UWG News Archive

Debate Team continues winning streak

February 10, 2005

CARROLLTON, GA - The University of West Georgia debate team continued the momentum of its championship at the University of California at Berkeley with another strong effort at Northwestern University’s tournament, the final regular season competition.

The team of James Thomas, a junior from Roswell, and Joseph Koehle, a junior from Erie, Pa., finished third out of the more than 130 teams in attendance.

The NU tournament is the last and best chance to make a good impression on the voters before the top 16 teams in the nation are awarded first round at-large bids to the National Debate Tournament.

UWG Debate Coach Michael Hester believes Koehle and Thomas have secured one of the top ten first round bids to the national tournament.

“Joe and James started strong (they won the Las Vegas Round Robin in September), but have really cranked it up a notch or two here at the end,” he pointed out. “Heading into Berkeley, we felt like we would end up 12 to14 in the final regular season rankings, which would have been fine. But they have really made a push.”

The team of Koehle-Thomas compiled a 7-1 preliminary round record, including wins over teams from Wake Forest, Georgetown, Harvard, Kentucky, and UC Berkeley. Their only loss was to a team from Harvard (the team that would eventually win the tournament). Based on preliminary round performances, Koehle was recognized with the 23rd individual speaker award, while Thomas was awarded the sixth individual speaker award.

In the elimination rounds, the team continued an amazing run begun at UC Berkeley, where they had won four consecutive unanimous 3-0 decisions. In the round of 32, UWG defeated Kansas University on a 3-0 decision. With the 3-0 win over the University of Texas in the round of 16, the streak of consecutive ballots won in elimination rounds reached 18. In the quarterfinals, UWG faced the top team from Wake Forest University, a rematch from a preliminary round won by West Georgia. UWG advanced on a 2-1 decision — breaking their string of unanimous decisions. UWG is now 3-1 against Wake this year.

UWG lost a close 2-1 decision against UC Berkeley's top team in the semifinals. But even that tough defeat couldn’t ruin what has been a great year for Koehle and Thomas. They conclude their regular season with an overall record of 66-21, including a sparkling 15-6 elimination day record.

“The UC Berkeley win and semifinals at Northwestern are huge. They have won 19 of the last 22 debates they have been in,” Hester said. “That’s finishing strong. We think we may end up as high as eighth in the final regular season rankings. Regardless of where they end up, they have clearly established themselves as a contender for the national championship.”

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