Press Releases

Liberty Debaters Begin 2021-2022 Season on Record-Breaking Run

Kat Cazeau and Natalie Robinson establish Liberty among National Championship frontrunners.

 Liberty Debate’s season is off to a blistering start with Kat Cazeau and Natalie Robinson leading the way.  The Flames’ first tournament was hosted by Northwestern University.  In a field of more than 100 teams, Cazeau and Robinson finished the preliminary rounds as the 3^rd seed, with a record of 5 wins and 1 loss, recording victories over Dartmouth, Emory, and Georgetown.  Cazeau and Robinson received a bye in the first elimination round before defeating Kansas in the round of 32 and Emory in the round of 16.  Liberty CR advanced to the quarterfinal round where they were defeated by Harvard on a 2-1 decision.  Cazeau and Robinson earned individual accolades with Cazeau named the tournament’s 3^rd best speaker and Robinson named the tournament’s top speaker.

Joining Cazeau and Robinson in elimination rounds was the team of Jordan Ramsey and Justice Wallenmeyer.  Ramsey and Wallenmeyer recorded preliminary-round wins over George Mason, Northwestern, and Iowa on their way to a 4-2 record.  In elimination rounds, Liberty RW defeated Wake Forest before losing to Kansas in the round of 32.

Liberty’s varsity debaters second tournament was hosted by the University of Kentucky, where more than 170 debaters, comprising 86 teams completed in 6 preliminary rounds of debate.  Cazeau and Robinson complied a 5-1 record with wins against Wyoming, Wichita State, Minnesota, and Wake Forest.  Liberty CR advanced to elimination rounds as the 3^rd seed where they continued their winning streak.  Cazeau and Robinson reached the final round by defeating Michigan State in the round of 32, Wake Forest in the round of 16, Michigan in the quarterfinal round, and George Mason in the semifinal round.  Michigan’s top-team defeated Cazeau and Robinson on a close 2-1 decision.  Cazeau and Robinson were recognized as the tournament’s top individual speakers with Cazeau named 2^nd speaker and Robinson claiming 1^st speaker for the 2^nd consecutive tournament.  Cazeau and Robinson have become the first partnership in Liberty Debate history to start the season with top-5 finishes and the first duo to earn top-3 speaker awards at consecutive national tournaments.

Liberty’s junior varsity and novice debaters competed in the Binghamton University Tournament where the JV team of Melanie Dellinger and Alaina Megill (4-2 preliminary round record) joined the team of Josiah Joyce and Jackson Posey (5-1) in the semifinal round.  Novice debaters Abigail Iwanoff and Madilynn Richardson finished with a 5-1 preliminary round record before falling to Cornell in the quarterfinal round.

The Flames finish out their fall semester with tournaments hosted by the United States Military Academy, Mary Washington, Harvard, and Wake Forest.