One hundred seventy four debaters from twenty-nine schools competed in this year’s State Finals at Wilton High School. Only debaters who had won a trophy or had gone undefeated in two or more tournaments were eligible to compete, fewer than one in three of those who participated during the year.

Thanks to coach Allison Hujar, the Wilton Debate Team and Wilton High School for hosting us for the fifth consecutive year.

Taking the advice of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel that one should never waste a good crisis, the theme came from recent Russian actions in the Crimea. However, the resolution forced debaters to change perspective, as they were required to debate from the point of view of Russian citizens –

Resolved: We (Russia) should actively seek to reincorporate those former Soviet territories with a substantial Russian population.

Students seemed to welcome the challenge and appreciate the relevance of the subject.

The Varsity final round saw the Greenwich team of Nick Abbott and Rebecca Murray on Affirmative win the State Championship on a 4-1 decision against the Fairfield Warde team of Brandon Campbell and Sara Murphy. Nick Abbott was also the top speaker in the tournament.

In the Novice division, the Ridgefield team of Margaret Comer and Kate Lindenburg won top team honors, while Daniel Berger of AITE was top speaker.

Congratulations to all our trophy winners and all of the students who qualified to compete.

You may view or download the complete January Results, as well as the resolution package at http://ctdebate.org/CDA22Mar14.html.

This was our last event of the year, though many CDA debaters will be participating in the Osterweis Tournament at Yale University on April 6. We will also host a Spring Coaches Meeting in late April. If you are a school considering joining CDA next year or would simply like to learn more about CDA, you would be welcome to attend.

To learn more about debating in Connecticut, visit http://ctdebate.org for informational materials and our mailing address.