Members of the UW debate team, front row from left, are Rosalie Willson, Saimaa Widi, Jaden Campbell, Adam Pierson, coach Subbi Namakula and coach David Rooney. Pictured, back row from left, are Havyn Morrison, Brayden Lyday, Jean-Luc Willson, Jeremiah Hawley, Aiden Hedrick and graduate assistant Adrian Graham. (Gabriella Knight Photo)
The University of Wyoming debate team earned national recognition following strong
performances at the National Debate Tournament (NDT) and the Cross-Examination Debate
Association (CEDA) National Tournament.
The team is coached by David Rooney, Greg Dyekman and Wayne Callaway, director of
debate at UW. Adrian Graham, a UW graduate student from Cheyenne, assists in coaching.
At the NDT, Jaden Campbell, of Saratoga, and Jeremiah Hawley, of Buffalo, narrowly
missed advancing to the top 32 elimination rounds, marking Wyoming’s best performance
at the tournament in several years. The pair picked up judges’ ballots over Cornell
University, George Mason University, the University of Georgia, James Madison University,
the University of Oklahoma and Trinity University, and debated nationally ranked teams
from Iowa and Dartmouth.
At the CEDA National Tournament, Wyoming fielded five teams -- a significant milestone
for a program that had just one debater last fall. The team traveled with 10 competitors
and three coaches.
Campbell and Hawley finished 5-3 in preliminary rounds and advanced to the triple-octofinals.
Saimaa Widi, of Cheyenne, and Jean-Luc Willson, of Thermopolis, also went 5-3, advancing
to the double-octofinals after a triple-octofinal win over California State University-Fullerton.
First-year debaters Adam Pierson, of Cheyenne, and Aiden Hedrick, of Gillette, along
with Ryan Curran (St. John’s University) and Brayden Lyday, of Cheyenne, missed elimination
rounds by one round. Hayvn Morrison, of Baggs, in her first year of debate, and Rosalie
Willson, of Thermopolis, finished two rounds short.
UW placed two teams in CEDA elimination rounds for the first time since the 2022-23
season. Based on available records, the combined preliminary performance of Campbell
and Hawley, and Widi and Willson, is the program’s strongest in at least 14 years.
The team also received community-selected recognition, honored for best evidence and
research, the Bootstraps Award for the hardest-working small squad and the Rookie
Director Award. Rooney was named a CEDA Critic of the Year and selected to judge the
national championship round.
The UW squad is among the youngest in the country, with most debaters in their first
or second year of collegiate competition.
The season concludes the debate careers of seniors Willson and Campbell.
Willson, a four-year debater, reached CEDA elimination rounds twice, earned multiple
top-speaker awards and advanced to elimination rounds more than seven times. He will
pursue graduate study in international human rights law in Geneva, Switzerland.
Campbell, also a four-year debater, helped rebuild the program and led recruiting
efforts. She qualified for the NDT four times; reached CEDA elimination rounds twice;
won the Val Browning Round Robin and the Mid-America Championship tournament; and
advanced to elimination rounds more than 11 times. She will remain at UW to pursue
graduate study in zoology and physiology before attending medical school.
“It has been a great first year as director, and I am really thankful for all of the
hard work from our debaters; advocacy and help from alumni and donors; and to be able
to enter such a wonderful support network for Wyoming Debate,” Rooney says.
For more information about UW Debate, visit https://uwyo.edu/cojo/Debate/index.html.
For questions about results, email Rooney at david.rooney@uwyo.edu.
