The Park Hill South speech and debate team has had an impressive start to the year, with the most recent accomplishment being in the “6-Round Throwdown” competition at Belton High School on Oct. 22.
The Panthers have many bright students who did well at the tournament, especially the freshman class. The 6-Round Throwdown was a little different than normal speech and debate tournaments.
“All debaters were given the opportunity to debate in six rounds,” Park Hill South speech and debate coach Hannah Townsend said. “This is unusual because normally students are only given the opportunity to debate in four rounds before either moving onto quarterfinals, semifinals and finals or being cut from the competition.”
Freshman Benjamin Cat had a great day at the 6-Round Throwdown, coming out with four wins opposed to two losses and he also earned honorable mention at the tournament. Jackson Wheeler – who had never competed in a speech and debate tournament before – finished with the same record as his fellow freshman teammate.
“This was a great showing for Benjamin (Cat) after his debut tournament at Blue Springs South on October 7th and 8th where he achieved a record of three wins and one loss. He missed quarterfinals by just a hair so I’m hoping to see the stage next time; he’s really close,” Townsend said.
Henry Van Asselt, Jackson Wheeler, Benjamin Cat, Roberto Shepherd (left to right) hold up a trophy after the Park Hill South speech and debate team competed in the “6-Round Throwdown” competition at Belton High School on Oct. 22.
In the same tournament, Cat and Wheeler also competed in the Lincoln-Douglas debate – where the topic changes monthly – with the topic for October being, “Resolved: The United States ought to implement a single-payer universal healthcare system.” In November, the Lincoln-Douglas topic will change to, “Resolved: The People’s Republic of China ought to prioritize environmental protection over economic growth,” so Cat, Wheeler and other students will begin their prep work all over again shortly.
“The Lincoln-Douglas debate is when there’s a moral debate where students utilize their knowledge of the topic, philosophy and reason to communicate and argue their position. It’s one versus one where students are paired up against high school students from another school, while a judge watches to determine whether they win or lose,” Townsend said.
The freshmen duo of Hendrik Van Asselt and Roberto Shepherd also had a nice outing at Belton High School when they participated in a Policy Debate. Van Asselt and Shepherd ended the tournament with a record of four wins and one loss, which was good enough to claim third place.
“Policy Debate is a team debate event, so they compete against other 2-person teams from other high schools and the resolution in policy stays the same for the whole year. This type of debate is very research-based and requires a strong knowledge base and presentation skills,” Townsend said.
Cat, Wheeler, Shepherd and Van Asselt secured 70% of Park Hill South’s wins and the team was the best among its division – which was considered a small division since the Panthers only had four entries – as they earned first place in small school sweepstake. Junior debater Benjamin Shepherd and senior debater Timmy Tasler tagged along to serve as varsity judges for the novices.
Park Hill South brought 15 students to the season opening novice and varsity division tournaments at Blue Springs and Blue Springs South Debate on Oct. 7 and 8, and the novices managed to bring home five awards. Shepherd had success there as well with the freshman taking second place in International Extemporaneous Speaking and fourth place in Policy Debate when he was teamed up with Van Asselt.
Rin Abrahamson had a strong individual performance as he finished in third place in Poetry Reading. Aidan Morris and Jonah Hicks both had fifth-place finishes in the tournament, Morris doing so in the Student Congressional Debate and Hicks earning that in Informative Speaking.
Park Hill South’s next tournament will be at Maryville High School on Oct. 28 and 29. There will be 18 students in attendance and they’re hoping to match the level of success from the 6-Round Throwdown in the debate, interpretive and speaking events.