Mount Si High School seniors Ryan Hartman and Kevin Pusich and juniors Dana Korssjoen and Ruary Thompson placed first and second, respectively, at the 2015 State Speech and Debate Tournament hosted by the University of Puget Sound on March 21 to 22.

Both teams made it to the final round, resulting in an unprecedented matchup of two Mount Si teams for the championship title in the State Public Forum Debate competition. Team Hartman/Pusich took first place and team Korssjoen/Thompson, in their first year of debate competition, earned second.

“This is in the first time in public forum debate history in Washington state that a school has closed out the state tournament—finishing in both first and second places,” said Chelsea King, Mount Si debate co-coach. “It’s been an extraordinary year and we couldn’t be prouder.”

Both teams will compete at Nationals in June, in Dallas.

At least one team from Mount Si has already earned an invitation to the national Tournament of Champions, set for April in Kentucky.