Over this past weekend, junior Nathaniel Cullors and freshman Joshua Mayo competed with the Judson Theatre Productions team at the annual Texas Forensics Association (TFA) State Competition at La Vernia High School.

This competition is the second largest speech and debate tournament in the country and the dynamic duo took first place out of over 80 other competing duos.

The Judson Theatre Productions team is known for bringing home state trophies. The team has brought home two TFA state championships and two UIL state championships since theatre teacher, coach, and director Larry Bailey took over the program six years ago.

“UIL and TFA competition is something that I really enjoy doing and that I really take a lot of time and effort in and the fact that you guys are getting state championships tells me that we’re doing a good job,” Bailey said. “This also tells me that the program is improving, so it’s a really good feeling.”

Winning this competition was very meaningful for the duo, as they have worked tirelessly during the competition season to get to the state finals room.

“Well to be brief, Joshua is a freshman and I am a junior and that’s really significant to me because that means that we, the underclassmen, basically won out of everybody in Texas,” Cullors said. “Also, there were a lot of people who didn’t want to see our duo succeed. It was kind of validation to see all of those people in finals and beat all of them.”

For Mayo, this well deserving title has come to him as uplifting and encouraging.

“As a freshman this is actually such a big deal to be winning state, it’s an amazing feeling,” Mayo said.

The competition started Thursday afternoon and didn’t end until Saturday night. The duo went through three prelim rounds and took first place in the quarter round, semi-finals round, and the finals round.

“[To get to finals], we focused on persistence and stamina and keeping our guide up while watching the other competitors compete to know what to look out for,” Mayo said.

The duo was more than happy to continue the theatre productions legacy and are looking forward to another championship next year.

“I look forward to continuing the legacy by working with Joshua again next year and helping the newer people with their pieces because next year is going to be my last year, so when I leave the talent will continue,” Cullors said.

Along with this amazing achievement their team member, freshman Alexis Patterson, took sixth place in finals for poetry. Overall, this is theatre’s four state championship to bring to the school.