The De Soto High school debate team traveled to Olathe Northwest High School for its Regional Debate Tournament on Dec. 14-15.

This year’s tournament is predicted to be more difficult than last year, where the team earned first place and finished as Regional champions.

Basehor Linwood, Sumner Academy, Jefferson West, Spring Hill, Rock Creek, Tonganoxie and Topeka-Hayden High School will be competing against DHS in the tournament.

“We hope to place in one of the top three [at Regionals] in order to qualify for State,” said junior debate president Rebekah Burgweger.

“If we place in the top three, then we qualify for State, but more importantly, four-speaker debate,” Burgweger said.

Those that place below the top-three positions and have a winning record will qualify for State, but only two-speaker debate, not four.

“Four-speaker debate is unique only to Kansas. It’s similar to our regular-season debate, except that we have two teams that compete together as one team,” drama teacher and debate coach Erin Purifoy said. “On one team, the two students are for the topic, and the other team is against, and the two teams compete against the opposing teams from other schools in a round-robin type tournament.”

Four-speaker debate has a special advantage compared to two-speaker debate. In four-speaker, the team will present to a panel of three judges, as opposed to two-speaker, in which the teams presents for one judge on most occasions.

This advantage is crucial, seeing that three opinions is less subjective than one. Therefore, placing in one of the top-three places at Regionals is a key goal for the team.

“We have the toughest Regional in the state. Tonganoxie will be really challenging, and they have won four-speaker State five or six times in recent years,” Purifoy said.

“Sumner also has a very strong debate program. They have qualified people to Nationals several times. Spring Hill has a new coach and will also be very competitive … There are also some other schools that we don’t see very much. It’s anybody’s game,” Purifoy said.