Gripping his timer, the debater walks calmly and confidently from his chair to the stand to give his final speech of the night, placing papers with meticulous notes in both red and black ink down in front of him. Straightening his posture, he proceeds to read off his notes to both the judges and his opponents at lightning speed without hesitation, accentuating each and every one of his major points, not breaking any eye contact with the judges. It was the last debate of the night; the time was ticking. And even though other teams had given up and gone home, he fought on.
Over the past three weeks, the members of the Jesuit Debate Team have been immersed in this very situation. Participating in events ranging from local to regional to national tournaments, the team has been constantly competing against an assortment of debate teams. From regionals, they have even went up against over 90 different teams from all over the country.
The Varsity Debate Team started their season off strong by earning second and third places at the Plano Senior High Invitational. In addition, some members earned some crucial state tournament qualifying points. Competing against around 30 private and public schools, the Jesuit Varsity Debate Team displayed the magnitude of their debating abilities through their high rankings in the preliminary rounds. In the early rounds, Bennett Harrison ’15 and Adam Wiechman ’15 swept the competition with a perfect 4-0 record against teams from Pine Tree High School, Lindale High School, Dallas Law Magnet, and Richardson Berkner. Similarly, Patrick Bender ’16 and Chandler Dawson ’15 finished their early rounds with a 3-1 record with wins over teams from Highland Park, Coppell, and Prosper, only losing to Highland Park in the finals.
The successful team composed of Bender and Dawson earned second place in the tournament, while Harrison and Wiechman earned third place. By successfully
advancing to the finals, Bender and Dawson earned six of the twelve points they need to qualify for the state competition, and Harrison and Wiechman earned four out of the twelve by reaching the semifinals. Commenting on the results of his victory with his debate partner Dawson, Bender stated that the overall results were “pretty good in terms of morale to get in half of the state points we need.” He thought the early success were “an indication that both our own individual skills are improving, and that the whole debate collective’s efforts are effective.”
With the success of their first tournament boosting their confidence, the Varsity Debate Team next participated in the Grapevine Invitational. Ending the second week similar to the way they did in the first, the Jesuit Debate team finished off with two members in the top ten. The senior duo of Bennett Harrison and Adam Wiechman continued their successful streak by collecting ninth place honors at the competition against teams that traveled from not only Texas but also Washington D.C., Louisiana, Utah, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. The senior duo succeeded in their preliminary rounds with four wins and only one loss, but eventually lost to the tournament winner, Caddo Magnet from Louisiana. By finishing within the top ten teams, Harrison and Wiechman earned two additional state qualifying points, which brings them halfway to their goal of 12 points to qualify.
During the 3rd week, the Debate Team entered into the first major national tournament of the season at Greenhill. This time, around 112 teams participated in this single competition. The senior duo, Wiechman and Harrison, had gone 4-2 in the first national tournament, but did not gain any state competition points. They had finished their strenuous and time-consuming performance, placing within the top 30 teams.
Overall, the debate team has made substantial progress and has already displayed great skill in the opening weeks of the season.
