One John Winthrop Middle School debate team recently competed in the semi-finals and finals of the State Debate Competition. This year the final four competition was held at the Old State House in Hartford. Mike Ryan and Connor Riordan first defeated Western Middle School of Greenwich in the semi-finals and debated the negative side of the debate, “The United States should restrict travel to and from countries infected with deadly infectious diseases.” Winning the negative, Ryan and Riordan moved on to the finals as the affirmative against Westfield Academy and were defeated, placing second in the state. The finalists were presented with awards at a banquet held at the Connecticut Bar Association in New Britain.