District Debate Tournament Results!

Greetings Debate Fans!

Spring is in the air, and that means… Districts season! A top finish at this tournament earns debaters a berth at the prestigious Nationals event in June, so the competition pool is always deep and the debate rounds are always fierce. Nine Sage Ridge debaters representing all four Upper School grades battled at Reno High School on Friday and Saturday, and we came away with excellent results as four Scorpions qualified for day-two finals. To the deets:

Lincoln Douglas:

For the second straight year, William Moore ’19 went deep into the final rounds with an impressive 5-2 record. It was amazing to see William stay focused for what turned into a thirteen-hour day of competition. Although he narrowly missed equaling his award-winning performance from last year, with this tournament William established himself as an elite LD debater in our district. He can look back with great satisfaction on his SRS debate career. Outstanding!

Luxi Sun ’20 showed remarkable adaptability and natural talent as she earned a trip to day two in only her third LD tournament. That is amazing! Luxi’s intelligence and enthusiasm for debate would allow her to succeed in any form of the activity. She has been an incredibly positive addition to the program this year, and this impressive performance suggests that she has a strong senior year coming.

Mason Togliatti ’21 continued his excellent work this season and pushed two senior-level debaters to the limit in his rounds on Friday. Still an underclassman, Mason is way ahead of the curve in his debate career and will be a force in our district next year. Mason has only a few more moves to learn in order to take his debating to the next level. Mark my words: Mason will be in the finals at a tournament before 2020. Great job!

Policy:

Although they clearly controlled both their rounds on Friday, Aryan Shukla ’20 and Kira Romberg ’22 were victims of inexperienced judges at this tournament, and the ballots did not fall their way. A further indication of trouble with the judges in Policy was shown as the district’s top seeded team suffered an early exit as well. Aryan and Kira are not discouraged and are already looking forward to next season. Keep up the good work!

Public Forum:

Cade Rombardo ’20 teamed up with Varun Pandit ’20 and the two put forth came away with an undefeated day one – wow! On Saturday morning, these two put together the best round of their careers. Varun’s opening speech was completely controlled and timed to perfection, and Cade’s rebuttal was precise and forceful. They made it to round four before they were defeated by a team that eventually went on to the final round. Cade and Varun have made huge strides this season and it was only the Little Green Man who beat them on Saturday. Well done!

Jens-Emil Clausen ‘21 and Vidhi Pandit ’21 put forth a great effort and put a scare into some more experienced debaters. In their final round, the progress these two have made this year was evident: Jens’s advanced analytical ability scored clear points when he turned an opponent’s definitions against her, and Vidhi kept the other team off balance with excellent rebuttal skills. Although the rounds did not fall their way this tournament, these two can be enormously proud of a strong season. Great work!

A big THANK YOU to all debaters, parents, and SRS faculty who supported the program this year! Stay tuned for details of our end of the year banquet.

Yours in the Cause!

Mr. S.