FSHS debate team continues to find success

The second week of the season found some Fort Scott debaters rising to the top as they traveled to three different tournaments.

At Emporia, a two-day affair, two Tiger teams competed. The Emporia tournament is one of just a handful of Debate Coaches Invitational (DCI) qualifying tournaments. The DCI tournament is an end of the year tournament that debaters must earn bids throughout the year in order to get an invitation; two bids and they are able to compete. Bids are earned by placing at the qualifying tournaments. If an individual makes the quarter or semifinals at a qualifying tournament they earn one bid. If they advance to finals, they earn the two needed bids to compete in the DCI.

These tournaments attract the best teams from throughout the state as everyone is vying hard for a bid. The pairing of Daniel Lyon and Baker Weilert established themselves as a top team in the state as they worked their way through the competition. At the end of the five preliminary rounds, the boys' 4-1 record landed them as the fifth seed in the quarterfinals. Here, they won a close 2-1 decision over the fourth-seeded team from Blue Valley West. The victory pushed them to the semi-finals where they faced the number-one seed from Topeka West. Again, Lyon and Weilert pulled off the win with a 2-1 decision.

In finals, the two faced off against the number-two seed from Blue Valley. These two teams faced off in the preliminary rounds where the Fort Scott duo handed the Blue Valley team its lone loss. In finals, they were able to repeat the feat as they handed Blue Valley their second loss and claim the title. The victory gives Lyon/Weilert the two needed bids to compete at the DCI. This marks the first DCI qualifying tournament championship for Fort Scott.

At Spring Hill, the squad represented itself well. Coming off a late night after Homecoming, three teams woke early to make the journey. In the group were three football players who looked to continue their winning ways from the night before. Austin Bailey and partner Megan Midkiff had a solid performance as they ended the day 4-1 for a sixth-place finish.

Tony Jackson and Katlyn Torres also managed a 4-1 record but finished just one speaker point out of the medals.

The final teaming of Reed Ramsey and Allison Piatt added to the three teams needed to compete for the overall sweeps trophy.

The Tigers came up a couple victories short of the title but ended well with a third-place finish.

The final group was in action at Southeast High School. This tournament was split into both varsity and novice divisions.

Three teams placed for Fort Scott. At the varsity level, Leah Casselman and P..J Self placed 8th. Novice pairings of Jacob Casselman/Jesse Guerrero (4-1, 3rd) and Jash Pytlowany/Dane Ramsey (3-2, 7th) each made it two weeks in a row where they came home in the medals.

On a side note, the Fort Scott debate/forensics team received notification from the national office of NFL (National Forensics League) that the team is recognized as being in the top one percent in the country of all NFL schools. The Tigers national ranking was 69th overall. Individually, Leah Casselman moved into the top 150, of over 115,000 students, to earn All-American status. This addition gives Fort Scott four students who rank among the best in the country.