Webster Club Kicks Off 2007-2008 With Hilltopper Classic
Posted on September 24th, 2007 by Bill Batterman (Category: Public Forum Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Results, Policy Debate)
The Webster Club kicked off the 2007-2008 season by hosting the ninth annual Hilltopper Classic at Marquette University High School. Thirty schools from five states (Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and California) made the trip to Milwaukee for the largest tournament in Wisconsin in recent memory. For the first time, the finalists in Varsity Policy Debate also received a bid to the National Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky. The Hilltopper Classic is the only tournament in Wisconsin to enjoy “bid status” and the 2007 edition marks the first TOC qualifying tournament in Wisconsin since the mid-1990s. Marquette’s students and parents went to great lengths to ensure that we provided a positive and fulfilling experience for our guests and we were marvelously successful in reaching our goal.
While many Webster Club students were serving as volunteers, a relatively small squad made their season debut by competing at the tournament. The Hilltoppers were represented in the Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and Novice Policy fields and were very successful in all three.
In Public Forum, the team of Robert Schlaeger and Jacob Sirus posted a 4-2 record in the preliminary rounds and advanced to the semifinals as the tournament’s fourth seed where they were defeated by the eventual champions from Appleton East. John O’Neill and Matthew Waldoch also opened their season with a solid performance, notching the same 4-2 record but missing the break to semifinals based on speaker points.
In Lincoln-Douglas, five Hilltoppers vied for the title including our top two competitors. Junior Sam Hope, fresh off a rewarding summer institute experience at the National Symposium for Debate, breezed through the prelims with a 5-1 record, dropping only his first round to Chris Conway of New Trier. Advancing to elimination rounds as the second seed, Sam managed to exact revenge as he defeated Conway on a split decision in the semifinals. In the final round, Sam was defeated by Appleton West’s Stephanie Gill. He was also named the tournament’s fifth-best speaker.
Team Captain Jacob Swan had a rough first appearance, managing only a 3-3 record, but his leadership was nonetheless vital to the success of the squad. Despite his record, Jacob finished as the tournament’s third speaker and is sure to bounce back at Nicolet. Making their debuts at the Hilltopper Classic were Nick Nassif and Ryan Welsh, each of whom posted a 2-4 record while gaining valuable experience against more advanced competition; Nassif was also recognized as the ninth speaker. Rounding out the squad was junior Tom Matusiak who made a strong return to debate after a one-year hiatus, managing only one win but very respectable speaker points.
Six other Webster Club students also made their debuts at the Hilltopper Classic as the exciting novice policy squad was unveiled for the first time. With a deep, smart, and dedicated group of young men on-board, this year’s novice policy team promises to be one of the best in Marquette’s distinguished history and they got off to a wonderful start at their home tournament. After five preliminary rounds, the teams of Alex Kendall and Sam Scheurell and Alex Beck and Cameron Graff both accumulated 4-1 records and were seeded first and second, respectively. They advanced to semifinals without debating and were each victorious in the semis, defeating teams from Rufus King and Appleton East to close-out the championship.
The other two teams also debated very well, with Michael Hoffmann and Jack Mackay posting a 2-3 mark while Austin O’Dea and Ander Stanton went 1-5. Marquette also laid claim to four of the top ten speaker awards: Jack Mackay was second, Michael Hoffmann was fifth, Alex Kendall was sixth, and Cameron Graff was ninth.
All things considered, it was a very successful weekend. Next week the team will travel to Nicolet before beginning its split-squad schedule the following week with trips to New Trier (Illinois) and Rufus King. Photos from the Hilltopper Classic will be posted soon; if you took any photos while at the tournament, please email them to Mr. Batterman. Full results in all divisions are available at Wisconsin Forensics Daily.