JBS Debaters Gopher The Points

The Judge Barefoot Debaters had several members earn TFA points at the Grand Prairie tournament this weekend.

Colton Donica and Lucero Pina had a break out tournament.  They finished the prelims undefeated and as the number one seed.  They advanced to semi finals, finished in 3rd Place and Colton won 1st Place Best Speaker.  As a result DP earned 4 TFA points.

Also earning their first two TFA points of the season in VCX were Emilio Lozano and Rolando Velasquez who broke to Quarters and finished in 5th Place.  Mike Garcia and Reuben Howard finished in 10th Place with a 3-1 record.

Kelsey Annu-Essuman continued her streak of breaking at every TFA tournament this year.  She broke to Octos and earned an additional TFA state point.  This brings her total to six.  Queztabel Benavides also broke to Octos in VLD and earned her first TFA point of the season.

Haley Estrada and Tyffany Robles, debating in only their second tournament, finished in 2nd Place in Novice CX on a narrow 2-1 split decision.  Several of the Novice LD debaters finished with winning records this weekend.

This was a very successful weekend and it would not have been possible without the support of the parents who chaperoned this weekend.  In particular, we would like to recognize and thank Ms. Adams (Joe's mom), Ms. Howard (Reuben's mom) and Ms. Velasquez (the Twins' mom) for volunteering to help this weekend.

Heard Through the Grapevine: Kelsey Breaks at TOC Qualifier & Wins 4th Best Speaker

Kelsey Annu Essuman became the first junior debater to ever break at a TOC tournament and the first JBS debater to win a top speaker award at a TOC tournament.  

Kelsey had a solid 4-1 prelim performance which garnered her the 6th seed in the tournament. Her Double Octo's appearance also earned her an additional TFA point.

The CX squad helped make this the most successful Law Magnet weekend at Grapevine in ten years.  All three policy teams debated in break rounds. Rolando Velasquez and Emilio Lozano finished with a 3-2 record and earned the 24th spot.  Rolando also placed 38th best speaker.  Colton Donica and Lucero Pina also finished 3-2.   Normally, a 3-2 record is enough to clear at Grapevine, but this year even a 4-1 team did not break since the tournament decided to only break to Octo's

The full squad next debates at Newman Smith where the novices will debate for the first time.