ELKINS – The Davis & Elkins College’s Debate Society captured second place team debate sweepstakes at the Heart of It All Speech and Debate Tournament hosted by Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio. The squad competed in individual parliamentary debate.

The Debate Society’s president, sophomore Thaddeus Breckenridge of Beckley, qualified in four preliminary rounds to advance to the tournament’s Elite Eight. He finished as the third speaker, overall. Breckenridge faced off against Marshall University’s top debater in the Elite Eight on the question of modifying the Second Amendment.

Squad members and first-time competitors, junior Cordell Bostic of White Sulphur Springs, freshman Tori Goss of Stafford, Virginia, freshman Griselle Rosado of Davenport, Florida, and freshman Lorenz Schnitzer of East Aurora, New York, earned enough wins to finish ahead of Butler University (Indianapolis, Ind.), Marshall University (Huntington, W.Va.), Otterbein University (Columbus, Ohio).

Bostic and Goss each finished with a 2-2 preliminary record, recording wins over Boyce College and Butler University. Rosado and Schnitzer finished 1-3, with each of them facing off against six of the other seven competitors who qualified for elimination rounds.

The squad’s next outing will be at Ohio State University during the first weekend of December.

Related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Davis & Elkins College is located in Elkins, 2 hours east of Charleston, 3 hours south of Pittsburgh and 4 hours west of Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit the College website at www.dewv.edu or call 304-637-1243.

Photo Caption: Members of the Davis & Elkins College Debate Society participating in the Heart of It All Speech and Debate Tournament in Concord, Ohio, are clockwise from left, Cordel Bostic, Tori Goss, Lorenz Schnitzner, Griselle Rosado and Debate Society President Thaddeus Breckenridge.