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The MSU debate team had a strong fall semester in 2007, including a victory at the Wayne State tournament and several strong showings at major tournaments throughout the country. Back Row: Carly Wunderlich, Pat Klida, Gus Eyzaguirre, Jeremy Hammond, Eric Lanning, and Tom Gliniecki For profiles of current team members, pleace click here! MSU Debate Travels to DC for Public Debates at the EPA! In honor of Earth Day, the US Environmental Protection Agency invited four university debate teams to participate in the 'Water Wars' debates, held at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. MSU students Garrett Abelkop and Carly Wunderlich represented MSU. For complete details and pictures from the event, click here! MSU Finishes Season Strongly at NDT! MSU finished the 2007-2008 season with a strong showing at the NDT, held this year in Fullerton, California. This included having three teams finish with a .500 record or better, and having two teams compete in elimination rounds. For complete details as well as pictures of the team, click here! MSU Qualifies Three Teams for NDT! On March 10th, the NDT Selection Committee released the final list of teams qualifying for the National Debate Tournament, which is being held in Fullerton, CA in the end of March. Qualifying for this tournament is both difficult and selective as only the 76 strongest two-person teams in the country are allowed to attend. Being from a large team also presents a distinct challenge as only six programs are allowed to bring three teams to the tournament. Selection for these spots is based on a review of season-long results and is always incredibly competitive. Last night, Tournament Director John Fritch announced that MSU seniors Debbie Lai (Troy, MI) and Athena Murray (Dorr, MI) qualified for the NDT, making them the third MSU team to qualify (along with Eyzaguirre and Lanning and the junior-sophomore team of Garrett Abelkop and Carly Wunderlich). Michigan State is one of only two public schools in the country to attain this honor, placing it in the company of some of the finest universities and debate teams in the country. The other five schools to qualify three teams were Emory University, Harvard University, Northwestern University, the University of California-Berkeley, and Wake Forest University – good company, indeed! MSU Wins Freshmen-Sophomore Nationals! For the first time, MSU hosted the Freshmen-Sophomore Nationals title in East Lansing, taking over the event from previous host Northwestern University. Four MSU teams also competed in the event and racked up an impressive amount of wins between them. Those four teams were: freshmen Katie Klante (Brookfield, WI) and Katie Gjerpen (South Lyon, MI), sophomore Pat Klida (Shelby Township, MI) and freshmen Nathan Bashaw (Little Rock, AK), sophomore Sam Shore (Dallas, TX) and freshman Ben Mehling (Alpharetta, GA), and Eric Lanning (The Woodlands, TX) and Gus Eyzaguiire (Salt Lake City, UT). During the course of the tournament, these teams scored victories over a strong field, which included teams from Northwestern University, Gonzaga University, the University of Kansas, the University of Kentucky, the University of Minnesota, the University of Richmond, the University of Michigan, and Whitman College. Three MSU teams won four of their seven preliminary debates, allowing them to qualify for elimination rounds. Klida and Bashaw advanced to the octofinals, where they were defeated by the University of Michigan. Mehling and Shore made it all the way to the semifinals, achieving wins over Kansas and Gonzaga, but were unfortunately scheduled to debate Eyzaguirre and Lanning. As Eyzaguirre and Lanning were a higher seed – having won more of their preliminary debates before defeating Northwestern in the quarterfinals – they advanced to the finals, where they eventually defeated two sophomores from Gonzaga and were crowned the 2008 Freshmen-Sophomore Champions.
Champions Eric Lanning and Gus Eyzaguirre
MSU Qualifies a Second Team for the NDT! The NDT-qualifying tournament for District 5 was held this past weekend at Wayne State University, and the MSU team of junior Garrett Abelkop and Carly Wunderlich successfully qualified for this year's NDT by winning 7 of their 8 debates. Along the way, they defeated teams from Wayne State University, Miami of Ohio, and Notre Dame. Seniors Debbie Lai and Athena Murray also fared well at the tournament, but were not eligible to qualify at this stage as only two teams per university can qualify without a separate application (and the team of Lanning and Eyzaguirre had already qualified). They will now apply for a 'second-round' bid, to be voted on by a panel of national coaches. Best of luck to Debbie and Athena! MSU Team Awarded First-Round Bid to the NDT! On February 18th, the MSU team of sophomore Gus Eyzaguirre and freshman Eric Lanning received one of the highest distinctions in competitive debate when they were awarded a first-round at-large bid to the National Debate Tournament. This distinction is awarded by a panel of voters to the sixteen two-person teams with the strongest performances throughout the regular season. Recipients automatically qualify for the National Debate Tournament, the season-ending national championship being held this year in Fullerton, CA. MSU can proudly say that it has received many "First-Round Bids" in the last ten years. However, this year a distinctive honor is particularly worth noting, as the First-Round Bid went to the team composed of a freshman and a sophomore. In the 60+ year history of the Debate Tournament, there are remarkably few occasions when this award was issued to a such a young team. Congratulations to both students! MSU Finishes Regular Season with Strong Showing at Texas The final major tournament of the season was held at the University of Texas (Austin) on February 9-11. MSU capped off their strong season with a particularly good performance featuring junior Garrett Abelkop, sophomores Carly Wunderlich and Gus Eyzaguirre, and freshman Eric Lanning. The team of Eyzaguirre and Lanning qualified for elimination rounds by winning 7 of their 8 preliminary debates, including wins over top competitors from Dartmouth College and the University of Southern California. In the double-octofinals, they defeated the University of Richmond, and went on to defeat Dartmouth College in the octofinals before losing to a team from Emory University in the quarterfinals. Lanning also received the distinction of being the ninth highest individual speaker at the tournament, a particularly high honor for a freshman. The team of Abelkop and Wunderlich also won 7 of their 8 preliminary debates - including wins over Dartmouth College and Fort Hays State University - and went on to defeat the University of Texas (Dallas) in the double-octofinals. They were defeated by a team from Wake Forest in the octofinals. Other MSU teams competing at the Texas tournament included seniors Debbie Lai and Athena Murray (who won five of their eight preliminary debates, just missing out on elimination rounds), seniors Jeremy Hammond and Abby Schirmer, and the sophomore-freshman team of Sam Shore and Ben Mehling. MSU Debate featured in the State News! To read the complete article, click here! MSU wins Big Ten Championships! The Midwest’s finest debate programs gathered in Evanston, Illinois the last weekend of January for the Owen L. Coon “Big Ten” Debate Championships. Michigan State outpaced the host -- Northwestern University – to receive top honors in the Big Ten. Michigan State entered four teams, all of which advanced to the elimination rounds. Three of these teams made it to the “final four” – capping off a dominant performance by the Spartans. After seniors Abby Schirmer (Fairview Heights, IL) and Jeremy Hammond (Cadillac, MI) defeated Northwestern on a 3-0 decision, the Spartans were the last Big Ten School standing. Also advancing to the “final four” were Freshman Ben Mehling (Alpharetta, GA) and Sophomore Sam Shore (Dallas, TX), as well as Freshman Tom Gliniecki (Dimondale, MI) and Sophomore Patrick Klida (Shelby Township, MI). Impressively, both of these teams won six of their seven preliminary debates. Sophomore Katie Gjerpen (South Lyon, MI) and Freshman Katie Klante (Brookfield, WI) also advanced to the elimination rounds – bowing-out in the quarterfinals. While the tournament provides special recognition for the Big Ten programs, it also allows regional competitors from non-conference schools to participate. Accordingly, the MSU team of Gliniecki and Klida faced off against Wayne State University in the final debate, where they were defeated on a 2-1 decision. MSU reaches finals of Berkeley tournament! The MSU debate team started 2008 with a string of victories, culminating in a visit to the final round of the California-Berkeley debate tournament. Junior Garrett Abelkop (Alpharetta, GA) and sophomore Carly Wunderlich (Brookfield, WI) achieved this impressive accomplishment by defeating a line of nationally ranked teams on their way to the finals. In their preliminary debates, Garrett and Carly represented Michigan State University well -- posting victories over some of nation's strongest programs including Dartmouth College, Emory University, and the host, The University of California-Berkeley. This allowed them to advance to the elimination rounds, where they garnered wins over the University of Southern California in the octofinals, West Georgia University in the quarterfinals, and the University of Texas at Austin in the semifinals. All three victories allowed Garrett and Carly to avenge losses from earlier in the season and, although they were defeated by a highly ranked team from Northwestern University in the final debate, helped position them for a strong second semester as the national championship tournament approaches this spring. In addition, sophomore Sam Shore (Dallas, TX) and freshmen Ben Mehling (Alpharetta,GA) also had a strong tournament, winning four of their six preliminary debates and thereby reaching elimination rounds. Although they were defeated by Dartmouth College in the double-octofinals, Sam and Ben’s results demonstrated a great show of talent and effort by a young team. Congrats to all four debaters! MSU has strong showing at John Carroll tournament Two MSU teams reached the quarterfinals at a regional tournament hosted at John Carroll University. Seniors Abby Schirmer and Jeremy Hammond and freshmen Tom Gliniecki and Nathan Bashaw both qualified for elimination debates after confronting tough opponents from regional rivals such as Wayne State University and Northewestern University. Three MSU teams reach elimination rounds at Wake Forest tournament |
