Speyer Debate Dominates at Urban Debate League State Championship!

Our Dragon Debaters dominated the NYC Debate tournaments and took their stellar skills to the two-day Urban Debate League State Championship this past weekend. Having the greatest number of Parliamentary debaters who qualified to attend, Speyer was, once again, a force for other schools’ teams to contend with. We have all of the details and results from our Debate Coach Mr. Glasser! 

The Speyer Debate Team had a terrific showing this weekend at our two-day Urban Debate League State Championship! This tournament included a full day of preliminary rounds, with only the most successful debaters moving on to complete in the elimination rounds on day two. Additionally, to even compete in the tournament, students must have qualified by achieving winning records at multiple local tournaments throughout the year. The State Championships are a great time to gauge the overall performance of our program against the very best debaters from all over the state. 

Out of nearly 50 competing schools at the tournament, Speyer had the greatest number of Parliamentary debaters who qualified to attend. What is even more astounding is that each and every one of our debaters broke through preliminary rounds and made it to the second day eliminations. With so many teams in the out rounds, many students’ biggest worry was knocking out other Speyer teams!  

In the end, eighth graders Liam S., Grace K., and Chris O. were eliminated just before quarterfinals, landing them in fifth place overall! Meanwhile, fifth graders Nathan G., Mikaela G., and Zach V. ended just before semifinals, landing in fourth place of the novice division! Seventh graders Alex V., Caitlin M., and Brynn M. made it to the semifinal round ending in third place overall! The other seventh grade team of Sana M., Alden N., and Sasha W. made it all the way to the final championship round, but slightly missed the top spot on a 2-1 split judgment, landing as the second place overall team! In addition to these amazing team results, debaters Chris and Alex won individual speaker medals for excellence in style and presentation. 

Huge shout-out to all of our Speyer Debaters, supportive Debate parents and Coach Glasser!