MSU DEBATE TEAM TAKES FIRST, SECOND AT BACK-TO-BACK TOURNAMENTS

1/10/2002

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State University's debate team returned Jan. 6 from two California tournaments with first and second place finishes from the top two-person team of Austin Carson and Calum Matheson.

The opening tournament was held at the University of Southern California, where the duo finished second behind Northwestern University, but managed to defeat Dartmouth in the semi-finals.

"Beating Dartmouth felt really good, because we have struggled against them all season long," said Carson, a senior from Kentwood. "I feel like our hard work is finally starting to pay off and now we have the momentum going into the final stretch of the season."

Matheson, a junior from East Lansing, and Carson followed up their second place finish by going undefeated at a tournament hosted by California State University-Fullerton, winning the event by defeating the University of California-Berkeley in the final round.

In addition to the success of the team, Matheson was recognized as the best individual speaker at both tournaments. To date, he has been the first or second speaker at the six major tournaments he has attended this year.

While Carson and Matheson are having a ground-breaking year, MSU has consistently fielded one team that finishes in the top five nationally. This year the team is deeper than it has ever been with the success of a pair of sophomores, Greta Stahl of Utica and David Strauss of East Lansing.

At Fullerton, Stahl and Strauss reached the semi-finals as the fourth seed, but were pitted against Carson and Matheson. As the top seed for MSU, Carson and Matheson automatically advanced to the final round.

"Stahl and Strauss's success assisted Carson and Matheson in winning the tournament," William Repko, head debate coach, said. "They eliminated top teams from Southern California and Northwestern in the previous rounds and provided Carson and Matheson a round off to rest and prepare their strategy for the finals."

The top finishes at both tournaments also further MSU's bid as one of the top three contenders to win the national championship in 2002. The annual debate topic for this season analyzes federal control policies toward Native Americans.

"We have an opportunity to win the national championship this year, and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us if we want to make it happen," Jason Trice, MSU director of debate, said.

Carson and Matheson are going to take this weekend off to prepare for the Dartmouth Round Robin, a tournament featuring only the best seven teams in the country next weekend. Stahl and Strauss will depart for Carrollton, Ga., to compete at the West Georgia Tournament on Friday.