Finalist Interviews

Richard Cook (Strake Jesuit RC), Champion

Question: Was there a particular round you debated at this tournament in which you really enjoyed the argument interaction/clash in?
Richard Cook: I really enjoyed my round in quarters. It came down to a non-topical K aff vs. topicality. My opponent’s advocacy was that we limit our discussion of qualified immunity in debate by not talking about the topic, which I thought was a cool twist on the topic. Moreover, I had never seen anyone approach topicality the way they did. They went about interacting the aff with theory in a pretty creative way and forced me to think about things like topicality in a new way, beyond just fairness vs. oppression.

Q: Who’s your favorite judge and why?
RC: My favorite judge would have to be Chris Castillo. He has an excellent understanding of the round and always offers great insight on strategy and argument quality.

Q: What was your favorite Neg position from this tournament?
RC: My favorite neg position from the tournament was a PIC that affirmed the aff advocacy in Spanish. I read it against an aff that limit qualified immunity for border patrol agents. Though it might not have been the game winner, or the most strategic option for that matter, I thought it was an interesting way to look at the debate round and how we present our arguments to the judge.

Q: Are there any positions/issues in debate that you’re passionate about that you’d like to speak about?
RC: I think debaters often times just label certain positions and refuse to actually consider them. The main value of debate is that it forces debaters to critically reflect on their beliefs and argue for/consider ideas that they may not agree with. The diversity of arguments within debate is what makes debate so fascinating and debates where too very different styles clash constitute some of the best and most educational rounds. Approaching positions with an open mind will be to the benefit of everyone.

Main Tournament

Round 1

Pairings | Results

Round 2

Pairings | Results

Round 3

Pairings | Results

Round 4

Pairings | Results

Round 5

Pairings | Results

Triple Octafinals

Strake Jesuit CL walked over Strake Jesuit DT (Bye)
Cypress Woods LC def. Westlake AD (Hsun)
Westlake AC def. Lake Travis MM (Hsun)
Montgomery WP def. Pope John Paul II AP (Richardson)
Edmond North AP def. Anderson BD (Richardson)
Kinkaid JY def. Westwood SM (Agho Otoghile)
Cy-Fair TW def. Westwood SN (Agho Otoghile)
Earl Warren NO def. Lindale AR (Skelton)
Athens MP def. Katy Taylor CR (Skelton)
Winston Churchill BW def. Stony Point EM (Khan)
Edmond North CC def. Ann Richards AM (Khan)
Anderson SJ def. Prosper ZE (Burdett)
Westwood AG def. Winston Churchill BY (Burdett)
Tompkins AG def. Woodlands MC (Gamble)
Klein NG def. Anderson JT (Gamble)
Westwood RS def. Reagan RV (Davies)
Strake Jesuit JH def. Reagan MC (Davies)
Collegiate DM def. Edmond North PL (Vanwinkle)
Westwood RM def. Kempner KT (Vanwinkle)
Southlake Carroll SM def. Edmond North CD (McConway)
Westwood JA def. Seven Lakes JS (McConway)
Kempner FH def. Lake Travis KE (Mccormick)
Cedar Park MT def. Lake Travis BO (Mccormick)
Strake Jesuit RC def. Dulles FS (Nanavati)
Cypress Woods CJ def. Klein FR (Nanavati)
St. John’s AW def. Pflugerville DC (Fennessy)
Katy Taylor AW def. Montgomery RM (Fennessy)
Winston Churchill WC def. Stony Point RJ (Koshak)
North Crowley LR def. Kempner TC (Koshak)
Dulles MK def. Westwood HJ (Burd)
Strake Jesuit MC def. Southlake Carroll RP (Burd)
Cedar Park MG def. Klein Oak AG (Jadala)

Double Octafinals

Westwood RS walked over Westwood JA (Bye)
Cypress Woods LC def. Westwood RM (Castillo)
Strake Jesuit CL def. Dulles MK (Skelton)
Montgomery WP def. Winston Churchill WC (Jadala)
Strake Jesuit JH def. St. John’s AW (McConway)
Kinkaid JY def. Edmond North AP (Agho Otoghile)
Earl Warren NO def. Westlake AC (Gamble)
Strake Jesuit RC def. Westwood AG (Koshak)
Winston Churchill BW def. Klein NG (Patel)
Kempner FH def. Athens MP (Nanavati)
Southlake Carroll SM def. Cedar Park MT (Mccormick)
Strake Jesuit MC def. Cypress Woods CJ (Burd)
Cedar Park MG def. Anderson SJ (Davies)
Cy-Fair TW def. Tompkins AG (Burdett)
North Crowley LR def. Edmond North CC (Richardson)
Collegiate DM def. Katy Taylor AW (Hsun)

Octafinals

North Crowley LR def. Strake Jesuit CL (Sayani, Richardson, Burdett)
Westwood RS def. Montgomery WP (McGee, Fennessy, Aguilar)
Cypress Woods LC def. Collegiate DM (Mccormick, Jadala, Blaker)
Kinkaid JY def. Cedar Park MG (Holland, Hsun, Burd)
Earl Warren NO def. Strake Jesuit MC (Sun, Koshak, Davies)
Winston Churchill BW def. Kempner FH (Skelton, Nanavati, Castillo)
Cy-Fair TW def. Strake Jesuit JH (Phlieger, Agho Otoghile, Cheung)
Strake Jesuit RC def. Southlake Carroll SM (Patel, McConway, Gamble)

Quarterfinals

Cypress Woods LC def. Winston Churchill BW (Nanavati, Mccormick, Burdett)
Strake Jesuit RC def. North Crowley LR (McConway, Keleman, Burd)
Westwood RS def. Earl Warren NO (Patel, Koshak, Davies)
Kinkaid JY def. Cy-Fair TW (Hsun, Castillo, Blaker)
*Judges who sat aren’t indicated above as full results aren’t published yet.

Semifinals

Strake Jesuit RC def. Westwood RS (McConway, Harden, Davies)
Kinkaid JY def. Cypress Woods LC (Sun, Fennessy, Burd)

Finals

Strake Jesuit RC def. Kinkaid JY (Sun, Keleman, Dikeman)

Champion

Richard Cook (Strake Jesuit RC)

Scouting Report

Bid Level: Semifinals
Entries: 207 (As of 11/30)
Last Year’s Finals: Strake Jesuit SM def. Dulles NB (Allen, Krause, Rudolph)

Debaters with Bids (As of 11/30):
Cedar Park MG (1)
Cedar Park MT (1)
Collegiate DM (1)
Cypress Woods LC (3)
Dulles MK (1)
Earl Warren NO (1)
Montgomery WP (1)
North Crowley LR (1)
Strake Jesuit CP RC (3)
Strake Jesuit JH (1)
Strake Jesuit CP MC (1)
Kinkaid JY (1)
Woodlands College Park JZ (1)
Westwood RM (1)
Westwood RS (1)
Westwood SN (1)
Winston Churchill BW (1)