Wilton High School Debate Team Begins Season with Success

Although perhaps not widely known, the Wilton High School Debate Team is one of the largest and most successful organizations at WHS.  This year’s team is the largest in the school’s history and currently has a roster of over 120 students.  

The team, which is led by Co-Captain’s Ryan Cross and Ali Heistand and Board Members Jack Kaelin and Kurt Rubin, participates in both local tournaments competing against other Fairfield County and Connecticut teams, as well as national tournaments in which they compete against teams from all over the country.  

Previous WHS teams have been extremely successful, regularly winning local tournaments as well as finishing among the very top, elite teams in national tournaments.  At one time Wilton was ranked 16th overall in the US.

And this year’s team is off to a great start.  The first tournament of the season was the Yale Invitational.  Wilton, along with 26 other Connecticut schools, attended the Parliamentary Division of the Yale Invitational Tournament over the September 21-22 weekend. This is the only national debate tournament held in Connecticut, with nearly 2000 students from across the nation attending events in debate and speech. 

After five preliminary rounds on Saturday, Wilton seniors Rachael Jones and Ryan Cross were among the top 18 teams. They, along with other Connecticut teams from Amity, New Canaan, and Simsbury, had records of 4-1 or better and returned on Sunday for partial octo-finals and elimination rounds.  

Jones and Cross lost in a 2-1 decision to the team of Bishop O'Dowd High School in California which went on to win the tournament.  

Four WHS Varsity team members were also awarded Speaker Awards in the top 12 spots for the Tournament:  Jack Kaelin 9th Place, Rachael Jones 10th  Place, Ryan Cross 11th Place and Jeremy Brewer 12th Place.   

On Saturday, October 12, the Connecticut Debate Association (CDA) held its first tournament of the year at AITE in Stamford.  The topic which the students debated was standardized curriculum requirements.  WHS sent three Varsity and eight Novice Division teams.  The WHS team of Elliot Conners and Daniel Jensen, both sophomores, placed 1st overall in the Novice Division and Daniel Jensen received the award for 3rd Place Speaker overall in the Novice Division.  Both Conners and Jensen qualified for the Connecticut State Championships in the spring.

This past Saturday, November 15, the WHS Debate Team participated in the second CDA tournament of the year which was held at New Canaan High School. It was the largest CDA tournament in the organization’s history with over 250 students from around the state.  

The topic for all of the debates was prison reform. In the Novice Division, the Freshman team of Ryan Carlson and Brandon Zheng finished with a 3-0 record – which places them half way to qualifying for the State Championships (students can qualify by placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd as a team, receiving a 1st, 2nd or 3rd speaker award, or finishing with a 3-0 record at two or more tournaments).  

In the Varsity Division, the team of Jones and Cross won 2nd Place.  In the final round, they debated in front of all of the tournament attendees – an audience of more than 250.  The five judge panel split 3-2 giving the 1st place win to the team from Joel Barlow of Redding.  In addition to the 2nd Place team victory, Rachael Jones was also 3rd Place Speaker in the Varsity Division.  Both she and Ryan Cross qualified for State Championships in March.

The next CDA tournament is December 14th, and WHS is well positioned to continue its successful streak.  The team will also compete at the Princeton Invitational in December.