The greatest debaters in U-High’s history are not lost to the past — in fact, they walk the halls of the school today.

As a debating duo, seniors Dheven Unni and Michael Hellie have earned six bids to the Tournament of Champions this season, making them the most successful debate pair in U-High history. The pair earned a sixth bid at the California Invitational in Berkeley Feb. 17-19.

Dheven and Michael ranked ninth seed out of 185 teams in the varsity division. Michael was 13th best of 370 individual speakers.

The Tournament of Champions is April 28-30 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Prior to Dheven and Michael’s accomplishment, the highest number of bids a U-High debate duo earned was two.

Obtaining a bid is difficult, according to Dr. Sonny Patel, the duo’s debate coach. It requires lasting until the final rounds.

In the case of the California Invitational, Dheven and Michael lasted until the octofinals, when only 16 teams were left.

Dr. Patel attributes Dheven and Michael’s success to the different skills they offer, as well as their partner dynamic.

“Michael was pretty exceptional from his beginning. He was a voracious reader, and he developed and diversified the arguments he knows, meaning different kinds of postmodern, poststructuralist philosophy,” Dr.  Patel said. “To know that kind of scholarship really well, he’s kind of singular at the pace with which he does this. A good amount of his success in this partnership is Michael’s ability to use that fund of knowledge in very creative ways.”

Dheven, on the other hand, is skilled in debate organization and game flow.

“One of his strong suits is that he can both debate in terms of policy, things that are very grounded and substantial, as well as things that are very philosophical,” Dr.  Patel said. “I think part of the success of them as a duo is that both of them are willing to listen to each other’s criticism. They are the harshest on each other, and I think that drives both of them to do better.”