On December 2-3, 2011 at South Garland High School, the Jesuit debate team excelled, sending two teams into the elimination round and getting closer to qualifying for the state tournament.
Each debate tournament typically consists of preliminary round-robin style debates, in which every individual team debates four times. Then, the top eight of the 25-40 teams move on to the elimination rounds akin to an eight-team playoff in basketball.
Teams that advance to the elimination rounds are awarded two state points. In the playoff, teams receive two more points for each debate won. The team that wins the tournament brings home eight points, two points for qualifying for the elimination round and six for winning in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final match. In order to qualify for the state tournament in the spring, a team must earn 10 total state points during a season.
A few weeks ago at the Hockaday Invitational, the team of Kevin Kim ’12 and Tanner Davis ’13 finished 3-1 in the preliminary rounds, good enough to advance to the elimination round. From there, they advanced past the quarterfinals only to lose in the semifinals. The tournament earned Kim and Davis a precious four state points.
At the South Garland tournament last week, Jesuit sent three novice teams and four varsity teams. Each novice teams ended with either a 2-2 or 1-3 record in the preliminary debates, so none advanced to eliminations. For varsity, the team of Jackson Pyke ’14 and James Abbott ’14 finished an incredible 4-0 in early rounds, and the team of Jeff Melsheimer ’14 and Grant VanKirk ’13 finished 3-1 in the preliminary. Both of the other varsity teams ended with 2-2 records, barely missing the elimination rounds.
In the quarterfinals, the team of Melsheimer-VanKirk lost a close debate, bringing their tournament to an end. Melsheimer-VanKirk earned 2 more state points, bringing their total to four out of the 10 needed to qualify for the state tournament.
The team of Pyke-Abbott, on the other hand, won their quarterfinal debate and proceeded to the semifinals. However, they ended up losing in the semifinals to the top-seeded team from St. Marks. Pyke and Abbott earned 4 state points, bringing their total to 6.
“It was the result of hard work,” Abbott said about his team’s success. “Hard work not only by my partner and me, but also by the other individuals of the debate team. Everyone contributes to the collective.” Abbott’s partner Jackson Pyke added, “I’m just going to take it one debate at a time, trying to win each debate as it comes along.”
