KU Debate teams win Rutgers University tournament

From left, Graham Revare, Jiyoon Park, William Soper and John Marshall

From left, KU Debate team members Graham Revare, Jiyoon Park, William Soper and John Marshall.

Fri, 01/26/2024

Scott Harris

Graham Revare, Jiyoon Park, William Soper and John Marshall, holding trophies, competed at the Rutgers University Newark Brick City Round Robin Invitational Tournament. — From left, Graham Revare, Jiyoon Park, William Soper and John Marshall competed at the Rutgers University Newark Brick City Round Robin Invitational Tournament.

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas teams combined to win the championship of the Rutgers University Newark Brick City Round Robin Invitational Tournament, which took place Jan. 19-22.

The team of seniors Graham Revare, Shawnee, with William Soper, Bucyrus, combined with the team of sophomores John Marshall, Lawrence, and Jiyoon Park, Topeka, to close out the championship debate of the tournament.

The Rutgers invitational featured 12 of the top teams in the country. The teams were divided into 2 six-team pods, and they competed against the other five teams in their pod over two days of debates. The top two teams from each pod then advanced to a semifinal single elimination bracket.

The KU pairing of Revare and Soper advanced to the semifinals by finishing first in their pod with a 5-0 record against teams from Emory University, the University of Minnesota, Wake Forest University, the University of Wyoming and Georgetown University.

The KU duo of Marshall and Park reached the semifinals by finishing second in their pod with a 3-2 record, defeating teams from Emory University, George Mason University and Binghamton University with losses to Wake Forest University and Georgetown University.

In the semifinals, Revare and Soper defeated Emory University on a unanimous 3-0 decision, while Marshall and Park defeated Georgetown, also on a 3-0 decision. The two KU teams advanced to the finals and closed the tournament for Kansas.

Soper and Revare also finished as the top two individual speakers at the tournament, with Soper winning the top speaker award and Revare finishing second.

“It was an outstanding performance by the debaters, and we are very excited to have won such a prestigious event against such an excellent field of competitors,” said Brett Bricker, associate director of KU Debate. “We are also thankful to Rutgers for their superb job hosting the tournament.”