Over Presidents’ Day weekend 2025, the Harvard National High School Invitational Forensics Tournament (widely regarded as the nation’s largest and most prestigious high school debate competition​) delivered high drama and breakout performances. With 526 schools from 42 states and over 4,000 entries converging in Cambridge​ the tournament crowned new champions, showcased winning arguments on pressing issues, and even sparked viral moments that had the speech and debate community buzzing.

A Record-Breaking Tournament in Cambridge

This year’s Harvard National Speech & Debate Tournament (Feb 15–17, 2025) lived up to its formidable reputation. The annual tournament drew hundreds of teams and thousands of competitors, making it the largest national-circuit high school forensics event of the season​.

Students competed across Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas (LD) Debate, Public Forum (PF) Debate, Congressional Debate, and a dozen speech events, filling classrooms across the Harvard campus with rapid-fire argumentation and powerful oratory.

“The tournament featured 526 schools from 42 states and over 4,000 entries in various events,” reported one school district news release​

Elite debaters flew in from coast to coast (and even abroad) to test their skills on a national stage. For many, Harvard is a mid-season pinnacle — a chance to earn bids to the Tournament of Champions and to face the fiercest competition all in one weekend.

The sheer scale and diversity of the competition created an electric atmosphere. Novice and veteran competitors alike mingled in bustling prep rooms and hallways, exchanging ideas and anxieties. Judges included accomplished college debaters and coaches, ensuring that every round was evaluated with a keen eye for logic, evidence, and rhetoric. By the end of the weekend, only a handful of extraordinary students remained undefeated, ready to claim the Harvard titles in their events!

Harvard’s 2025 tournament drew teams from 42 states, making it one of the largest high school debate competitions ever​

Above: Students from Plano West Sr. High (TX) celebrate after the awards ceremony on Harvard’s campus.

Champions Emerge: Major Debate & Speech Winners

After three intense days, new champions were crowned in each division. In Public Forum Debate, the team of Aayush Appan & Yang Bai from Plano West Senior High School (TX) emerged victorious, besting 347 other PF teams to claim first place​.

The duo navigated a gauntlet of elimination rounds, debating the timely resolution on U.S. accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC) with exceptional poise and depth. In fact, Plano West’s contingent had a banner tournament – one of their own, Anuj Lohtia, also earned the Top Speaker award in PF for the highest average speaker points​

Meanwhile, in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, it was a big weekend for Lake Highland Preparatory School (FL). Senior Prateek Seela clinched the LD championship title, adding Harvard to his list of major wins this season​.

Seela’s victory in the one-on-one LD format came after debating topics ranging from international treaties to moral philosophy. He triumphed in a split decision in finals, capping an impressive run through a bracket stacked with many of the nation’s top-ranked LD debaters.

The tournament isn’t just about debate – it also hosts one of the most competitive speech contests anywhere. In Extemporaneous Speaking, an eye-popping 281 extempers vied for the title​,

Ultimately, Robert Zhang (Elkins High School, TX) lived up to his #1 national ranking, winning the extemp championship by delivering impromptu analyses of current events with clarity and command​.

Zhang led a star-studded final round of extemp that included five of the top-ranked speakers in the nation. His victory by a three-rank margin over runner-up Daphne Kalir-Starr (College Prep, CA) underscored his dominance in the event​

Other notable champions included Sarah Koshy of Greenhill School (TX), who won the Harvard Lincoln-Douglas Round Robin, and the duo from Jasper High School (TX) that took first in one of the supplemental Public Forum divisions. In speech events, students from across the country earned gold in categories like Dramatic Interpretation, Original Oratory, and Informative Speaking, reflecting the depth of talent present. The breadth of winners — hailing from Texas, Florida, New Jersey, California and beyond — highlighted how truly national this tournament has become.

Winning Arguments and Standout Moments

The final rounds at Harvard were a showcase of persuasive prowess and well-prepared strategy. In Public Forum, Appan and Bai from Plano West ultimately prevailed debating the resolution “Resolved: The United States should accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.” The Texas team had honed a compelling case on the pro side, arguing that U.S. participation in the ICC would bolster international justice and American credibility.

In the final debate, they faced a polished opposition team from Winston Churchill High (MD) that cautioned against ceding U.S. sovereignty. According to observers, Appan and Bai’s rebuttals deftly addressed concerns about sovereignty by citing historical precedents of U.S. engagement in international tribunals and leveraging moral imperatives. Their closing focus on recent human rights abuses — and how ICC membership could help prevent them — proved persuasive, earning them the unanimous nod from judges.

Lincoln-Douglas champion Prateek Seela’s winning argumentation was equally remarkable. In the LD final, debating a complex policy topic on international treaties, Seela combined rigorous evidence with moral framing. He referenced political theory and real-world examples in the same breath, an approach that judges praised as both intellectual and accessible. “He had a professor-like way of breaking down abstract ideas into relatable terms,” one judge noted. Seela’s ability to stay cool under rapid questioning (cross-examination in LD can be notoriously intense) set him apart in high-pressure moments.

One of the standout performances in the speech categories came from extemp champion Robert Zhang. In his final 7-minute speech, Zhang addressed a question on global economic instability with an outline that could rival a think-tank report – except he had only 30 minutes to prepare it. He opened with a recent headline about inflation in Europe, wove in expert quotes from memory, and concluded by predicting how those trends would impact U.S. markets​

The judges awarded him multiple first-place ranks, making him the only finalist to achieve that distinction​. It was Zhang’s fourth major tournament win of the season, cementing his status as the top extemporaneous speaker on the circuit.

From TikTok to Tradition: Viral Buzz at the Tournament

In addition to intense competition, Harvard’s 2025 tournament had its share of heartfelt and viral moments. Throughout the weekend, students and coaches captured candid snippets of the experience for social media. One TikTok video that gained traction featured debaters reacting emotionally after rounds – from tearful hugs after a narrow loss to jumping for joy upon advancing to finals​.

Captioned “we are debate kids” with hashtags like #debate #tournament #win #viral, the clip racked up thousands of views as it resonated with debate aficionados nationwide​

Another memorable incident occurred during the awards ceremony. As winners were announced in Harvard’s historic Sanders Theatre, a spontaneous cheer erupted when Aayush Appan & Yang Bai were named PF champions – not just from their Plano West teammates, but from several rival teams as well. It was a touching display of sportsmanship and respect; the Texas duo had earned admiration over the years on the national circuit, and their peers were genuinely happy to see them triumph. Many students took to Instagram afterwards to congratulate the champions, reposting photos of Appan and Bai hoisting their trophy bowl in front of Harvard’s ivy-covered halls​

Coaches also shared proud moments on social media. Plano West’s coach lauded their team’s work ethic in a Facebook post, noting that “three years of grind led to this Harvard victory – proof that preparation meets opportunity.” In a similar vein, the Uniondale High School team (NY) described the tournament as “really cool” and a valuable learning experience for their students, who relished the chance to face schools from across the continent​

​When all was said and done, the 2025 Harvard Speech & Debate Tournament left a lasting legacy. New stars were born, like the Plano West PF team, and seasoned contenders like Robert Zhang confirmed their elite status. The tournament’s influence stretched far beyond the weekend; videos of final round highlights circulated in debate classrooms, and winning cases and speeches became study material for teams preparing for upcoming nationals. As the circuit looks ahead to the Tournament of Champions and National Speech & Debate Association Nationals later in the year, the stories written at Harvard – of grit, eloquence, and unity – continue to inspire high school debaters everywhere.