Debaters win sweepstakes at Independence

Members of the Louisburg High School debate team pose with their sweepstakes trophy following their victory in Independence on Saturday. The Wildcats also sent a team to Gardner where they place third overall.

The Louisburg High School debate team divided and conquered once again last weekend as the Wildcats sent teams to two different tournaments.

As it turned out, both had a lot of success.

Louisburg traveled to Independence on Saturday and dominated the competition with a 17-3 record. With that, the Wildcats won the overall sweepstakes title to cap off their impressive day.

The Wildcats also racked up a number of wins during the all-novice Gardner-Edgerton Invitational. Louisburg left with the third-place sweepstakes trophy and did it with a lot of newcomers.

“We continue to get better as the year moves along,” Louisburg coach Brian Weilert said. “After just two weeks, we have won over 100 rounds of debate, placed as a team at three tournaments and had 55 of 56 students compete and earn at least one victory.

“I always want top-to-bottom success. If just a few are doing well, you may look good in the paper, but learning isn’t taking place for others on the team and that to me is not having success.”

Members of the LHS novice debate team pose with their third-place trophy following last Saturday’s competition in Gardner

At Independence, the Wildcats had two teams finish in the top four and another with just one loss. The duo of Janae Kuhlman and Skylar Keaton led the way with a 5-0 record and took third place overall.

Lexi Shaner and Grayson Anderson ended their day with a 4-1 record and finished fourth. The team of Carson Tappan and Mikayla Quinn also had a strong day with a 4-1 mark.

The Wildcats also fared well on the novice side. Noah Hill and Brooke Talmage put together a 4-1 mark to finish sixth, while Harley Olson and Demi Vanmeerhaeghe came away with a 4-1 mark as well.

At Gardner, 12 of the 14 debaters saw their first action of the season and the top three teams helped Louisburg to the third-place finish. All the debaters came away with victories, but Bryce Kuhlman and Jonathan Ventre led the way with a 3-1 record to finish sixth overall.