Bangor area schools dominated a state debating championship held recently in Lewiston.

The statewide competition in late March was sponsored by the Maine Forensics Association and was held at Lewiston High School. A second debate featuring mostly schools in southern Maine was held at Bates College.

Bangor area schools took more than half the top rankings in the “Lincoln-Douglas” debates, which featured students competing one on one on the issue of majority rules vs. minority rights.

The competition at Lewiston High School was broken down into three divisions — novice, junior varsity and varsity. And each of the divisions had a quarterfinalist winner, semifinalist, state finalist and state champion.

In the novice category, quarterfinalists were Eric Proctor of Brewer High and Jennifer Malmstrom of Bangor.

Old Town High school student Kim Rivers was the semifinalist, while Brandon Keim and Fred Cannon III, both of John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, were the state finalist and champion, respectively.