The boxer crawls onto the mat; through the taut ropes surrounding the mat he goes, preparing himself for the duel. His pair of gloves affixed to his hands, his eyes locked on those of his opponent, menacingly glaring across the mat, he readies for the ensuing spar. The verbal spar, that is.
On October 12, 2013, a trio of Jesuit’s debate teams competed in a local scrimmage, hosted by Jesuit. Welcoming teams from schools including Colleyville Heritage, Coppell, Conrad, Greenhill, Highland Park, Nolan Catholic, and St. Mark’s, the scrimmage represented many of the participants’ first-ever competition.
Out of the thirty teams competing, each of Jesuit’s finished in the top ten, marking a rousing success for the Rangers. The team of Emmanuel Ruiz ’17, Lane McGowen ’17, and Killian Leonard ’17 finished in fourth place overall; Jake LoRocco ’17 and Greg Tan ’17 finished fifth overall; and, the team of Joshua Cobler ’16 and Ethan Tsao ’16 captured the tenth overall position.
Three individual speakers also finished in the top five among all other participants. Emmanuel Ruiz was garnished with the top position, while Jake LoRocco and Josh Cobler secured the fourth and fifth overall positions, respectively.
Though most of the debaters naturally expressed timidity at the onset of the scrimmage, the progression of the event helped to squelch their nerves. Greg Tan recalls entering his first matchup with “[his] hands shaking,” having “never been in a debate tournament before,” having never even “won [a match]” when enrolled in the summer debate course.
According to Tan, one of the most arduous tasks for a neophyte debater is the length afforded to each speech: “One of the most intimidating things, for me at least, about debate is how long you have to speak for. One of the speeches is eight minutes long! That was one of my main concerns along with embarrassing myself in front of my debate partner and the kids from the other schools.” Yet, Tan, reflecting on the satisfaction borne by completing his first match, recalls “[feeling] really, really good” through the remainder of the scrimmage, even “leaving [him] wishing that the tournament was longer than the four rounds that it was.”
Like Tan, Ethan Tsao describes the scrimmage as a “really nerve-racking, [but also] a very fulfilling experience.” In the matches, he, honing some of the most essential tools in the kit of a debater, “practiced flowing, [or the linkages between his arguments,] a lot and [his] impact comparisons” in an attempt to prepare for the tournaments later in the season.
Tsao expressed gratitude for the location of the scrimmage, located on the ever-familiar twenty-eight acres. Sparring in his own classrooms, “[knowing] where everything was,” invoked, amidst an otherwise stressful event, a feeling of comfort since the campus was “not exactly foreign [to him].”
Leaping from the mat across the wires, these freshmen and sophomore debaters continue their preparation for the first tournament of the many to follow this season. Because of this invaluable experience, the team will return to the ring stronger and quicker than ever, ready to challenge its next opponents to a duel.
