From the THV11 Newsroom:LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Two juniors from Little Rock Central High School have made Arkansas history after becoming the first team and only team from the state to win the Harvard University National Speech and Debate Tournament.
The duo, Jack Liu and Shangyu Wu, traveled to Harvard University in February to compete in the tournament as part of Central’s policy debate team. Going into the tournament they were ranked second in the nation.
Liu and Wu would go undefeated in seven preliminary debates and then advanced all the way through to the final four where they punched their tickets to the finals.
In the finals, the pair went up against the Newark Science team from New Jersey, where they ended up winning in a 2-1 decision to be named the 2026 Harvard Policy Champions.
The high schoolers have been ranked in the nation’s top 10 debate team since the start of the season. They have earned eight total bids for the Tournament of Champions, which is slated to happen from April 11 through 13 in Kentucky.
Liu and Wu will now head into three national championships where the school district said they are “focused and ready” to make it all the way.
For more news from Little Rock and around the state visit www.thv11.com.
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