Last week while the majority of the student body was just coming back from their winter break, the Tiger Debate Team went to the University of Texas in Austin to compete in the UIL Congress Debate Tournament. The tigers that went to debate consisted of Neil Green, Nick Eppler, and Sam Guffey. The contestants have three minutes to debate about either the pros or cons of a certain current event. The goal is to make as many speeches as you can. The top eight advance on to the next round. They have a month to prepare for the competition.

Unfortunately, none of the Tigers were able to rank high enough to make it to the finals. Sam Guffey was “really disappointed” because he was only able to make one speech during his turn. Nick Eppler felt that he did “pretty good” even though he did not make it to the finals. He was ranked 10th out of 20 in his room. Nick’s favorite topic to debate about was about passing a bill that would ban AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the business scene, ultimately protecting many jobs for people.  Both Nick and Sam said that Neil did well in his room. He was one spot away from qualifying for finals.

Overall the Tigers worked hard to make it to the finals, yet the team barely missed the chance to compete in the finals.