Michigan State University Debate came out on top at the Wayne State University tournament this past weekend, making is the second time the team has won the tournament in three years.
Ephraim Bennett, a computer science senior, and Hina Shehzad, an International Relations sophomore, bested teams from Emory University, Missouri State University and Samford University in the preliminary debates to enter the elimination debates as the fourth overall seed.
In elimination debates, they were slated to debate another team from MSU in the quarterfinals so, as the higher seed, they advanced without debating. Bennett and Shehzad then defeated two teams from Emory University in the semifinals and the final round respectively to be crowned champions of the tournament.
“This is an amazing result for the team,” said Kevin McCaffrey, an MSU Debate assistant coach. “It was a challenging tournament with competitors from all over the country, but Ephraim and Hina were debating very well.”
Bennett and Shehzad also received speaker awards at the tournament in recognition of how well they were debating. Bennett was the ninth overall speaker and Shehzad was the seventh overall speaker.
MSU Debate has been in the championship round at the Wayne State Tournament five of the last seven years and this is the second time in three years that MSU Debate has won. Bennett previously won the tournament in 2022 with his partner at the time, David Koster.
“Wayne State is a strong tournament for us historically, but you can never take that for granted. This result reflects lots of hard work and preparation from the whole team,” said McCaffrey.
MSU had other strong results at the tournament. Zaria Jarman, a Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy sophomore, and Glen Scully, a Computer Science junior, finished the tournament as quarterfinalists after Bennett and Shehzad advanced over them. Scully and Jarman also received speaker awards – Scully was the eleventh speaker and Jarman was the sixth speaker.
Aadit Agrahara, a Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy senior, and Arielle Gearring, a Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy junior, ended the tournament as quarterfinalists after being narrowly bested by a team from Emory University.
This story originally appeared on the MSU Debate website.