Intercollegiate debating had its own March Madness conclude with Iowa on top in a historic victory on Sunday.

Two University of Iowa debate teams reached and closed out the final round of the Cross Examination Debate Association National Tournament in a double victory, according to a press release. This is the second time in the history of debate that two teams from the same school share the national title. Emory University was the first to achieve the accomplishment, in 1998.

The teams argued in favor of the U.S. federal government establishing national health insurance.

Paul Bellus, the UI coordinator of forensics, said there’s nothing wrong with making history of this kind.

“This victory epitomizes what it means to debate at Iowa,” he said. “Each and every one of them understands their argument sets and have developed the expertise to operate independently at the highest level.”

Seventy-five teams from across the U.S. participated in the tournament, hosted this year by the University of Puget Sound of Tacoma, Washington.

One of the teams — Geordano Liriano and partner Sam Gustavson — went undefeated during the preliminary debates, 8-0. To do so, they beat noted debate juggernauts in USC and Cornell and assumed the No. 1 seed in elimination rounds.

Gustavson dedicated his victory to his grandmother, who he learned died after the first day of the tournament.

The second team — Coco Christophersen and partner Brooke Kimbrough — completed the preliminary debates with a 7-1 record, losing to last year’s national champions from Rutgers University. They were seeded third in preliminary debates, and they avenged their loss in the Elite Eight on a 3-0 decision.

“Our founder, Dr. A. Craig Baird, famously stated, ‘You’re on the side of truth,’ ” Bellus said in an email to The Daily Iowan. “This motto drives our students, and this weekend, truth won the day.”

In addition to closing out the national tournament and securing the university’s first co-national champions title, each debater won individual tournament honors. Debate has their own individual debater recognition, similar to football’s Heisman Trophy.

All four Hawkeye debaters were in the top-20 best debaters in the nation. Kimbrough placed second, Gustafson fifth, Liriano ninth, and Christophersen 18th.

For Christophersen, this is her second year of debating after being first exposed to it last year.

Debate has a storied history at Iowa; it was the first student program on campus in 1860. Bellus called it one of the best-kept secrets on campus. Now, he said, the UI is changing the game in the debate scene by the diverse arguments the participants bring to the table, and he likens them to introducing the forward pass to football.

“This was a tremendous feat that few predicted when the season started,” Rubaie said in an email to the DI. “These four overcame so many obstacles to accomplish something that hadn’t been done for more than two decades.”

The future looks bright for UI debating; all of the winners are currently juniors and will return to the team next year.

"Iowa Debate wins national title." University of Iowa Office of Strategic Communication. March 22, 2018. 

Four University of Iowa students, all members of the A. Craig Baird Debate Forum at the UI, shared in the national title of the Cross Examination Debate Association National Tournament March 18 at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

Two UI pairs, Geordano Liriano and Sam Gustavson and Coco Christophersen and Brooke Kimbrough, shared the national title,  only the second time in the history of debate that two teams from the same school have done so. 

Liriano and Gustavson went undefeated during the preliminary debates, earning an 8-0 record. After defeating debate powerhouses such as Cornell and USC, they assumed the No. 1 seed for the elimination rounds. They finished the tournament with a perfect 12-0 record.

Christophersen and Kimbrough completed the preliminary debates with a 7-1 record, losing to last year’s national champions from Rutgers University. Seeded third in preliminary debates, they avenged their loss in the Elite Eight on a 3-0 decision.

In addition to securing the UI’s first co-national champions title, each debater won individual tournament honors. Akin to football’s Heisman Trophy, debate honors its competitors with speaker awards acknowledging the best debaters in the nation. All four UI students earned top 20 awards. Kimbrough placed second, Gustavson fifth, Liriano ninth, and Christophersen 18th. Being juniors, all four will return to the team next year.

The tournament was the culmination of a year of intensive research and argument planning on the national debate topic ”Resolved: The United States federal government should establish national health insurance in the United States.”

Seventy-five teams from across the country participated in the national tournament.

The A. Craig Baird Debate Forum is directed by Coordinator of Forensics Paul Bellus and Director of Debate David Hingstman. Brian Rubaie is the UI debate coach, assisted by graduate student coaches Kristiana Baez and Tyler Snelling in the Department of Communication Studies.