Daniel Larson is a junior and a member of the 2021-22 debate team. The team placed second at state to McPherson High School. 

How did you prepare for this tournament?

I prepared for state mainly just by going over our affirmative case and making it airtight. We knew beforehand some of the cases of the other schools going into the tournament, so I took some time reviewing that information as well.

Who was your partner in this tournament?

I ended up debating with three different people for the first round of the tournament. I debated with [sophomore] Norah Carney, then with [senior] James Sutherland, then back to Nora, then some complications happened and I ended up debating with [sophomore] Alex Haggerty. 

How did you and your partner work together during this tournament?

Nora and I had debated together before so we knew how to debate with each other. James and I, we have been debating the entire season, so we know each other’s styles. However, this is the first time I’ve actually debated with Alex before, so it was definitely different going into it. But I thought we worked together pretty well. 

How was your experience debating McPherson?

James and I had actually seen McPherson’s case previously in the year at the Emporia tournament, and we beat it. So going into this, I was pretty excited to see the same case again, because last time we didn’t actually have any case specific stuff. This time we did. I thought we won the round; McPherson thought they lost. So seeing that we lost against McPherson was kind of disappointing. I would have liked to win again, but Alex and I gave it our best.

Which rounds stood out the most to you and why?

James and I really enjoyed debating Paola, but the round that stood out the most was against Buhler. We didn’t really have any evidence against the case. It was also the last round James and I got to debate together on, so it was a fun ending to our partnership.

What was your reaction to the outcome of the tournament?

I didn’t really expect McPherson to win at all. I don’t think anybody on our team really did. I’m proud that we got second since our team is fairly young this year and we didn’t have any people that had debated all four years of high school, which put us at a disadvantage against the other teams.

What was your most memorable moment from debate this year?

At the first tournament at Washburn Rural, James and I made it to finals and we hit this case against two girls from Olathe Northwest. We kind of got a rivalry going, and I managed to beat them; then the next time we go to a tournament and it’s us versus them in the finals again, and then we beat them again. That was probably the most memorable moment of the season.

Do you have anything else to say about this season or the upcoming season?

I’m proud of what we accomplished this season and we’re going for first place next year.