The University of Wyoming debate team completed a successful regular season, with two members qualifying for the National Debate Tournament (NDT).
Mike Bausch and Grae Harper, both of Boise, Idaho, qualified to be among 78 teams nationwide that will participate in the NDT March 19-22 at the University of California, Berkeley. At the recent Weber State debate in Ogden, Utah, Bausch was named the tournament's second individual speaker, while Harper was ranked fifth speaker overall. The duo had important wins over Weber State, Whitman College, the University of Puget Sound and Idaho State University with a 5-1 overall performance at districts.
Bausch and Harper won the Denver University tournament, took third place at Nevada-Las Vegas and appeared in the sweet 16 elimination rounds at Gonzaga, Texas-Dallas and North Texas. This will be Bausch's third NDT and Harper's second.
Freshman speaker Kacey Ballard of Green River was named top speaker in the Weber tournament's non-qualifying junior division while her partner, Kathleen Bouzis of Omaha, Neb., was sixth speaker.
Another freshman duo, Alex Sullivan and Brogan Moffet, both from Loveland, Colo., finished in that junior division with a 4-2 record. Another freshman team, Amy Pauli of Green River and Jared Fanning of Cheyenne, debated in the senior qualifying division and were named on the five-person District All First-Year Team.
"These were impressive performances by our freshmen policy debaters in what is a building year for us," says Matt Stannard, director of forensics in the UW Department of Communication and Journalism. "With this level of growth, the future looks bright."
At Willamette University in Salem, Ore., the parliamentary debate teams of Nick Larmer, Gillette, with Mike McDonald, Worland, and Jeremiah Etcheverry, Rock Springs, with Kathryn Starkey, Jackson Hole, advanced to the octo-final round of the Hatfield Debates. Casper's Kristen Brown with Isaac McBride, Boise, Idaho, advanced one further elimination round to finish in the tournament's quarter finals.
