Owasso debaters to compete at NSDA National Tournament
By Isaac Worley
Recently, Kendall Welborn and Will Ehrhart qualified for the National Speech and Debate Association championships following the 2022 season. They will compete as a team in Public Forum, a debate event based around hard facts and analysis.
Welborn and Ehrhart have already seen major competitive success this year. As a team, they qualified for the regional tournament, organized by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, at their first competition of the year. Following competitions throughout the season, the pair placed in the top eight at the regional competition and cemented their position in the OSSAA State Championship.
The team faced disappointing results at the OSSAA competition, but Welborn sees Nationals as a way to learn and grow to perform better next year.
“My standard for success in June will mostly be derived from the expansion of my understanding and the learning process of being in the presence of some of the greatest debaters in the nation,” Welborn explains.
The national tournament sees approximately 350 entries per event from its 111 districts, so the competition is composed of a small, elite group of debaters. This gives students the opportunity to interact with other teams from a variety of backgrounds, and they can experience a plethora of different debate styles.
Ehrhart states, “I’m mostly looking forward to the chance to compete against the best teams in the US.”
Since both Welborn and Ehrhart are juniors, they are setting goals for next season. These goals include qualifying for regionals early, performing well throughout the season and qualifying for Nationals again. A key goal they both share is that they plan to do better at the State Championship.
“Our next goal is to finish as State Finalists next year at our final State Speech and Debate tournament,” Welborn elaborates.
Kendall Welborn and Will Ehrhart hold awards after the OSSAA regional competition on March 26, taken by Melissa Welborn
While the two have never qualified for Nationals as a team, Welborn competed virtually last year in her secondary event, domestic extemp. In this event, an individual is given 30 minutes to prepare a speech on a topic they are assigned at the start of their preparation time.
“Nationals being virtual last year really made the experience feel isolated,” Welborn expands. “My standard for success was mostly to try and give speeches I was proud of while also having fun.”
Though Welborn has seen independent success, she acknowledges that her partner has a substantial role in their competitive performance.
“Will and I have known each other and been friends for a very long time, which makes us a very good and effective team,” Welborn states. “Will and I are able to prioritize each other's strengths and combat each other’s weaknesses.”
The NSDA competition begins on June 12, and all competitors will travel to Louisville, Kentucky for the week of the competition.