Augustana, February 1-3, 2008

JCU gets hot at Augustana

John Carroll University sent two teams to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, February 1-3. Through the prelims, JCU kept the chill away with their red hot debating. In the novice division, Colin Beisel (Fr.) and Jeff Bartolozzi (So.) were a sizzling 6-0 through the preliminaries, making them the only undefeated team at the tournament. It was also the first undefeated preliminary showing for any JCU team this season. They also won their semifinal round against Illinois State University, before finally losing to the University of Northern Iowa in the finals. The second place finish was the second #2 for JCU’s novice debaters in the last three tournaments. Bartolozzi kept the #2 lucky as he also finished second for individual honors.

In the junior varsity division, sophomores Anthony Miranda and Brian Brossmann were equally hot through the first five debates, losing only the final debate on the way to a 5-1 preliminary record. It was the second time a JCU jv team has gone 5-1 this season. This is the fourth tournament for this team (who both debated with other partners in the fall), and they have compiled a 17-7 preliminary record. Their performance was good enough to earn them a bye in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, they lost a very close 2-1 decision to Illinois State in the semifinals. In their last three tournaments, Miranda and Brossmann have been very strong, finishing second (Miami), third (Augustana) and fifth (George Mason).