KU Debate teams win University of Minnesota Invitational

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas debate teams — Jimin Park with Jet Semrick and Ethan Harris with Jacob Wilkus — swept through the elimination rounds to close out the championship debate and finish as co-champions of the University of Minnesota Invitational Debate Tournament held Jan. 28-30. It is the fifth debate tournament that KU debaters have won this season and the third time that two KU teams have closed out the finals of a tournament.

The team of Park, a junior from Topeka, and Semrick, a junior from Prairie Village, went undefeated at the tournament qualifying for the elimination rounds as the top seed with a 6-0 record in the preliminary rounds. They notched wins over teams from Samford University, Binghamton University, two teams from the University of Minnesota, George Mason University and the University of Pittsburgh. As the top seed they received a bye through the first elimination round and then defeated a team from the University of Iowa in the quarterfinals and Binghamton University in the semifinals to advance to the championship debate.

The team of Harris and Wilkus, freshmen from Lawrence, won four of six debates in the preliminary rounds to qualify for the single-elimination debates. They won debates over Gonzaga University, Samford University, the University of Iowa and the University of Georgia. Their losses were to the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Minnesota. They advanced to the elimination rounds as the sixth seed at the tournament. In the elimination rounds they beat teams from the University of Minnesota in both the Octafinals and the Quarterfinals, avenging their preliminary loss in the quarters. In the semifinals they defeated the University of Iowa to advance to the championship and assure a KU closeout of the final round. It is the second tournament championship for the pair of freshmen this month.

All four KU debaters received individual speaking awards at the tournament. Park was the top speaker, Semrick the fourth speaker, Wilkus the ninth speaker and Harris the 10th speaker. KU debate teams have competed at 12 tournaments this season, winning five of the tournaments.

“We are incredibly excited about the success our teams have enjoyed this season,” said Scott Harris, the David B. Pittaway Director of KU Debate. “I am grateful for the hard work of the coaching staff and all of the members of the squad who work to help one another succeed even when they are not competing at tournaments.”