After a blistering qualifier, where five teams had a chance to qualify for all the way until the last round, WUDL advanced two experienced teams to the Urban Debate National Championship. 

Brothers William (senior) and James (sophomore) Neuroth have been a dominant force in WUDL for half a decade at this point, with William winning MS Nationals as a 7th grader 6 years ago, and James following suit as an 8th grader a few years ago. They also represented WUDL last year (and William the year before with his former partner Zahra Dinkins). They’ve been the tip of the spear of a number of sibling partnerships across the league who’ve had great success. 

Henry Blanc represented WUDL last year as a freshman (with now coach Parker McCauley), and did so again this year with new partner, Jack Troutman-Ritchey. Henry would have qualified to MS Nationals if he’d been in the country for his 8th grade year. Similarly, Jack also debated for Hardy, and was an alternate for Nationals in 7th grade, before finishing in Quarterfinals in 8th grade. 

These teams brought about as much experience and savvy as one can to this competition, bringing together the best from across Urban Debate Leagues nation-wide. 

On the other end of the spectrum, WUDL qualified freshmen Claudia Hyman-Jimenez and Adeline Worsley from DC International to represent us in Debate en Espanol. These freshman are no stranger to the spotlight, having been in the semi-finals of MS Nationals last year, but were still the youngest team in the tournament by a fair margin. 

The UDNC is a great opportunity to build community across Urban Debate Leagues. This year, we shared a showing of Immutable, the recently released documentary about WUDL, and several other team bonding opportunities. After the tournament, we also had a great opportunity to check out the Boston Museum of Science and Industry. 

Competitively, whether old hand or new blood, all three teams won awards at the tournament. 

The Neuroths romped through preliminary rounds, finishing 5-1 as the 3rd seed. Henry / Jack took their time, but also qualified for elimination rounds at 4-2. While Banneker dropped in Octo-Finals, Walls advanced to Quarters before dropping on a 2-1 decision. That leaves them as tied for 2nd among WUDL teams historically at this tournament with Charles Flowers’ Makinde / Banjo and BASIS DCs’ Durand / O’Sullivan in 2021, and behind Capital City’s Birnstad / Villaflor’s Semi-Final finish in 2023. 

In Debate en Espanol, Claudia and Addie dominated the competition, taking all but 3 ballots. Unfortunately, those three ballots were enough to keep them in 3rd place, as one judge panel seemed to struggle with their technical style and arguments about fairness when the other team kept changing their position. Regardless, freshman Claudia was named top speaker for the DEE Division, a first for WUDL, and their 3rd place finish mirrored last year’s finish by Forest Park. 

Many thanks to Walls Coach Eric Clarke, WUDL Alum Joey Villaflor, and WUDL staff Danielle Dupree, Dennis Martinez and Alex Montgomery for their support this weekend.