November 12, 2012
Debaters take top two spots in tournament
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois University Carbondale Debate Team finished the first half of the debate season by taking first and second spots in the final tournament of the semester, the Paul Winters Debate Tournament at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.
Todd Graham, director of debate for SIU Carbondale, said it’s far from common for two debate duos from the same university to take the top two spots in a tournament. Not common, but not unheard of -- the term for it, Graham said, is “close-out.”
The duo of Mike Selck, a senior from Blue Springs, Mo., majoring in speech communication, and Josh Rivera, a sophomore from Chicago majoring in political science, are the top-ranked duo in the country. The duo of Ben Campbell, a senior from Springfield, Mo., majoring in political science, and Sid Rehg, a junior from Swansea majoring in speech communication, are in the top five.
SIU Carbondale has, with these two debate duos, won every national-qualification tournament this semester in which they have competed.