Recently, the Jesuit Debate Team participated in two important competitions, gaining crucial state qualifying points in both. “It’s always a very intense atmosphere,” said Adam Wiechman ’15 when asked about debating. Some of Jesuit’s best and brightest went head-to-head with teams from around the area at the Southlake Carroll and Plano West Invitationals October 18th and 25th.
Mr. Lingel, debate coach and junior counselor, explained, “These local tournaments are when we try to get kids qualified for the state tournament in March… you have to earn 12 state qualifying points.” To receive these points, a team must finish in the top five at their tournament and, depending on the size of that tournament, points will be awarded with the most for first place, and so on down the podium. “At most tournaments, if you win, you get 8 points,” said Mr. Lingel.
“This year the topic [for debate] is that the United States Federal Government should increase its exploration and development of the ocean,” he also pointed out. Pairs all over the country are debating the same proposition, and it is very open-ended. “Our teams have several affirmatives…the debaters really like it.”
Debaters must qualify for state in El Paso by February, making seniors Adam Wiechman and Bennett Harrison quite the achievers. With a first place win at the Southlake debate, the duo has already compiled enough points to go on to the state tourney. The boys went undefeated in the prelims, beating teams from Coppell and HP to earn first place as well as awards for being the two best individual speakers. “It was helpful that we knew about the teams beforehand and their strategies, so we knew how we could go about engaging them,” said Wiechman. “Bennett and I have really good chemistry and have always been good partners together.”
In addition to a first place team, Jesuit also claimed the third place spot. Bender and Dawson were nearly perfect in the initial rounds of debate and at the end needed only two more points to also qualify for state in El Paso this year. Unfortunately, many debaters shined bright in the prelims but had to leave one competition to go to another for Jesuit. “Sophomores Watts and Ju…those two were actually 3-1 before leaving for a band competition,” said Mr. Lingel, referring to the Southlake competition.
At Plano West, others also won themselves some state points. Emilio Lopez ’15 and Emmanuel Ruiz ’17 received fifth place and two points for their efforts. Emilio explained the key to this finish, “The amount of time we spent preparing [and looking] at our opponents arguments helped a lot, along with deciding what arguments to use [ourselves].” He and Emmanuel were 3-2 in their prelims, putting them in a position to gain points in the elimination rounds of the tournament. They faced teams from Greenhill, HP, and Sunset during the weekend. “I am quite proud of my success with my sophomore partner Emmanuel Ruiz,” said Emilio, “because for the first time we cleared to quarterfinals and finally got some state points.”
It seems to be shaping up as a good year for the debate team at Jesuit, with multiple pairs getting closer and closer to El Paso by the week. Emilio, summing up what each debater is thinking, exclaimed, “I want to push myself to go further.” This is the mindset of all Jesuit’s debaters as they prepare for their next contest at UTD November 1.
