The Northwestern debate team had some March Madness of its own, going the distance in its national tournament but coming up just short.
Matt Fisher and Stephanie Spies, one of three teams that competed from the Northwestern Debate Society, took second place at the National Debate Tournament, held March 19-23 at University of California, Berkeley.
The duo, both Weinberg juniors, had gone undefeated in the tournament until they lost to Michigan State University in the finals.
“I’m not going to lie-we were disappointed that we did not win,” Spies, who is currently studying abroad in France, said in an e-mail. “Our goal throughout the season was to win the NDT, and losing to a team that we had beaten many times throughout the year was disappointing.”
Fisher and Spies were ranked as a No. 2 seed going into the preliminary round and then were ranked No. 1 for the elimination round after going 8-0 in preliminary matches. They went 98-14 during the season, said Luke Hill (SESP ’05), program coordinator for the team.
The tournament marked the end of a long season, which starts about one month before Fall Quarter. Teams across the country are assigned one topic for the season, Fisher said. This season’s topic was the reduction of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
“It’s a ton of preparation for weeks and weeks in advance,” he said. “There are lots of late nights … lots of hours in terms of practicing actual speeches.”
Peyton Lee, who with debate partner and Weinberg junior Mary Gregg lost in the first round of the elimination stage, described a debate as being like a game of “high-speed chess.”
“It’s the only activity I know of that requires 100 percent focus,” the Weinberg freshman said. “You don’t daydream, you don’t relax. For two straight hours you’re focused.”
During each season, Hill said the roughly 20-member team travels to 25 tournaments, though not everyone goes to each tournament.
“Before the national tournament, debaters will have spent more time than all classes from that quarter combined,” said Hill, who was on the team when he was a student.
NU has won the National Debate Tournament 13 times, more than any other school, Spies said. Its last finals appearance and championship win came in 2005.
Fisher and Spies had taken down teams from schools including Emory University, UC-Berkeley and Wake Forest University before facing Michigan State in the finals at a hotel in Oakland, Calif.
NU’s opponents won the coin toss and were able to choose which side to argue for, Fisher said.
“Matt and Stephanie had been doing their best debating of the year,” Hill said. “In a lot of ways, winning the national title comes down to preparation, but it’s also a little bit of luck. Unfortunately we lost the coin toss. It doesn’t decide the debate … but it gave them a significant advantage.”
All three NU teams made the elimination round. Fisher said the most enjoyable part of debate is “that it’s a truly team effort.”
“We win together and we lose together,” Lee said. “I wouldn’t want to be on any other team even if they’re the winning team. The team is a family.”
