KU Debate wins Mid America Championship Tournament
LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas Debate teams closed out the final round to win the Mid America Championship Tournament hosted by Southern Nazarene University.
KU students Payten LaPoint, freshman from Maize, with Lucy Pace, freshman from Fairway, and Chase Blaser, freshman from Lawrence, with Gilead Falin, freshman from Lawrence, combined to close out the finals of the tournament, which took place Feb. 20-22.
Three KU teams competed in the tournament, and all three advanced to the single-elimination rounds. Blaser and Falin qualified for the elimination rounds as the No. 2 seed, LaPoint and Pace qualified as the No. 5 seed, and Cameron Linde, sophomore from Overland Park, with Sigmund Persson, freshman from Boulder, Colorado, qualified as the No. 7 seed.
In the quarterfinals of the tournament, the KU pair of Blaser/Falin advanced over the seventh-seeded KU team of Linde/Persson, while LaPoint/Pace defeated the fourth-seeded team from Wake Forest University on a 2-1 decision.
In the semifinals, Blaser/Falin defeated a different team from Wake Forest on a 3-0 decision while LaPoint/Pace won a 3-0 decision over the top-seeded and previously undefeated team from the University of Texas-Dallas.
KU also swept the top three individual speaker awards at the tournament with Blaser finishing first, Pace second and Falin third.
Schools competing in the tournament included the University of Houston, Johnson County Community College, Kansas State University, Missouri State University, the University of Oklahoma, Southern Nazarene University, the University of Texas Austin, the University of Texas-Dallas, the University of Texas-San Antonio, Trinity University and Wake Forest University.
“Winning a postseason championship tournament was a tremendous achievement for our young and talented students, and we are very proud of them,” said Brett Bricker, KU Debate head coach.
British Parliamentary debate performances
The same weekend as the Mac Championship, several members of KU Debate’s British Parliamentary debate squad were competing in an online tournament with a field of 84 teams from across the country hosted by the University of Alaska. Three KU teams qualified for the single-elimination rounds at the tournament, and two of them finished in the top 10.
The team of Michael Redlich, Kansas City, Missouri, with Mason Renner, Kansas City, Missouri, qualified for the elimination rounds as the No. 5 seed and reached the quarterfinals of the tournament. Alex Brake, Olathe, with Stevie Silverman, Raytown, Missouri, were the No. 8 seed team and also reached the quarterfinal round.
The team of Sofia Bullard, Simi Valley, California, with Alba Wilson-Axpe, Greenwood, Colorado, qualified for eliminations as the 26th seed. They advanced to the semifinals of the Honors division at the tournament. Bullard was recognized as the top novice speaker at the tournament.
Schools competing in the tournament included the U.S. Air Force Academy, the University of Alaska, Ball State University, California Polytechnic State University, Clemson University, the University of Denver, Lewis & Clark, Loyola Marymount, MSU Denver, the University of Miami, the University of Mississippi, Morehouse College, Seattle University, Tennessee Tech University, Texas Tech University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Vermont, Wheaton University, Willamette University and the University of Wisconsin.
In the final regular season standings of the Yaatly Online Debate League, KU finished as the ninth place overall squad, KU’s first ever top-10 finish in British Parliamentary debate. Out of 193 teams competing in BP tournaments over the season, two KU teams finished in the top 20 as Redlich/Renner finished as the seventh-ranked team and Bullard/Wilson-Axpe finished ranked 18th.
“The high-level performance of both our Policy Debate teams and our British Parliamentary Debate teams is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students and coaching staff,” said Scott Harris, the David B. Pittaway Director of KU Debate.