UT Tyler Parliamentary Debate Team- William Jewell College Season Opener

On September 20-22nd, the UT Tyler Parliamentary Debate Team traveled to Liberty, Missouri for the William Jewell College Season Opener.  It was a “swing,” meaning that there are two separate tournaments in one weekend.  With over 50 teams entered from 18 different colleges and universities, UT Tyler had a very strong showing with the four different teams entered in both tournaments. 

UT Tyler FH v. Univ. of Pacific HR

The first half of the Jewell opener, the Gina Lane Classic, named after the former Director of Forensics at Jewell and current board member in the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.  UT Tyler entered three teams in this half: UT Tyler FH (Dallas Flick and Carver Hodgkiss), UT Tyler BC (Kaitlyn Bull and Sam Cook), and UT Tyler HM (Stephen Hullum and Taylor Manatsa).  The format for this tournament includes five preliminary rounds, and then elimination rounds for teams with winning records in the preliminary rounds.  UT Tyler FH and UT Tyler CB had 4-1 records in the preliminary rounds, earning them spots in elimination rounds, and a bye through the partial octofinals round.  UT Tyler HM went 1-4 in the preliminary rounds, which meant they would not compete in elimination rounds, but they still competed very well.  In elimination rounds, UT Tyler BC lost in their octofinals round to the top team from Washburn University.  UT Tyler FH lost in quarterfinals to the top team from Mckendree University.  Kaitlyn Bull was the 18^th top speaker in the first half of the tournament, and I was the 17^th top speaker.  Overall, it was a very strong season opener for UT Tyler.

UT Tyler EH (right side) v. Long Beach HM

The second half of the Jewell opener, the Georgia Bowman Tournament, had the same format as the Gina Lane Classic, and UT Tyler entered three teams in the Open Tournament, and one student in the JV Tournament.  In open, UT Tyler FH, UT Tyler BC, and UT Tyler EH (JH Engelbrecht and Steven Hullum) competed.  In the JV tournament, Taylor Manatsa debated with another novice from William Jewell University, Josi Plyman.  In the preliminary rounds, UT Tyler FH went 3-2, allowing for entry in the elimination rounds.  UT Tyler BC and EH both went 2-3, keeping them out of the elimination rounds, but they still performed very well in the second half.  Finally, in JV, UTT/WJC MP went 3-2, allowing them to compete in the JV elimination rounds.

In elimination rounds for the second half, UT Tyler FH won the partial octofinals round, and then lost in octofinals to the top Mckendree team.  For the JV tournament, UTT/WJC MP lost in the semifinal round to Texas Tech.  For junior varsity debaters, Taylor Manatsa was the 10^th top speaker for the second half.  For the open debaters, Carver Hodgkiss was the 20^th speaker, and I was the 10^th top speaker.  UT Tyler had a strong second half, and overall the William Jewell College Season Opener was a huge success!  If you want more information about the tournament or specific details on how other teams performed check out the tournament pages: Gina Lane Classic, Georgia Bowman Tournament.

The next tournament for UT Tyler takes place at Lewis and Clark College on October 12^th, and it will be a very challenging tournament.  Keep up with the UT Tyler Student Blog to find the results for the tournament!  Also, for live updates for the tournament, check out www.parlitournament.com and keep up with UT Tyler’s progress!