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The Tulane University Debate Team started their 2018-2019 season strong with a sweepstakes win at Morehouse College’s annual King Classic. After five preliminary rounds, two Tulane teams broke to semifinals. 

Matthew Weber and Ren Allen broke to open semi-finals along with novice team Irene Partsuf and Olivia Berry.

Full Results:
1st place sweepstakes
Semi-Finalists: Matthew Weber and Ren Allen, Irene Partsuf and Olivia Berry
6th place open speaker: Matthew Weber
10th place open speaker: Irene Partsuf

Tulane Debate hosted its first NDPA tournament, the Green Wave Classic, the weekend of April 1-2. The small tournament was well-run and showcased some excellent debate. Tulane not only hosted the tournament, but also competed. Three Tulane teams: Michael Seuylemezian & Ben Ozur, Khristyan Trejo & Jazmia Henry, and Susannah Wright & James Capuzzi, broke to outrounds. Khristyan and Jazmia ended up winning the tournament for Tulane on its home turf. Two Tulane students also received speaker awards: Susannah was named the third speaker and Khristyan was named the top speaker of the tournament. The team would like to especially thank Stephen Cortese and Tim DeCotis for making the tournament a reality, Storey Clayton for running tab, and Valdosta State University for providing great competition. The team is looking forward to hosting many more tournaments in the future.

Tulane Debate sent several teams to NDPA Nationals for the first time last week! The tournament took place in Long Beach, CA, and was a great growing experience for the whole team as debaters. Our youngest team, Khristyan Trejo and Alexander Parini, broke to outrounds, which is no small feat at a tournament this large and this competitive. Khristyan was also the top novice speaker of the entire tournament. Congrats to Khris and Alexander, as well as to the other Tulane teams that competed. Special thank yous go out to our coaches and judges, especially Storey Clayton, Alex Jubb, and Elise Matton, as well as everyone else who helped us make our trip to Nationals a reality.

This past weekend, Tulane Debate sent six new members to compete at NPDA Novice Nationals at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. Sophia Angeletti, a freshman, was the 6th top speaker at the tournament and she and her partner Laurel Greilich advanced all the way to the final round, following a 3-0 decision in their favor in semifinals. The tournament really helped Tulane to show off its new talent, and all teams represented the university well.

The last week of January 2016, Tulane Debate sent five teams of debaters to compete in the Southern Forensics Championship Tournament in Shreveport, LA. Cody Beaird, debating as part of a hybrid team and in his first year of debate, broke to semifinals and was the top NPDA speaker of the tournament. Susannah Wright and James Capuzzi also advanced to semi-finals. The team of Alexander Parini and Armand Keshishian made it to the final round, with Alexander also winning the 3rd top speaker award of the tournament. Great job to everyone who competed!

Tulane Debate finished off the Fall Semester by competing at the annual Tennessee Porch Swing NPDA tournament. Freshman team Khristyan Trejo and Samm Clark were the 2nd-place novice team of the tournament, earning 1st and 2nd place novice speaker awards, respectively. Tim DeCotis and Claire Kueffner advanced to varsity semifinals, and the team of Alexander Parini and Armand Keshishian got 2nd place at the tournament after advancing all the way to the final round. It was a strong showing from many of Tulane Debate’s newer members and we look forward to continued success in the spring.

On October 30th-31st, Tulane Debate team traveled to the Pejaver Memorial Debate Tournament at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The team did very well at the tournament, winning both 1st place NPDA and 2nd place overall sweepstakes awards. The team of Susannah Wright and Michelle Daker made it to Quarterfinals, and the team of Jackson Oglesby and Cody Beaird advanced all the way to the semifinals. Tim DeCotis and Claire Kueffner continued their recent success from Morehouse College by once again winning the tournament. Tim was awarded 4th varsity speaker award, and Jackson and Cody won additional top novice speaker awards and top novice team. Roll wave!