Emporia State debaters picked up prestigious wins — including a unanimous decision against Harvard — during the Jesuit Invitational Debates at Gonzaga University.
Four Hornet debaters joined students from 35 schools across 23 states Oct. 28 through 30 for some of the most intensely competitive debates of the semester.
Although the partnership of Cole Nuessen and Alex Rickard ultimately fell short of qualifying for single-elimination rounds after rising to the occasion in a number of close debates, the partnership of Issie Engelbert and Arriq Singleton qualified to elimination debates after a stellar showing.
Engelbert and Singleton finished the preliminary debates with a 5-3 record, picking up notable wins against the University of Michigan, Wake Forest University, Baylor University and others. This performance qualified them to the elimination debates as the No. 14 seed.
In the “Round of 32” Engelbert and Singleton defeated Harvard on a 3-0 decision by successfully persuading all three judges scoring the debate of their arguments’ merits. Emporia State ES then advanced to the “Sweet Sixteen” where they fell just short of victory, losing in an incredibly close debate with Northwestern on a 2-1 decision.
In a field of 144 competitors, Singleton received an additional award for being named the 12th best individual speaker overall. Engelbert also received special recognition for placing 38th.
This weekend, the Hornets are at the University of Central Oklahoma to compete at the Joe C Jackson tournament.