WUDL Kicks Off National Qualifiers In January

This past weekend kicked off the Washington Urban Debate League’s National Qualifying Process. Spread over two tournaments, students from across the Washington Metro compete to represent the region at middle (6 teams) and high school nationals (2 teams). The competition was fierce (and good natured), and while we won’t know our national qualifiers until Feb. 12th (at 5:30 PM, if you want to tune in), we do want to celebrate the efforts of our students so far.

In High School:

Charles Flower’s Makinde (right)/Banjo have been the most dominant Varsity team in the league all season, but as the last local tournament showed, the rest of the league is catching up. Makinde/Banjo took the lead this weekend, but Basis DC’s O’Sullivan/Durand are right behind them, with Banneker Freshman Primus/McCauley, Fredrick Douglas seniors Atuonah/Banjo (yes, this is a fierce sibling rivalry), and CMIT North’s Wray/Rogers all right behind them.

In Middle School:

Middle School qualifiers looked a lot like last year in some ways, where William Neuroth and a Dinkins from Stuart Hobson were all over the leaderboards.

Last year’s National Champion, Neuroth (right), debating with a new partner, finished 2nd overall, well positioned to qualify and defend their title, while a new Dinkins sister (and partner Feldman) finished 3rd. 6th graders McNamara (who won our elementary school debate challenge last year) and Webster, are also in the hunt for Stuart Hobson.

Basis DC’s Lockwood/Mazumdar, who have been winning trophies in JV all season, led the division, but the competition was fierce. 8 teams were within 2 ballots of each other, and at least 10 are still in the hunt, including Hardy’s Troutman-Richey/Pessey, looking for their school’s 2nd National qualifiers since Tracy/Krevat advanced to elimination rounds at Nationals in 2019. Among last year’s qualifiers, Oyster Adams’ Goldblatt/Leonard are still in the race, as is Montgomery Village’s Elangovan, with a new partner (Anjum). Both finished as National Octo-Finalists last year. MoVi and Basis DC, who has never qualified to the tournament, also have second teams in the hunt. Basis’s Pierce/Seth have won a lot of hardware this year in JV and have traveled to regional competitions, while MoVi’s Badou/Urbina jumped straight up from novice and didn’t miss a beat.


Outside of the qualifying divisions, some great debate still occurred:

  • Banneker won trophies across the board, with Azoroh/DeGruy finishing 3rd in JV, and Azoroh winning Top Speaker, while Curington/Joseph won Novice, and Currington took home Top Speaker.
  • Doulgas’s Adejumo, making her JV debut and debating alone, went undefeated, won the division, and top speaker, while Inspired Teaching’s Stock-Heard, also debating alone, finished 2nd.
  • Statesman’s Blalock/Corbitt finished 5th in JV, their best finish of the season
  • In Novice, Bard Early College won their first trophies — Mallard/Jackson finished 7th, and Mallard was the 8th Speaker.
  • College Park’s Rodriguez-Akande/Fekete went undefeated, and finished 2nd, continuing their great run of success.
  • Kettering, Ogle, and Academy of Health Sciences all made their debuts this weekend, and we expect Excel, Kelly Miller, Paul, and Thurgood Marshall to debut in February.