The GDS Grasshopper Invitational is the kick off of WUDL’s Travel Team schedule, usually featuring folks who were in the most advanced labs during our summer program, folks who debated regionally the year before, and a few folks who just wanted to see what the challenge would be like in the future. 

Last year, we entered 19 teams in the competition, had three teams advance to Octo-Finals, and had one advance to get WUDL’s first ToC bid and tournament championship ever. While we didn’t have quite the same fireworks this year, we are incredibly proud of where we ended up, and flexed some sibling power along the way! 

Despite some wonderful seniors graduating, WUDL still entered 8 more students than we did last year, for a total of 23 teams from a comparable  number of schools. 

This was the first regional tournament for Creative Mind’s McPherson, CMIT North’s Gallery and Medina, Duke Ellington’s Sesay, and Skolnik, and Forest Park’s Gwynn, Lewis, Gross, and Bartley. 

At the end of round 5, 8(!) WUDL teams were in win or go home rounds, an unprecedented position that tested our coaching resources and showed the strength of our community. Having so many broad based teams from so many schools in this position is the goal. 

Banneker Young / Thorpe won their bubble round, but didn’t advance on speaker points, a great showing for a pair of freshman at their first tournament competing for their new school, and a new partnership on top of that. 

BASIS DC Applegate / Pierce lost their bubble round, but Applegate spent all of Sunday scouting and supporting her team and league-mates. 

BASIS Sehgal / Dessalegn won their bubble round, but didn’t advance on speaker points, a great showing for a new partnership that has never done this well in previous years with other partners. 

BASIS Choi / Mazumdar won their bubble round and advanced to the Octo-Finals round before losing to the 4th seed, Brooklyn Tech

College Park Onyilofor / Agbor lost their bubble round, which is a great place to be in their second Varsity regional ever. 

Roosevelt’s Ajani ^2 won their bubble round and advanced to Octo-Finals as WUDL’s top seed, where they lost to Calvert Hall, who ended up in 2nd place overall. This was the first time that Roosevelt has advanced to an elimination round at a Varsity regional tournament, and the first time this sibling partnership has advanced at a regional at any level. It is also the first time the school has won an award at a regional since now Roosevelt Coach Aisha Bah was a freshman. 

Walls Neuroth ^2 was our other sibling partnership. William, the elder, advanced to elims every regional tournament last year, each with a different partner, and lost them all, including Nationals. Now debating with his little brother, he advanced to Octo-Finals once again and lost to the eventual tournament champions from Newark Science. They did win a ballot off the tournament champs, one of two Newark lost all weekend. 

Walls Webster / Pinson were our other freshman team in a great position to advance. They lost their bubble round, but this is still way beyond expectations for a freshman team that is still figuring things out their first month into a new school. 

Wall’s Dinkins / Pessey, and Banneker’s McCauley / Smith and Troutman-Ritchey / Goldblatt, who also finished with a 3-3 record. 

The WUDL Travel Team will return to action at the Urban Debate Dragon over Veterans Day weekend, Nov. 7th – 9th at Columbia Heights Education Campus

Shout outs to Ajibola Ajani (15th) and Sitara Mazumdar (17th) in the top 20 individual speakers. 

Shout outs to the wonderful coaching and judging squad that supported all of our teams this weekend: 

GDS alum and former WUDL Coach Jess Berenson, alumni Clarke Dickens, Aisha Bah, Kailey Ramlal, Dennis Martinez, Letitia Hafner, Tunde Olorunfemi, and Eric Clarke, and volunteers Alex Currie, Jokim Bryant, Nick Chen, Brandon Manhabal, Ohm Gore, and Patrick McMullen. 

Shout outs and better health to the GDS team — Head Coach Genevieve Hackman organized a strong tournament, but then got sick and couldn’t be on site to see it happen, so Asst. Coach Conor MacVarish, remote tabber Nick Lepp, and a host of parents and students joined with the WUDL team to make sure the weekend went off without a hitch.