University of Wyoming debaters continued their winning streak last weekend when junior Mike Bausch and sophomore Grae Harper, both of Boise, Idaho, finished a perfect 8-0 (12-0 on ballots) to win the University of Denver Mile High Classic.
At the Denver tournament, the Pokes defeated teams from Idaho State, UNLV, Weber State and DU, and then defeated the UNLV Rebels in the semifinal debate and Weber State's Wildcats in the final, both on unanimous decisions.
"Given the superior quality of competition in our region, we had a lot of tough debates at Denver," says Matt Stannard, director of the Wyoming Speech and Debate Union. "We literally could not have performed any better."
Bausch was named the tournament's second-best speaker, and Harper garnered the seventh place speaker award. It was the second tournament victory in two weeks for UW's policy debaters, and the squad's third tournament victory. For the eighth time this season they finished third or better in policy debate.
At Western Washington University, an octofinals win over the University of Nevada put UW's Kristen Brown of Casper and Isaac McBride of Boise, Idaho, among the top eight performers at the tournament, finishing as quarterfinalists. Brown was named the ninth best speaker among more than 60 individual tournament debaters. The Washington tournament marked the fourth time this year that Brown, a political science major, has been among the top 10 speakers in her division.
Closer to home, the UW team of Jared Bressler and Brett Delaney, both of Casper, finished second at Laramie County Community College.
"The second place finish was all the more impressive because Brett hasn't debated all year, and Jared has done an outstanding job juggling different partners," says Stannard.
The LCCC competition also marked the third elimination round appearance in a row for Bressler, also a political science major.
Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2009
