Houston, TX -- Congratulations to Westwood's Akhil Gandra for winning the 2015 Cougar Debate Classic held at the University of Houston! In finals, Akhil defeated Strake Jesuit's Alberto Tohme on a 2-1 decision (Baig, Sharma, Koshak*). Congratulations to both debaters! The Cougar Classic is a semifinals bid qualifier to the Tournament of Champions.Congratulations to Akhil Gandra, Alberto Tohme, Abbey Chapman, and Tyler Gamble for reaching semifinals and earning bids!Pairings can be found on Tabroom: https://www.tabroom.com/index/tourn/index.mhtml?tourn_id=3254 Double OctafinalsStrake Jesuit AT def Dulles KLStrake Jesuit JZ def Blaine HPCypress Woods NS def Dulles SKKaty Taylor NY def Dulles AWCalhoun Home AC def Clements ATWestwood AG def Dulles AKWestlake DB def Dulles SAWoodlands AC def Strake Jesuit RCKinkaid TG def Clements EMDulles KS def Kinkaid JYStrake Jesuit ATo def Oxbridge NVKinkaid NK def Cy-Fair CMWoodlands College Prep VM def Strake Jesuit SMClements FT def Episcopal ABClements SR over Clements RGKinkaid MS over Kinkaid EH OctafinalsStrake Jesuit JZ def Cypress Woods NSDulles KS def Kinkaid MSKinkaid NK def Katy Taylor NYWestwood AG def Clements SRWoodlands AC def Westlake DBKinkaid TG def Clements FTStrake Jesuit ATo def Calhoun Home ACWoodlands College Prep VM def Strake Jesuit AT QuarterfinalsKinkaid TG def Dulles KS (Kevin Si) (Castllo, Dar Dar, Bates)Woodlands AC def Strake Jesuit JZ (Joe Zaghrini) (Graves, Breland, Popatia)Strake Jesuit ATo def Kinkaid NK (Nina Kalluri) (Kassam, Roy, Koshak)Westwood AG def Woodlands College Prep VM (Venkatesh Muppaneni) (Hodge, Xiong, Van Berg) Semifinals (bid)Strake Jesuit ATo def Kinkaid TG (Tyler Gamble) (Hodge, Wei, Brelland)Westwood AG def Woodlands AC (Abbey Chapman) (Conrad, Castillo, Popatia) FinalsWestwood AG def Strake Jesuit ATo (Alberto Tohme) 2-1 (Baig, Sharma, Koshak*) ChampionWestwood AG (Akhil Gandra)