The Belmont Abbey Debate Team attended the Bowling Green State University competition in Bowling Green, Ohio just prior to the Thanksgiving break, and we recently received our team’s full results. The university hosted two one-day tournaments in the IPDA format. Participating teams included Hillsdale College, Kent State University, DePauw University, John Carroll University, and Grove City College.
In the first tournament, freshman Daniyil Potapenko began his college debate career by winning three out of four rounds. This qualified him to advance to the quarterfinals, where he won on a 2-1 decision. Daniyil concluded the tournament as a semifinalist. Freshman Isabella Barrett competed in her first debate tournament, also winning her first ballot and earning honors for high speaker points in another round. Junior Isabelle Robertson, senior Adrianna Hodges, and freshman Paloma Shrauder each earned two out of four ballots and were one round away from advancing to the quarterfinals.
For individual speaker rankings, Isabelle Robertson won fifth place honors out of 33 IPDA debaters. Daniyil Potapenko also finished in the top 10 speakers at ninth place for the first tournament. As a team, Belmont Abbey tied for second regarding the most preliminary ballots won, along with DePauw University and Kent State University. Our students also shared third place honors for the percentage of preliminary wins.
In the second tournament, two Belmont Abbey students earned three out of four preliminary ballots. Daniyil Potapenko and Isabelle Robertson both advanced to elimination rounds and concluded as quarterfinalists. Their teammates concluded the tournament with two out of four ballots. Isabella Barrett, Adrianna Hodges, and Paloma Shrauder were one ballot away from advancing to the varsity quarterfinal round. Addie Hodges was ranked as the second overall speaker, while novice Paloma Shrauder followed with third place speaking honors at the varsity level. As a team, our students earned the highest number of preliminary round ballots in the second tournament.
