Debate team achieves national ranking

Currently ranked No. 3 in the National Coaches Poll, Gonzaga University senior debaters are looking to place high at the annual "Run for the Roses" tournament at the University of Kentucky at Lexington this week.

Coming off an amazing season opener at Georgia State where they placed third, Leah Moczulski and Paul Kanellopoulos said their success will give them a boost of momentum going into this week's round-robin style tournament. 

Founded in 1972, the Kentucky Round Robin Tournament has long been considered America's foremost debate competition. Invitations are reserved for the top nine ranked partnerships in the country, and the results are often considered an early list of the teams in contention for a national title.

Gonzaga has supported intercollegiate debate for more than 100 years and has earned one national championship in 1989.  Teams have been invited to the "Run for the Roses" tournament in the past, but never with such a promising pair of debaters.

Moczulski and Kanellopoulos have been debating together for three years, but this nationally ranked partnership has its roots in rivalry. Both from Houston, the two senior debaters competed against each other in high school before joining forces at Gonzaga.

Their consistent partnership has been the direct result of their compatibility as competitors. Where Kanellopoulos presents the facts, Moczulski adds in the appeal.

"It's more like I'm the proxy and he's the soul," Moczulski said. "We've been doing it as a pair for so long that we sort of just finish each other's sentences."

Moczulski, who was named Debater of the Year for National Debate Tournament District II in 2010, appeared more concerned about the pressures that come with the ranking of her partnership than those that come with her personal accomplishments.

"I think that Paul and I are the highest-ranked partnership in the West right now," Moczulski said. "There is a little bit of pressure because we want to make sure to maintain that kind of high stance in the region, and nationally."

Securing a higher national ranking sets the team up for a higher bid at the end of the year for the National Debate Tournament. Last year, the team made it to day four before losing to Harvard, but that was a huge success in itself. 

Debate coach Glen Frappier, who has run the debate program at Gonzaga for the past 13 years, wasn't too surprised at the invitation to the prestigious "Run for the Roses" tournament.

"Kind of assessing the landscape and understanding who was graduating from other schools, we knew coming back they would be one of the top teams," Frappier said.

However, the senior duo faces a tough competition as they face off with some of the nation's top-ranked colleges and universities. Georgetown, Baylor and Northwestern are among the nine schools invited to attend this year.

"We've got to be able to throw in some unpredictable stuff to get people off of their game," Moczulski said.

Their success at this week's competition will be added into the rest of their tournament standings over the season. At the end of the year, the total will be used to determine their national rank and bid for the National Debate Tournament.

"The goal for this year is to try and qualify three partnerships to the National Championship Tournament," Kanellopoulos said. "Which would be pretty big because I don't think that Gonzaga has ever done that before."

Getting a third team into the National Debate Tournament requires not only that Moczulski and Kanellopoulos are soundly in the top 16, but also that the team's third partnership is at least the seventh-best third team in the country.

Kanellopoulos said it raises the bar on the whole team to do better, but both seniors are confident there team has what it takes to go far this year.

"We had a pretty good showing at the Gonzaga Tournament," Moczulski said. "Clearing two teams the first tournament of the year and advancing them to the eliminations is a pretty big deal. It shows a lot of potential of the squad."