Two Debaters Make History at State Tournament

Hawken School claimed both final round participants in this year’s Lincoln-Douglas category of the Ohio High School Speech League’s Speech and Debate Tournament, held March 2-3 at Jackson High School. Ani Dasarathy ‘12 won the state championship and Aric Floyd ‘14 was state runner up, giving Hawken the distinction of being the first school, in the history of the competition, to claim both students in a final category round.
 

Ani won the round on a 3-2 decision.
 

Will Mascaro ‘14 was also recognized at the awards ceremony for his 4th place achievement in the category of Congressional Debate. Other Hawken students receiving recognition were: Josh Petrack ‘12, a semi-finalist in Congressional Debate; Adam Wolf ‘13, octa-finalist in Policy Debate; and Noah Geller ’14, an octa-finalist in Policy Debate. Overall, Hawken placed 8th in team sweepstakes.
 

The Debate Team is under the direction of Robert Shurtz, teacher of Science/Math at the Upper School, and Director of STEMM Pathways.
 

The Ohio High School Speech League was founded in 1927, with an original membership of approximately 25 schools. Today it has over 110 private, parochial and public schools as members, including the Beachwood, Shaker Heights and Chagrin Falls School Districts. Its purpose is to promote forensic training and competition and to recognize personal excellence of Ohio students in those tournaments. There are 4 debate types, and 9 individual events. For more information on the tournament, please visit the Ohio High School Speech League.