EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University Debate had a team reach the Sweet 16 at the Franklin R. Shirley tournament hosted by Wake Forest University this past weekend.
Nate Glancy, an economics senior, and David Koster, a political science sophomore in the Honors College, reached the octa-finals debate after beating teams from the University of Kentucky, the University of Kansas, and Baylor University.
“Nate and David had an exceptional end to the fall semester,” said Will Repko, MSU Debate Head Coach. “Wake is one of the largest tournaments of the year and teams participate from all over the country.”
Glancy was also named 21st overall speaker out of almost 200 participants.
Glancy and Koster weren’t the only MSU Debate students to reach elimination debates at the Franklin R. Shirley Tournament.
Piper Meloche, a social relations and policy major in the Honors College, and Tony Miklovis, a James Madison College freshman, made it to the Round of 32 with wins over the University of Wyoming, the University of Central Oklahoma, and the University of Kentucky.
Kevin McCaffrey, MSU Debate Assistant Coach, said, “it’s notable that MSU had so many teams do well at Wake. It speaks to the depth of our program right now and how much it really is a full team effort.”
Mitchell Scott, a computer science sophomore, and Ephraim Bennett, a computer science freshman also competed and bested teams from Binghamton University, Samford University, and Baylor University.
“What I like to see is how invested the students are in each other doing well,” said Repko. “When Nate and David weren’t debating in the Round of 32, they were helping Piper and Tony. On Monday, when only Nate and David were debating, other students were pitching in.”
The Franklin R. Shirley is MSU Debate’s last competition in the fall semester to give students time to prepare for finals.
The MSU Debate team is part of the Honors College.