Two days. 134 teams from 70 schools. Six preliminary rounds. Four elimination rounds. One final championship round. Sophomores Ben Zimmermann and Fionn Adamian won it all.

Zimmermann and Adamian placed first in varsity public forum debate, where teams of two debate against each other, last weekend at Glenbrooks, the largest high school-hosted speech and debate tournament in the country. Their win at the Chicago competition was particularly exceptional because they are underclassmen.

They completed four debates on Saturday and seven on Sunday, losing only two preliminary rounds. Two other Whitman pairs also attended Glenbrooks. Juniors Rachel Baron and Evan Cernea lost in double-octafinals, and junior Nicole Payne and senior Ali Rohde failed to advance past preliminaries.

Zimmermann and Adamian prepared for weeks before the tournament, researching and discussing the topics. To practice, they also talked to each other, their coaches and the two other Whitman teams who competed, Zimmermann said. They worked mostly separately for about an hour a day the week of the tournament but spent several hours preparing the night before the debates, Adamian said.

The pair prepared for the tournament just like any other, not expecting to bring home the championship trophy, Adamian said.

“We were pretty calm and ready, mainly because we were sophomores, so we didn’t really have any pressure on us going into rounds,” he said.

Zimmermann and Adamian found out that they had won just minutes after the final round when the judges finished deliberating, they said.

“We were pretty excited,” Zimmermann said. “It was all pretty exciting that day because it happened so fast, one round after another after another, and we were pretty shocked in the end.”

Adamian agrees that the win came as a surprise.

“I was particularly shocked,” he said. “I didn’t think that we would win, and I didn’t really believe that we had until it was actually announced.”

Both debaters joined the team at the beginning of their freshman year and enjoyed it from the start because of the interesting research and competitive atmosphere, they said. They have been a public forum team since last December, but their friendship outside of debate also helps with their teamwork and success.

“We seem to complement each other well and have good team chemistry,” Zimmermann said.