Freshmen brothers Brandon Park (left) and Maddox Park (right) won four of their six preliminary round debates against teams from the prestigious debate institutes of Illinois and Georgia, including the Westminster School.
The brothers did not lose a single ballot across their four elimination round matches, going a perfect 12/12 en route to the National Championship.
This is Damien High School's first finals appearance and win in the 35-year history of the First Year Policy Debate tournament.
Additionally, Maddox ranked as the tournament's fourth best speaker, and Brandon ranked as the eighth best speaker.
The team was coached by Damien alumni Chris Parades '04 (current St. Lucy's director of debate) and their brother Luke Park '24.
At the Second Year Policy Debate tournament, sophomores Teddy Wachtler and Josh Li finished in fifth place. Teddy ranked as fourth best speaker of the tournament and Josh ranked as the ninth best speaker.