In recent debate competitions, one U-High debate duo was awarded a scholarship and another secured a bid toward the Tournament of Champions, a prestigious debate tournament.

Cyrus Esmailzadeh and Mahi Shah have been awarded a scholarship from the University of Michigan, allowing them to attend a prestigious seven-week debate camp next summer for free. The scholarship was given to only 12 teams nationally.

The varsity team of Connor Booth and Adam Cheema secured a bid toward the Tournament of Champions by advancing to semifinals at the Mamaroneck Longhorn Classic Dec. 2-4. Cyrus and Mahi qualified for the tournament in October.

“It feels really exciting, but a bit daunting,” Connor said. “It definitely means that I gotta gear up for a lot of work ahead.”

After the scholarship was awarded, Cyrus felt surprised but also excited. He said getting it almost didn’t feel real, but he’s looking forward to bonding with people with this shared interest.

“It’s a lot of fun. It has a lot of the top debaters and coaches in the country,” he said.

The scholarship also gives them a more pronounced leadership role at competitions, given that they are both juniors often competing against seniors.

“It definitely feels kind of intimidating, especially when we see senior teams that had a lot of success last year,” Cyrus said. “It’s terrifying but it definitely feels like a sort of cushion. We’re just getting started here.”