THS debate team members Ella Pruitt and Cayden Hunter placed second in the Class 4A two-speaker debate championship Saturday night at THS.

The THS team finished second to the Chanute team of Andrew Woods and Layla Harbin. Chanute has now won three straight two-speaker titles, with Woods being on all three teams. Hannah Furrow teamed up with Woods for the first two titles.

“Both kids worked hard and we were very excited about that,” Harrell said about Pruitt and Hunter making the finals. “We were really hoping we could get our shot (at the Chanute squad) and we got our shot.”

Tonganoxie hosted this year’s 4A and 3-1A championships Friday and Saturday at the THS campus.

Harrell said about 175 debate participants were there for four-speaker and two-speaker tourneys at the Class 4A and 3-1A levels. It marked the second time THS was home to state debate. Tonganoxie also hosted in 2013 when the THS four-speaker team won the 4A title with a 12-4 record.

Some teams this year came to the area Thursday night so they didn’t have to travel far the morning of state.

“We had the cold weather, but people didn’t have to deal with snow and ice on the roads,” Harrell said, noting the tourneys finished up about halftime of the Chiefs game Saturday.

The THS four-speaker team placed sixth at state in 4A.

Members of the four-speaker team were Gage Slabaugh, Eric Bieser, Solomon Carter, Joshua Duvall and alternates Brooke Rise and Heather Leeper.

“We’re pretty young,” Harrell said. “We had some senior teams, but we’ve got a tot of young folks, too.

“They found out what the competition’s like, so they know what that looks like moving forward.”

Blue Valley North won the 6A two-speaker title with the team of Clair Ain and Edward Mu. De Soto (Isabella Guess and Lucienna Katherine Guess) won the 5A title, while Wichita Collegiate won 3-1A (co-champions Ayaan Parikh/Wiliam Meyer, Samuel Brittain/Andrew Porter, Daniella Ngunjiri/Cassilda Njeri and Ingird Lampton/Elizabeth Timsah).

McPherson won its second straight 4A title with a 14-0 record Monday. Bishop Miege placed second (12-2) and Buhler third (7-7).

In 6A, juggernaut Washburn Rural (12-2) won the four-speaker title for the eighth straight year. Blue Valley West (11-3) placed second and Free State (9-5) third.

Blue Valley Southwest (13-1) ran away with the 5A title and extended its own dynasty. BVSW won its ninth straight four-speaker title. Sumner Academy (9-5) placed second and Newton (8-6) third.

In 3-1A, Silver Lake also won in convincing fashion. SLHS went 14-0. Sterling placed second (9-5) and Buhler third (8-6).

“It went well,” Harrell said. “Folks that were on our staff, administration, our community, we had a lot of great help. Gambino’s kicked in on Friday and 1866 catered on Saturday.

“A lot of alumni came back, some from great distances just so they could be part of it and judge.”