Speech and debate collects tournament win at Central Missouri

Debate team wins for third time in fall 2020, Simpson takes second in overall team sweepstakes

The Simpson College speech and debate team turned in a winning performance at the 2020 Missouri Mule tournament Oct. 16-17. In the tournament hosted by the University of Central Missouri, Simpson took first place in the debate team sweepstakes Friday before capturing third place in the individual event sweepstakes Saturday.

The day one performance gave Simpson its third debate win of the fall. The team accumulated 97.5 points to edge Washburn University and finish atop the 24-team field. Following the third-place finish in the individual event sweepstakes, Simpson took second place out of 29 teams in overall team sweepstakes for the weekend.

“The debate team had a great performance at the Mule this year,” said Spencer Waugh, director of speech, debate and mock trial. “This has been traditionally a favorite tournament for us every fall. This year they eliminated parliamentary debate – a strength for us – so we didn’t know what to expect, but we were thrilled with the results.”

Simpson’s top debate performance came from the team of Drake Wood and Pascasie Redhage, who advanced to the finals of the public forum debate competition. Casey Spring and Danielle Blake made it to the semifinals in the category and the team of Triniti Krauss and Elise Sturgeon advanced to the quarterfinals.

Mo Marks turned in the team’s top performance on day two of the tournament, winning the impromptu competition while taking third in both extemporaneous speaking and persuasion and finishing fourth in communication analysis.

The team will compete next Nov. 7 in the Jack Lynch Invitational. 

Overall Debate Team Points:
1. Simpson College, 97.5
2. Washburn University, 89
3. Missouri State University, 64
4. Southwest Baptist University, 51
5. Lafayette College, 37
 
Debate Results:
Public Forum Debate: Drake Wood and Pascasie Redhage, finalists
Public Forum Debate: Casey Spring and Danielle Blake, semifinalists 
Public Forum Debate: Triniti Krauss and Elise Sturgeon, quarterfinalists
Novice Lincoln–Douglas: Tempest Allred, quarterfinalist
Junior Varsity Lincoln–Douglas: Scout Peery, semifinalist
Junior Varsity Lincoln–Douglas: Trinity Rosenberg, quarterfinalist
Fourth Speaker: Elise Sturgeon
Fifth Speaker: Pascasie Redhage

Individual Events Results:
Impromptu: Mo Marks, champion
Extemporaneous Speaking: Mo Marks, third place
Communication Analysis: Mo Marks, fourth place
Communication Analysis: Jeremiah Chandler, top novice and fifth place
Persuasion: Mo Marks, third place
Persuasion: Mary Hendon, top novice
Program Interpretation: Shelby McCasland, top novice

Contact Information
Cathy Cole, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Communication
Direct: 515-961-1595
Email: cathy.cole@simpson.edu