KU Debate wins first major championship of the season at Northwestern University

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Debate squad began the season with a dominating performance at the Owen L. Coon Memorial Debate Tournament at Northwestern University, which took place Sept. 14-17. The KU team of John Marshall, Lawrence, and Graham Revare, Prairie Village, defeated Emory University in the championship debate to win the tournament from a field of more than 100 of the top teams in the country.

The KU pair won 12 of 13 debates over three days to win the Northwestern championship. They began the preliminary rounds of the tournament by winning seven consecutive debates over Trinity University, New York University, the University of Iowa, Georgetown University, Binghamton University, Northwestern University and Harvard University before losing the last preliminary round to the University of Michigan. They qualified for the single elimination bracket as the top seed. Revare was the first-place individual speaker and Marshall the third-place speaker.

In the single elimination rounds, they defeated teams from the University of West Georgia, the University of California at Berkeley and Wake Forest University to advance to a rematch with Michigan in the semifinals with KU prevailing this time on a unanimous decision. KU then defeated Emory in the final round to bring home the championship trophy.

A number of other KU teams had outstanding performances at the tournament as five different KU pairs finished in the top 15 teams at the tournament. The KU duo of Rose Larson, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Luna Schultz, Houston, won six preliminary debates with wins over Macalester College, Dartmouth College, the University of Michigan, Emory University, Michigan State University and NYU, and advanced to the elimination rounds as the 8^th seed. Larson was the ninth individual speaker and Schultz the 15^th. In the single elimination bracket, they defeated Dartmouth to advance to the final 16, where they lost a split decision to Wake Forest University.

The team of Ethan Harris, Lawrence, and Jacob Wilkus, Lawrence, won six preliminary debates and advanced to the elimination rounds as the 10^th seed. In the preliminary rounds, they notched wins over teams from Emory University, Wake Forest University, UC Berkeley, the University of Texas-Dallas, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. In the first elimination round, they defeated California State University-Long Beach to advance to the final 16, where they lost to the team from Emory University that finished second at the tournament.

The team of Brooklynn Hato, Overland Park, and A.J. Persinger, Lawrence, won six preliminary debates and reached the elimination rounds as the 14^th seed. In the preliminary debates, they defeated Southern Nazarene University, Wake Forest University, Trinity University, the University of Michigan and two teams from Emory University. In the elimination rounds, they defeated Wake Forest University to advance to the final 16 before dropping to Dartmouth College.

The team of Owen Williams, Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Zach Willingham, Topeka, also won six preliminary debates and advanced to the elimination rounds as the 15^th seed. They were victorious over Dartmouth College, Wichita State University, Gonzaga University, Wake Forest University and two teams from Northwestern University. They lost a split decision to Wake Forest in the first single elimination round.

In addition to the squad’s performance in the varsity division, KU teams were also victorious in the junior varsity division of the tournament. The teams of Averi Harker, Olathe, with Nate Boyle, St. Louis, and Claire Ain, Overland Park, with Carson Bath, Topeka, each won five of six preliminary rounds to advance to the elimination rounds as the 2^nd and 3^rd seeds respectively. In the quarterfinals, Harker/Boyle beat Southern Nazarene University while Ain/Bath defeated Missouri State University. The two KU teams met each other in the semifinals with Harker/Boyle advancing to the championship debate as the higher seeded team. In the championship debate, KU defeated the University of Iowa to seal winning both divisions at the tournament. All four KU debaters also won individual speaker awards as Harker finished second, Bath fourth, Boyle seventh and Ain eighth.

 “We are so proud of all of the hard work of the debaters and coaching staff that made this start to the season possible,” said Brett Bricker, KU head debate coach. “We are very excited for what the rest of the season may bring.”

Scott Harris, the David B. Pittaway Director of KU Debate, said, “In my 33 years with the program this is clearly the best performance we have ever had for the squad as a whole at a major national tournament. Winning both divisions, five teams in the top 15, and closing out a semifinal is an incredible accomplishment, and Dr. Bricker, the assistant coaches, the debaters and the entire KU community should feel very proud of their efforts.”