Barstow’s novice debaters win the biggest tournament of the year.

While previous debate tournaments have been smaller, the recent Chicago tournament was anything but. On Friday, November 18, Barstow debate took five teams to Glenbrooks Speech and Debate Tournament in Chicago, Illinois. The varsity teams competed in a pool of around 140 teams, and the novice and junior varsity teams competed in pools of around 30. 

The two novice teams, Ethan Jiang (‘26) and Aun Hathiari (‘26) and Eshan Patel (‘26) and Ethan Ledezma (‘24), excelled at Glenbrooks. Both teams went 5-0 in preliminary rounds and advanced into elimination rounds automatically. 

Patel and Ledezma advanced all the way through to the semi-finals, where they lost on a 2-1 vote against Little Rock Central. Ledezma enjoyed the tournament, but specifically highlights the questioning periods during the round. He says, “My favorite part of the weekend was getting to cross-examine them.” 

Jiang and Hathiari made it all the way to the finals, where they beat the same Little Rock Central team that Patel and Ledezma dropped to. They won the entire novice division on a 2-1 vote, winning every single prelim and elimination round of the tournament. Overall, they received 12/14 ballots. Jiang prefers this tournament over the others this year. “The arguments were a lot clearer from both sides at this tournament, and I think the judges liked me a bit more,” he explains.

In the JV division, Kimberly Nguyen (‘23) and Rish Sood (‘25) went 4-1 in preliminary rounds, advancing to elimination rounds as well. Unfortunately, they dropped in the quarter-finals to Greenhill. Still, the team enjoyed and improved at this tournament. To add on, this is the first time both debaters have cleared to eliminations this year! 

In the Varsity division, Tyler Bauman (‘25) and Jayden Sampat (‘24) went 2-5. Haddie Schedler (‘25) and Sri Pattabiraman (‘24) unfortunately had to drop the tournament due to illness. However, both teams had a fun weekend, and Schedler and Pattabiraman helped behind the scenes. 

All the teams had a great time. “I felt like this debate tournament was a great learning experience. I came across whatever a perfcon means, and that was my downfall,” says Ledezma. “However, I am happy with the turnout as we ended off strong 6-1 and made it to semis.”

Next, the team will compete in the TOC Digital Speech and Debate Series 1 this weekend. They will be competing from the school, so if you see anyone, wish them luck!