On Dec. 2, two Derby debate teams traveled to Eisenhower for the Catholic Forensics League (CFL) tournament. Both teams qualified for the National CFL tournament in Washington, D.C.

Sophomore Kya Nethercot and senior Hunter Skeleton got sixth place, while seniors Alec Hinecker and Noah Graham got third place.

This tournament was to make sure the debaters executed their strategies correctly. Both seniors prepared for this tournament for a month and were pretty calm going into it.

“The biggest thing (was to) make sure we understand our arguments better than the other team,” Hinecker said.

Nethercot, however, prepared for the past two weeks for hours a day.

Even with so much preparation, some times things still did not go to plan. Graham said his speech in the second round wasn’t the best, and Nethercot gave a rough rebuttal.  

Even through their errors, both teams had a great tournament. The stress didn’t hinder either pair.

“I don’t think that at any point in any of the debate rounds we’ve let each other down… There’s always going to be errors in a debate round,” Hinecker said. “I think the one good thing that me and Noah can pride our partnership off of is we don’t get frustrated at each other very much in or outside of debate rounds.”

Having a good partnership is the foundation of all debate tournaments. It can make or break any round, especially if the judge can tell there are issues.