KU Debate Team is national runner-up at National Debate Tournament
LAWRENCE — KU Debate finished as the national runner-up for the second straight season at the 79th National Debate Tournament (NDT), hosted by Gonzaga University from April 4-8.
The KU team of John Marshall, Lawrence, and Graham Revare, Shawnee, lost a 3-2 split decision to Binghamton University in the final round. KU defeated Binghamton in the preliminary rounds on a 2-1 decision, but Binghamton won the rematch in the finals.
The final debate ended at 2 a.m. April 8.
This was KU Debate’s ninth appearance in the final round and 22nd time reaching the Final Four.
“I am so proud of these two incredible debaters and of the entire squad and coaching staff that worked so hard at the tournament and throughout the season,” said Brett Bricker, KU head coach.
Marshall and Revare won the Rex Copeland award recognizing them as the regular season national champions before the start of the NDT. They were a unanimous winner ranking first on every ballot of the 12-person National Selection Committee.
KU had three teams competing in the 78-team field at the NDT, and all three teams finished the season in the top 17 teams in the country. Moreover, and all three qualified for the single-elimination rounds at the tournament.
Joining the team of Marshall and Revare were the teams of Rose Larson, Milwaukee, with Luna Schultz, Houston, and Ethan Harris, Lawrence, with Jacob Wilkus, Lawrence.
After the preliminary debates, Marshall and Revare were the first seed, Larson and Schultz the third seed, and Harris and Wilkus the 17th seed. This was only the fourth time in the history of the program that KU had all three of its teams qualify for the elimination rounds.
Marshall and Revare went 7-1 in the preliminary rounds with wins over the University of Minnesota, Liberty University, the University of Kentucky, the University of West Georgia, the University of Texas-Dallas, Michigan State University and Binghamton University.
Their only preliminary round loss was a split decision against the second-ranked team in the country from Emory University. In the elimination rounds they defeated the University of Michigan in the Sweet 16, Wake Forest University in the Elite Eight and Dartmouth College in the Final Four, advancing to the championship debate.
Larson and Schultz went 7-1 in the preliminary rounds with wins over the University of North Texas, the University of Texas-Dallas, the University of Southern California and two teams each from the University of Michigan and Northwestern University.
Their only loss in the prelims was to eventual champion Binghamton University. They advanced to the Sweet 16 but lost a split decision to California State University-Long Beach.
Harris and Wilkus went 5-3 in the preliminary rounds with wins over Towson University, the Naval Academy, Arizona State University, George Mason University and the University of California-Berkeley. They lost split decisions to the 7th-ranked team in the country from Northwestern University and the NDT Final Four team from California State University-Long Beach.
They lost to the Elite Eight Team from Georgetown University. They advanced to the single-elimination rounds but lost to the University of Michigan.
Revare won the individual first place speaker award at the tournament, becoming the fourth KU debater to win the top speaker award, joining current assistant coach Azja Butler (2021), Jacob Hegna (2019) and Hubert Bell (1955).
Marshall was the fifth-place speaker, Larson finished sixth and Schultz was 13th.
“This was another amazing season for KU Debate and John and Graham deserve recognition as one of the greatest teams in the history of the program,” said Scott Harris, the David B. Pittaway Director of KU Debate. “They are not only extremely talented but exhibit class and character in every debate.
“Dr. Bricker and the assistant coaches poured their heart and souls into helping all of the teams succeed and their effort was inspiring. I am grateful for the privilege of working with so many talented students and coaches who represent the University of Kansas with pride and joy.”