Catastrophe Averted: Varsity Policy Team Wins Second-Place Honors at Nathan Hale

Posted on December 3rd, 2006 by Bill Batterman (Category: Results, Policy Debate)

After a snowstorm forced the Webster Club to cancel its trip to Appleton for the highly-anticipated Alexandra Hoecherl Challenge, the squad was forced to make a last-minute change so that senior Gaurav Bhatnagar could compete in a second in-state tournament. An ill-conceived rule adopted by the Wisconsin Debate Coaches’ Association (WDCA) during the late 1990s to prevent students that compete primarily on the national circuit from entering the State Tournament of Champions, the so-called “Reddy Rule” (named after Appleton East’s Srikanth Reddy, the rule’s original target) requires that each student who competes in the Varsity Switch-Sides division of the WDCA State Tournament of Champions compete in at least two WDCA invitationals during the season. As of this past weekend, Gaurav had competed in only one, the Janesville Cougar-Viking Invitational, and was scheduled to debate at Appleton East.

With the Challenge no longer an option, the Hilltoppers turned to West Allis’s Nathan Hale High School and tournament director Tom Holtgrieve. The host of the annual “Holiday Extravaganza” tournament along with Greendale High School, Mr. Holtgrieve and the Nathan Hale squad were incredibly accommodating and their generosity allowed the Webster Club to enter a Varsity Four-Person team the night before the tournament. After some hectic scrambling and last-minute phone calls, a trio of Hilltoppers came through for their captain and joined Gaurav at the tournament: senior Nolan Wanecke, junior Mark Kettler, and sophomore Ben Benson.

The hard part out of the way, the four debaters competed in three rounds of locked-sides, four-person competition against schools from throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Gaurav and Nolan compiled a perfect 3-0 record on the affirmative while Mark and Ben managed a 2-1 mark on the negative. The foursome’s combined 5-1 record was good for second place behind Nicolet High School and Gaurav and Nolan were recognized as the top two affirmative speakers.

In the end, a potential crisis was averted and the Hilltoppers returned home with some more hardware for their trophy shelves. The entire Webster Club extends its thanks to Nathan Hale and Tom Holtgrieve for their generosity!