What have the following major universities have in common – Vanderbilt, Michigan, Louisville, Kentucky, Texas, Wichita State and Kansas?

   The answer. All had teams that were defeated by Kansas City Kansas Community College debate teams in tournaments at the University of Indiana and UMKC.

   Competing in the varsity division at Indiana, Ryan McFarland and Tom Garvey defeated Vanderbilt, Louisville, Michigan and Capital University in compiling a 4-3 preliminary won-loss record. Seeded 14th going into the elimination rounds, they upset No. 3 seeded Weber State in the first round and Michigan in the quarterfinals before losing to another Michigan team in the semifinals and finishing third. In addition, Garvey was named 11th speaker.

   Meanwhile, the JV duo of David Bowers and Tyler Gillette and the novice team of Marin Loken and Justin Parks won their divisions. Bowers and Gillette defeated Vanderbilt in the finals after preliminary wins over two teams from Louisville and another from Vanderbilt.

   Compiling a 6-1 record in the preliminaries which included wins over Vanderbilt, John Carroll, Wayne State and Johnson County Community College, Loken and Parks defeated John Carroll in the semifinals before posting a unanimous 3-0 decision over Kentucky in the finals. Loken was chosen for the third speaker award and Parks No. 6.

   Two KCKCC teams moved up a division in the 50-team Baby Jo Memorial Tournament hosted by UMKC.  Bowers and Gillette moved up to varsity from JV and compiled a very respectable 3-4 record while Loken and Parks advanced from novice to JV.

   “With a surprising and great showing, Parks and Loken compiled a 6-1 preliminary record and then defeated Texas-San Antonio in the quarterfinals,” said KCKCC coach Darren Elliott. “That set them up in the semifinals where they were defeated by Central Oklahoma.”

   KCKCC’s No. 1 varsity team of McFarland and Garvey posted wins over Texas, Wichita State, Kansas and Texas-Dallas in the preliminaries only to be eliminated by a Texas-Dallas team that would go on to win the tournament championship.

   Next up for KCKCC is the University of Texas tournament in Austin. “The largest tournament so far,” Elliott said. “There will be more than 160 teams from all over the country competing in the varsity division.”

   Alan Hoskins is the public information supervisor for KCKCC.