Current Team

MSU Debate Team - 2012-2013

Aniela Butler - Sophomore - Hometown: Draper, UT
Aniela is in her second year at Michigan State University, where she is majoring in International Relations. Last year she was a semi-finalist at the Illinois State University tournament, as well as a quarter-finalist in the Freshman Breakout and the University of Kentucky tournament. During her senior year at Juan Diego Catholic, she won the Alta tournament and qualified for the Tournament of Champions.

Jack Caporal - Sophomore - Hometown: Lexington, MA
Jack is in his second year at Michigan State University and is currently majoring in International Relations. Last year, Jack was a quarter-finalist at the University of Kentucky Freshman Breakout tournament. In addition, Jack also qualified for the 2012 National Debate Tournament.

Alex Friedman- Freshman - Hometown: Dexter, MI
Alex is in his first year at Michigan State, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. During his sophmore year of High school- he was a Semi-finalist at the University of Michigan debate tournament.

Pablo Gannon - Sophomore - Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Pablo Gannon is a sophomore at Michigan State, where he is majoring in cognitive neuroscience.

Evan Hebert - Sophomore - Hometown: Bloomfield Hills, MI
Evan is a second year debater majoring in International Relations. Last year he won the Freshman-Sophomore Nationals held at Michigan State and received a first round bid to the National Debate Tournament, where he debated in the octofinals.

Kaavya Ramesh - Junior - Hometown: Alpharetta, GA
Kaavya is in her third year at Michigan State University, where she is triple-majoring in International Relations, Chinese, and Comparative Cultures & Politics. During the 2011-2012 season, she won the University of Kentucky Round Robin and was a finalist at the Harvard tournament. She also received a first-round at-large bid to the National Debate Tournament and reached the octafinals.

Randy Rossman - Junior - Hometown: Northfield, IL
Randy is in his third year at MSU and is majoring in International Relations. As a freshman he and his partner won the Wayne State Tournament and reached the octafinals of the Berkeley Tournament.

Tyler Thur - Freshman - Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
Tyler is in his first year at Michigan State University, where he is majoring in International Relations with a specialization in Science, Technology, Environment and Public Policy. He is a member of James Madison College and The MSU Honors College. During his senior year at Marquette University High School, he won the Wisconsin State Debate Tournament and qualified for the Tournament of Champions.

Quinn Zemel - Sophomore - Hometown: Hollywood, FL
Quinn is in his second year at Michigan State University where he is majoring in International Relations. As a freshman he made it to the quarter finals of the Illinois State tournament and the octo finals of the Indiana tournament.

MSU Reaches Octofinals of Georgia and Cal Berkeley Tournaments!

Michigan State seniors Tom Gliniecki and Katie Klante reached the octofinals of the University of Georgia tournament the weekend of January 15-17. Freshmen Jessica Hockensmith and Kaavya Ramesh also had a strong showing, finishing the tournament with a 5-3 preliminary record.

The same weekend, junior Josh Miller and freshman Randy Rossman reached the octofinals of the Cal Berkeley tournament after finishing the preliminary debates with a 5-3 record.

Congratulations to the whole squad on a very strong weekend!

MSU Freshmen Clear at Major Tournament!

MSU Freshmen Jessica Hockensmith and Kaavya Ramesh reached the elimination rounds of a major tournament the first time at the CSU Fullerton touranment, after finishing the preliminary debates with a 5-3 record. Although they lost the double-octofinals to last year's NDT finalists from Northwestern, their accomplishment is particularly notable for a two-freshmen team. Congratulations!

MSU Wins Wayne State Tournament!

The Michigan State University debate team of junior Josh Miller, of Holland, and freshman Randy Rossman, of Northfield, Ill., took home first place the weekend of Oct. 30 at the Motor City Classic Tournament, hosted annually by Wayne State University. After winning six of their eight preliminary debates, the team defeated the University of Michigan in the finals.

Several other MSU debate teams had a very successful weekend. Sophomore Val McIntosh, of Brookfield, Wis., and freshman Matt Kaas, of Whitmore Lake, reached the quarterfinals with a victory over the University of Northern Iowa. They were scheduled to debate Miller and Rossman in the quarterfinals, and the latter team advanced as they had the higher preliminary record. Sophomore Allen Lin, of Franklin, and freshman Paul Piro, of Northbrook, Ill., reached the semifinals with wins over the University of Iowa and a different team from the University of Michigan. Lin and Piro were scheduled to debate Miller and Rossman in the semifinals, and the latter team advanced to the finals, where they defeated Michigan.

"We are very proud of the performance of these students," said Director of Debate Greta Stahl. "As an institution, MSU lost no elimination rounds at the Motor City Classic, and every one of the MSU teams attending won at least one elimination debate. This is a rare accomplishment!"

MSU last won the Motor City Classic in 2007, when four MSU seniors advanced to the finals and shared the first place title.

MSU Reaches Octofinals of GSU Tournament

The MSU team of seniors Katie Klante (Brookfield, WI) and Tom Gliniecki (Dimondale, MI) reached the octofinals of the first tournament of the college debate season. After winning six of their seven preliminary debates - including scoring a win over the top team from the University of Michigan - Gliniecki and Klante advanced to the double octofinals, where they defeated a strong opponent from Georgia State. Their impressive run ended in the octofinals where they lost a close debate to Harvard University.