Less than one week after returning from Chicago, Barstow’s high school debate team, along with a few judges, departed on the 5-hour drive to Oklahoma City, eagerly awaiting competition at the JW Patterson Invitational.
Held at Heritage Hall, a private high school in the OKC suburb Edmond, JW Patterson is one of the most highly regarded tournaments on the entire National Circuit. This tournament series contains some of the most successful debate programs in the country.
According to many, however, this year’s tournament was the smallest it has ever been, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Ms. Lucia Scott, the varsity debate coach, the pandemic “made it so people’s favorite part of debate–seeing friends at tournaments–was taken away. We were fortunate to hold onto a healthy sized team, but many schools were not able to.”
During quarantine, debate tournaments continued, but were converted to a virtual setting. While many were happy to continue debating, virtual tournaments lacked the social aspect of in-person tournaments, stunting debaters’ relationships with people from other schools, and turning many away from the activity.
Barstow demonstrated immense potential, at what was the first tournament for many.
In varsity, Quinn Luce ‘23 and Paranjay Sharma ‘24 made it to the quarterfinals of the bracket, only one win away from receiving a bid to the Tournament of Champions (the culmination of the national circuit with the best teams in the nation).
As for junior varsity, Barstow closed out the consolation bracket, with Mahek Vora ‘25 and Haddie Schedler ‘25 in first, and Aaryan Gadit ‘25 and Rishabh Sood ‘25 in second.
Six novice teams competed, with Ethan Jiang ‘26 and Eshan Patel ‘26 coming in second within the entire division. The team’s journey culminated in an intense match against Washburn Rural High School, where the team lost.
Even after a few tough losses, the team bonded with each other and other debaters. Be sure to wish the team luck before they depart for Cedar Rapids on Friday, October 28th!
