Debate isn’t messing around. Cannon Falls’ very own debate team has a record thus far in the season of  62 wins to 59 losses. Miranda Felton, Grant Schlichting, and Matt Moskal all achieved first speaker awards. This year’s team is setting high standards for next year’s novices. The captain this year is Miranda Felton. When asked her favorite part of debate, she replied, “The moment you hear the other team’s arguments and you know you have exactly the evidence in your box to break every single link and to win every single argument. I love it.”

In order to understand Miranda’s statement, one should first must know the basics of debate. John Fogarty, the coach of the debate team, helps describe the outline. There is a topic usually related to a country’s government and two sides to the topic. One team argues the con side and the other team justifies the pro side. “They then cross examine each other between speeches, and all four of the speakers get two chances to get up and speak,” explains Fogarty. There is one judge in a round with them to tally up the points and judge on speaking skill.

The team suffered a loss this year when Sydney Erhardt graduated, but they also had a few new and eager members ready to pick up the slack. In addition to Felton, Moskal, and Schlichting, the varsity squad also includes Emma Thomley and Mackenzie Fimmen.  JV members are Hannah Johnson, Ella Coyle, Zach Siebenaler, and Alex Engebretsen.  Layne Quam was the sole novice debater. Many of the debaters switch partners during the season to experience new ways to debate and different tactics. Cannon Falls is one of the few small schools that compete in tournaments. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. For one, Cannon Falls doesn’t really stand a chance in numbers but on the other hand, they get more practice and study time than the larger teams. Small as they are, no one can debate against their cases. Other schools might as well give up now because watch out. The debate team is coming.