SDU Wins IPDA Champion Title

Once again freshman debater Cole Boyd earned a spot in the final round of IPDA debate, this time at the Crimson Classic hosted by the University of Alabama. On a RESOUNDING 3-0 decision, Cole was victorious, bringing home the CHAMPION title for Murray State.

Cole won an impressive 13 of his 15 judges’ ballots across the 6 prelim rounds (1 judge per round) and the 3 single-elimination out rounds (each with 3 judges). He was also ranked 5th speaker in the novice division.

Freshman Essabella Voss made her debut at this tournament, advancing to Quarter-Finals in IPDA at her first ever tournament! She and Samuel Miller were instrumental in prepping Cole for his final round of debate, pulling from their vast knowledge of American history to affirm the topic: US democracy is backsliding

With just 3 debaters at this tournament, Murray State ranked 3rd in overall debate sweepstakes, with an impressive 63.33% team win rate.

For a small team to rank in overall sweepstakes, they must have a high win percentage. Team sweepstakes really boils down to a numbers game: every win and loss is worth points (3 pts and 1 pt respectively), so larger teams have an advantage, even if they don’t have as high of a win percentage. For reference, the 1st and 2nd place schools brought ~12 debaters.

We also had an exceptional performance on the speech side of the tournament from Senior Caleb McCurren and his Dramatic Interp piece — he placed 6th at a tournament that drew schools from around the nation.

Freshman Hailey Meshew debuted her speeches at this tournament, taking the Top Novice award in After Dinner Speaking!

Schools competing at this tournament included:

Western Kentucky University
Cornell University
Bradley University
Seton Hall University
University of Alabama
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Tennessee State University
Louisiana State University
Middle Tennessee State University
Tallahassee State Community College
University of Florida
William Carey University
Arkansas State University

Samuel Miller & Essabella Voss help Cole Boyd prep for finals