Chesterton High School took a handful of debaters to the William Fremd
Viking invitational in Illinois to begin its November competition. The
tournament included 27 schools and 171 entries. The event only held
competition for Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum events. For the Illinois
schools, this was one of their first tournaments, while the Chesterton
students had to deal with turning around a new topic in only a week.
The
Lincoln-Douglas debaters switched from a topic about college admittance to
fossil fuel subsidization. Bella Aurricchio was named the top speaker in the
Illinois division, amassing a score of 146.5 out of a possible 150.
Aurricchio dropped a couple of close decisions, but was still able to come
home with a fifth place trophy and place as the eighth best speaker.
The
Public Forum debaters switched from a topic regarding Europe joining China’s
belt and road initiative to the benefits of the US practice regarding
offensive cyber operations. Nick Hanson was named as the fifth best speaker
at the tournament and, along with his partner Tim Wheeler, came in ninth
place at the tournament
Alexis Ioannidis and Sidney Pittman came in seventh in the JV division.
Saanya Agarwal and Jackson Jessen were the fifth best team in novice Public
Forum and Jessen was the seventh best speaker for the tournament.
This
weekend the team hosts its annual debate tournament at the high school as it
nears the halfway point in the regular season.