Texas Tech Debate Wins Second National Championship in Two Weeks

A week after winning the second debate national championship in school history, Adam Testerman became the first Texas Tech contender to be named the top individual debater in the country at the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE). The event was held March 27-29 at Azusa Pacific University in California. This time, Testerman topped 128 elite debaters from across the nation, including debaters from Rice University, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Washington. Testerman’s closest competition came from Brian Horton, a senior political science, geography and French major from San Angelo. Horton is Testerman’s debate partner and finished in second place. Testerman, a junior mass communications major from Springfield, Mo., was part of Texas Tech’s winning combination at the National Parliamentary Debate Association’s (NPDA) championship tournament in Lubbock, along with Horton. “Adam and Brian obviously have achieved so much in one year,” said Joe Gantt, director of forensics. “To win the team national championship at the NPDA tournament, and now the individual national championship at the NPTE – either one of those honors would be a great cap to a season. To win both is extraordinarily special and cements their place as one of the best parliamentary debate teams to ever compete in the activity. I could not be prouder of the two of them.” The two national championships signify the end of the season for Texas Tech debate. CONTACT: Joseph J. Gantt, director of forensics, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-1328, cell phone at (806) 777-9904, or joe.gantt@ttu.edu