High School; Oliver Joncas, Nitya Khullar, Cara Copus, Clementina Angieri, Zachary Craig and Alyssa Reining from Apple Valley High School; Ebrahim Mohamed, Joann Kariapuram, Sayf Aziz, Naomi Cook, Ari Miranda Morales and Amelia Haraldson from Eastview High School; Tahla Ahmad, Arhith Prem, Aahan Patel, Dyana Reyes, Shreya Shobankumar, Keshav Govindarajan, and Maggie Sidla from Rosemount High School.