KU Debate team wins tournament at Missouri State University

Fri, 09/29/2023

Scott Harris

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Debate team of Zachary Willingham, sophomore from Topeka, and Sabrina Yang, sophomore from Overland Park, took first place at the Missouri State University College Debate Tournament, which took place Sept. 22-24. The KU duo defeated the University of Oklahoma in the championship debate.

Zachary Willingham and Sabina Yang, KU Debate.

Other schools competing at the tournament included Kansas State University, Missouri State University, Missouri Valley College, Oklahoma University, the University of Central Oklahoma, the University of Houston, the University of Texas- Dallas and Wichita State University. Willingham and Yang went 5-1 in the preliminary rounds to qualify for the single eliminations. In the elimination rounds, they defeated Wichita State in the quarterfinals and the University of Texas -Dallas in the semifinals before meeting the University of Oklahoma in the tournament championship.

Both KU debaters also won individual speaker awards. Willingham was the fourth-place individual speaker, and Yang was the seventh-place speaker.

“Sabrina and Zach were completely dialed in at the tournament,” said Brett Bricker, Kansas Debate head coach. “They were flexible and responded very well to unique and surprising arguments from their opponents. I’m very proud of them. This was a victory for the squad. We had students and coaches back in Lawrence helping them succeed, and a 2018 alum, Jacob Hegna, whose work helped them defeat the University of Texas-Dallas in the semifinals.”

KU debate teams will be competing at 17 tournaments over the course of the season through April 2024. This year’s debate topic is “Resolved: The United States should restrict its nuclear forces in one or more of the following ways: adopting a nuclear no-first use policy; eliminating one or more legs of its nuclear triad; disarming its nuclear forces.”

Photo: The University of Kansas Debate team of Zachary Willingham, sophomore from Topeka, and Sabrina Yang, sophomore from Overland Park, took first place at the Missouri State University College Debate Tournament, which took place Sept. 22-24.