Winston-Salem, NC – (Dec 12^th, 2021) The Wake Forest Debate team and the American Debate Association hosted their annual congruent debate tournaments on the weekend of November 12-15. Wake Forest’s annual Franklin R Shirley tournament hosted one hundred eighty-eight Varsity debate competitors, while the American Debate Association hosted one hundred and six Junior Varsity and Novice competitors vying for the Fall Championship.

Both tournaments featured six preliminary rounds of competition, where students argued on both sides, on the topic “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase prohibitions on anticompetitive business practices by the private sector by at least expanding the scope of its core antitrust laws”. Followed by a single elimination tournament where the top thirty-three Open, top ten Junior Varsity, and top nineteen teams advanced based on the results from the preliminary rounds.

The Novice division showcased competitors with little to no experience in debate and held a Double Octafinal round featuring teams from Emory University, George Mason University, Indiana University, James Madison University, Liberty University, Monmouth University, Samford University, the New School, the United States Naval Academy, the University of Houston, the University of Miami, and West Virginia University. The Final Round saw a 3-0 victory for second seeded Zane Kierzyk & Malea Floyd from Indiana over Ankita Bhurtel & Jeremy Brown from George Mason University. Miranda Wilson from Emory was recognized as the Top Speaker of the Division.

The Junior Varsity division showcased competitors with limited experience in debate cleared to an Octafinal featuring teams from George Mason University, Liberty University, Purdue University, Samford University, the University of Houston, the University of Mary Washington, and the University of Minnesota. The Final Round saw a 3-0 victory for top seeded Avery Dover & Ainsley Rucker from Mary Washington over second seeded Josiah Joyce & Jackson Posey from Liberty. In addition to being named champion Avery Dover from Mary Washington was recognized as the Top Speaker of the Division.

The Open division is the highest level of competition in CEDA debate cleared to an Triple Octafinals featuring teams from California State University – Fullerton, Dartmouth College, Emory University, George Mason University, Gonzaga University, Harvard University, Johnson County Community College, Liberty University, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, Purdue University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Kansas, the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas – Austin, Trinity University, and Wake Forest University. The Final Round saw a 3-2 victory for
top seeded Rafael Pierry & Giorgio Rabbini from Michigan over Akash Deo & Nina Fridman from Northwestern. Natalie Robinson from Liberty was recognized for the fourth time this year as the Top Speaker of the Division, marking a first semester sweep of that National Tournaments for that honor.

The two tournaments marked the eighth weekend of the competitive season and provided a total of over thirty-one thousand minutes of speaking time for undergraduate students. Students engaged in a minimum of three debates in favor of the resolution and three opposed, requiring them to test their hours of research and preparation on both sides of the topic. The format enables students to build skills in critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

About CEDA

Cross Examination Debate Association was founded in 1971. CEDA is currently responsible for formulating the annual intercollegiate policy debate topic used in tournament competition throughout the nation. Throughout the season, CEDA calculates National Sweepstakes Standings, the national and regional rankings of member institutions based on compiled tournament results.