KU News Release

KU debaters win prestigious University of Kentucky invitational tournament

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LAWRENCE — University of Kansas debaters Brett Bricker and Nate Johnson won the prestigious University of Kentucky Invitational debate tournament held Oct. 1 and 2 in Lexington.

They are first KU team to win the Kentucky round robin, which has been hosted annually for the preseason top nine teams in the country since 1972.

Bricker, Wichita senior majoring in mathematics, also won the award for first-place individual debater. He is the son of Gary and Norma Bricker and a graduate of Wichita High School Southeast. Johnson, Manhattan senior majoring in philosophy, political science and psychology, is the son of Ron and Betty Johnson and a graduate of Manhattan High School.

The Kentucky tournament employs a unique format in which the top nine teams debate against one another in a round robin format. Each team debates every other team in the field over two days.

Others in the intercollegiate tournament were Emory University, Harvard University, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, Towson University, Wake Forest University, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Southern California.

KU won the tournament with head-to-head victories over Harvard, Michigan State, Towson, Wake Forest, USC and Berkeley. Northwestern finished second, and Emory finished third.

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