KU Debate opens season with strong showing at Northwestern tournament

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas debate team began the 2025-26 season with three teams finishing in the top 10 of the Owen L. Coon Memorial Debate Tournament at Northwestern University, which took place Sept. 5-8 in Evanston, Illinois. The event is the first major national tournament of the season.

Five KU teams qualified for the single-elimination debates, four teams reached the final 16, and two teams reached the final eight. No other school had as many teams in the elimination rounds.

The opening tournament was won by the University Michigan team of Eleanor Barrett and Jiyoon Park. Park is from Topeka and debated his first two years at KU before transferring to Michigan.

The KU team of seniors Rose Larson, Milwaukee, and Luna Schultz, Houston, who finished last year as one of the top-15 teams in the country, went 7-1 in the preliminary rounds and advanced to the elimination rounds as the first-place seed. They began the tournament on day one with wins over Arizona State, Western Kentucky and West Georgia before losing a debate to Binghamton, which included a member of last year’s NDT championship team. On day two they came back with consecutive wins over Harvard, Northwestern, Emory and Wake Forest. In the single-elimination rounds, they defeated Harvard for the second time in the first elimination debate and beat Dartmouth College in the octafinals before losing to California State University Long Beach in the quarterfinals. Schultz was the fourth-place individual speaker at the tournament, and Larson was the fifth-place speaker.

The KU team of junior Owen Williams, Lee’s Summit, and senior Zach Willingham, Topeka, also won seven preliminary debates and advanced to the elimination rounds as the seventh seed. They opened the year with wins over George Mason, Wake Forest and the Northwestern team that would finish second at the tournament before losing to a different Northwestern team to finish the first day 3-1. On day two they went undefeated with wins over the University of Southern California, CSU Long Beach, Emory and the University of Michigan. The KU pair defeated Stanford in the first elimination round and advanced over another KU team that was the 10th seed in the octafinals before losing a 2-1 split decision in a rematch against the Northwestern University team they beat in prelims.

The KU team of juniors Brooklynn Hato, Overland Park, and A.J. Persinger, Lawrence, won six preliminary debates and reached the elimination rounds as the 10th seed. They opened the season with wins over Northwestern, the University of California-Davis and Georgia before dropping a debate to Emory University. On day two they defeated Michigan, Emory and Northwestern before dropping round eight to another Emory team. In the elimination rounds they defeated the University of Texas-Dallas on a unanimous decision to advance to the octafinals where they met the higher-seeded KU team of Williams and Willingham, and the higher-seeded team advanced. Persinger was the 20th individual speaker at the tournament, and Hato was the 22nd speaker.

The KU team of sophomores Connor Brown, Lawrence, and Henry Walawender, Lenexa, won five preliminary debates to advance to the elimination rounds as the 30th seed. They won debates over teams from Dartmouth, Harvard, North Texas, Michigan and Liberty University. In the first elimination round they pulled off a major upset over the third seed and defending NDT champion from Binghamton. In the octafinals they were knocked out of the tournament by Northwestern.

The KU team of sophomore Claire Ain, Overland Park, and freshman Max Ulven, St. Paul, Minnesota, also won five preliminary debates and advanced to the elimination rounds as the 24th seed. In prelims they won debates against Georgetown, Michigan, Wake Forest, George Mason and Emory. In the first elimination round they lost a close 2-1 split decision against CSU Long Beach.

“It was an outstanding start to the season, and we have high expectations for another successful season for KU debate,” said Scott Harris, David B. Pittaway Director of Debate at KU.

Up next for KU Debate is a tournament this month at Missouri State University, where 20 Jayhawks will compete.