The Jesuit student walks up to the chestnut podium. He glares out to his wide audience, before looking to the right, to his opposition. Finally, he looks down at his notes, preparing to pick apart his opponents’ argument. This was the scene when Jesuit’s novice and JV debate teams traveled to Atlanta on March 16-20 to take on the nation’s best young debaters.
Beginning March 16th, the Second Year/Novice Nationals tournament at Woodward Academy in Atlanta, Georgia spanned three days as teams from different high schools, private and public, battled it out in the hope of claiming the first place title. This annual tournament is very fierce, and the students that compete know it, as a junior and second-year debater Beomhak Lee puts it, “It seems to get more competitive every year.”
This year, the Jesuit teams really put their money where their mouths were, as all four teams that participated in the Second Year/Novice National Championships posted top ten finishes at the end of the weekend. “I was very impressed, yet not surprised,” said Lingel. In the Second Year division, Lee and Zach Watts ’17 finished with a 4-2 preliminary round record, beating teams from Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee before being bested by Montgomery Bell Academy from Nashville in the first elimination round, placing them in 9th place.
In the Novice Division, the three Jesuit teams consisting of Riler Holcombe ’19 and Ethan Jackson ’19 who went a 5-1 preliminary round record, Jack Madden ’19 and Jack Moore ’19 and Jack Griffiths ’19 and Pete Weigman ’19, who finished with 4-2 records, performed well with wins over some difficult teams originating from Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas. Even with these fantastic wins came loses for all three teams to higher seed opponents in the first elimination round placing all Novice teams in 9th; “We left with our heads held high, no shame in our team’s performance,” according to Lingel.
“Overall, it was a fantastic tournament, all four teams really gave it their all and had something to show for it,” said debate Coach Dan Lingel, a pro in the debating arena with 20+ years of experience under his belt.
While all together Jesuit debate squads accomplished much, these victories could not have been possible without the special aid of the students who were recognized as some of the top 25 individual speakers with Griffith coming in 12th, Weigman 16th, Jackson 20th, Holcombe 21st, and Moore 22nd.
By the end of the tournament, Jesuit was alongside Montgomery Bell Academy and Nile West Illinois, as the only three schools to qualify four teams for the elimination rounds across two divisions. The students of Second Year and Novice debate students of Jesuit Dallas demonstrated a spectacular performance and are expected to battle with the same ferocity next year in Atlanta.
