Two KU debate teams have earned automatic bids to this year’s national tournament after finishing the regular season as top-16 teams.
Rose Larson, of Milwaukee, and Luna Schultz, of Houston, will be joined by Owen Owings, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Zach Willingham, of Topeka, in Houston next month for the National Debate Tournament, a prestigious debate competition KU has won six times.
KU’s debate program will look to add to that record of success this year. The team has qualified for the NDT 74 of the tournament’s 80 years, including every year since 1968. The team most recently won the tournament in 2018 and have finished as runner-up the last two seasons.
The NDT grants automatic qualification to the top 16 teams in the country. Each school is only allowed two automatic qualifying teams, and KU was one of four schools to achieve that honor this season.
According to the College Debate Rankings, four KU teams ended the regular season in the top 20. Larson and Schultz are ranked second; Owings and Willingham are ranked 14th; Brooklynn Hato and AJ Persinger, a Lawrence Free State alum, are ranked 16th; and Claire Ain and Max Ulven are ranked 18th.
The rest of the 78-team field will be filled by at-large bids and regional tournaments.
More KU teams could qualify to the NDT via the District 3 Qualifying Tournament from Feb. 20-23 in Oklahoma.
“The squad has had an excellent season, and we are very proud of the debaters for their hard work and performance,” Brett Bricker, KU’s head coach who won the NDT as a KU debater in 2009, said in a KU news release.
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