MSU Debate reached the Sweet 16 at the Harvard College Tournament this past weekend after a series of dominant wins in preliminary debates.

Joanna Gusis, a Statistics and Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy junior in the Honors College, and Stephen Lewis, a Social Relations and Policy sophomore, defeated teams from Georgetown University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, Emory University, and California State University, Fullerton to reach elimination debates.

“The number of teams entered at the Harvard tournament is smaller and there are eight preliminary debates so teams have to really fight to get to elimination debates,” said Will Repko, the MSU Debate Team Head Coach.

Gusis and Lewis entered elimination debates as the tenth overall seed and were narrowly bested in the round of 16 by a team from Dartmouth College.

The Harvard tournament is the second time this season Gusis and Lewis have been in the Sweet 16 at a major intercollegiate open tournament. They also placed third at the Kentucky Thoroughbred Round Robin – an invite-only tournament for seven of the top teams in the country.

Tony Miklovis, an International Relations and Social Relations and Policy senior in the Honors College, and Blaine Montford, a Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy sophomore in the Honors College, also represented MSU at the tournament.

Miklovis and Montford narrowly missed out on qualifying for elimination debates but had preliminary round wins over teams from Emory University, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Texas at Austin, and Binghamton University. They also defeated the team from the University of Michigan that would go on to place third overall at the tournament.

Earlier this season, Miklovis and Montford reached the Sweet 16 at the University of Kentucky Tournament and elimination debates at the Northwestern University Tournament.

“There’s a level of debating right now from the team that we haven’t seen before. They’re preparing well, executing confidently, and I’m excited for us to build on this momentum,” said Repko.

This story was originally published on the Honors College website.