Two junior varsity Hornet debaters advanced to the quarterfinal round during the Joe C Jackson tournament hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma. Students from twenty-two different schools across seven states participated in the competition.
The partnership of Lucas Lord and Gage Simpson qualified to the elimination debates as the No. 5 seed after a quality performance in the prelims. They ultimately finished as quarterfinalists after losing a close debate to competitors from the University of Texas – Austin.
Simpson and Lord also received awards in recognition of their individual speaking prowess. Simpson placed ninth overall in the division, and Lord took the sixth-place spot. The duo was part of four Hornets who represented ESU in the junior-varsity division.
The partnership of Nick Mathias and Nick Wathke narrowly missed qualifying to the single-elimination debates after picking up quality wins in the preliminary rounds against Missouri State University, Johnson County Community College and the hosts from the University of Central Oklahoma.