King Debate Wins October Tournament
The King Debate Team had another outstanding performance on Saturday, October 18, as seniors Steven Blanco and Ryan Jakubowski captured first place at the October Connecticut Debate Association (CDA) Tournament. The pair went undefeated, posting a perfect 5-0 record, securing the win in the final round against host school Joel Barlow High School of Redding.
The recent win comes on the heels of an impressive performance at the Yale Invitational, the largest national-circuit high school tournament. King had four teams in the highly competitive field, with all four qualifying for elimination rounds and receiving awards.
In the October competition, King fielded 12 debaters across the novice and varsity divisions, competing against nearly 30 schools and more than 80 competitors in the varsity bracket. This month’s resolution examined whether the U.S. government should limit the specialized H-1B visa program, a topic that challenged students to engage with questions of immigration policy, economics, and global labor mobility.
Reflecting on the win, Ryan shared how debate has helped him develop a global mindset while boosting his debate skills.
“Debating competitively has allowed me to become significantly more informed on a variety of issues, from immigration to economic policy to foreign conflicts,” he said. “It’s also made me a better thinker and speaker, since at many tournaments we’re expected to write full cases in favor of or against complex topics in less than 15 minutes.”
Ryan also credited the team's coach, history teacher John Harrison, for his part in their success.
“Mr. Harrison has been absolutely crucial for the team throughout my time as a captain,” Ryan said. “He coaches us during practice, provides techniques to improve our argumentation and strategy, and his decades of judging experience have been invaluable.”
Steven echoed Ryan’s sentiments and also credited the role of his peers across the team in the win.
“All of our contentions are a collaborative process,” he said. “Everyone on the King Debate Team jots down ideas/evidence for a particular side, and as a group, we go through each and see how to best formulate our arguments. It's like our own mini debate before the day begins, and we owe a lot to them all.”
Though Steven and Ryan didn’t know they were undefeated until the final round was announced, their confidence and teamwork carried them through. “We felt good about how we’d performed,” Ryan said, “but we took nothing for granted until the results were revealed.”
Looking ahead, the team will compete again on November 8 in the next Connecticut tournament, followed by their first New York City competition on November 15, as they work towards securing spots in the state finals this spring.
Congratulations to all of the students below who competed in the October competition, and best of luck to the team at the upcoming tournaments!
Steven Blanco ’26
Joseph Bliley ’29
Matthew Cohen ’28
Phoebe Dai ’27
Ryan Jakubowski ’26
Vikrant Krishnan ’28
Ian Kurlander ’27
Oliver Lacour ’28
Sam Laverne ’29
Coco Liu ’29
Justina Marque ’27
Lilah Mehta ’27