KU debate team wins Mid America Championship debate tournament


LAWRENCE — University of Kansas debaters Ethan Harris, sophomore from Lawrence, and Will Soper, junior from Bucyrus, won the Mid America Championship debate tournament hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma. The pair went undefeated over 10 rounds of debates Feb. 17-19 to win the championship.

Ethan Harris and Will Soper

A second KU duo of freshmen — Zach Willingham, Topeka, and Sabrina Yang, Overland Park — took fifth place at the tournament. Harris, Soper and Yang also received individual recognition as the third-, fourth- and fifth-place speakers at the tournament.

The KU team of freshmen Isaac Martinez from Spearman, Texas, and Sean McConnell from Topeka finished with a 3-3 record at the tournament and just missed qualifying for the single-elimination debates.

“We are very proud of the hard work of the entire squad that went into winning the championship,” said Scott Harris, the David B. Pittaway Director of Debate.

Sabrina Yang and Zach Willingham

Other schools competing at the tournament included Baylor University, the University of Central Oklahoma, Emporia State University, Gonzaga University, the University of Houston, Kansas State University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Texas, Vanderbilt University, Wake Forest University, Wichita State University and the University of Wyoming.

The Mid America Championship was the first of four postseason tournaments KU teams will be competing at this season. KU will also have teams competing at the American Debate Association Championship tournament at Georgetown University from March 3-5, the National Debate Tournament Championship in Chantilly, Virginia, from March 30 to April 3, and the Cross Examination Debate Association National Championship Tournament in Houston from April 7-11.

Photos: Right, Ethan Harris and Will Soper. Left, Sabrina Yang and Zach Willingham

Tue, 02/21/2023

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Scott Harris

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Scott Harris

KU Debate and Department of Communication Studies

785-864-9878