Wisconsin Forensics Daily

WI Debate History: The Southern Bell Forum at Montgomery Bell Academy

One of the most prestigious policy debate tournaments in the country, the Southern Bell Forum has been hosted by Nashville’s Montgomery Bell Academy since 1983. As part of the 25th annual tournament’s invitation, MBA has provided complete elimination round results from all 24 previous competitions. Wisconsin has enjoyed a good deal of success at the Forum including a runner-up, two semifinalists, and eight total teams advancing to the elimination rounds. Complete results are available below the fold; if anyone is able to provide names for any of the teams for which they are missing (pre-2001), please post a comment.

1984 - The Southern Bell Forum II

Marquette advanced to the octafinals as the twelfth seed and defeated the fifth seed from Americus High School (Americus, Georgia), no longer an active program. St. Pius XI also advanced to the octafinals as the thirteenth seed and upset the fourth seed from Overton High School (Nashville, Tennessee). The two Milwaukee teams matched up in the quarterfinals and the Hilltoppers prevailed over the Popes on a 3-2 decision. In the semifinals, Marquette was defeated by the ninth seed from Jesuit College Prep (Dallas, Texas). Dallas Jesuit went on to win the championship over Detroit Country Day School (Detroit, Michigan).

1985 - The Southern Bell Forum III

Marquette advanced to the octafinals as the sixth seed but was defeated by the eleventh seed from Glenbrook North (Northbrook, Illinois). The tournament was eventually won by Pace Academy (Atlanta, Georgia) with West Des Moines Valley High School (Des Moines, Iowa) finishing as the runner-up.

1988 - The Southern Bell Forum VI

Marquette advanced to the octafinals as the twelfth seed but was defeated by the fifth seed from the St. Mark’s School of Texas (Dallas, Texas). The top seed from Hendrick Hudson (Montrose, New York) eventually claimed the championship over Downer’s Grove (Downer’s Grove, Illinois).

1993 - The Southern Bell Forum XI

Brookfield Central advanced to the octafinals as the fifteenth seed and upset the second seed from Centerville (Centerville, Ohio) on a 3-0 decision in the octafinals. The Lancers went on to defeat the seventh seed from Lexington (Lexington, Massachusetts) in the quarterfinals and the eleventh seed from Caddo Magnet (Shreveport, Louisiana) in the semifinals before falling to the top seed from Newman Smith (Carrollton, Texas) in the finals.

2001 - The Southern Bell Forum XIX

Marquette’s team of Manav Bhatnagar and Andy Nolan advanced to the octafinals as the thirteenth seed but was defeated by the fourth seed from Edgemont (Scarsdale, New York). Edgemont went on to win the championship over Glenbrook North (Northbrook, Illinois).

2002 - The Southern Bell Forum XX

Marquette’s team of Ankur Aggarwal and Manav Bhatnagar advanced to the octafinals as the fifth seed and defeated the twelfth seed from Stevenson (Sterling Heights, Michigan). The Hilltoppers then prevailed over the fourth seed from Westminster (Atlanta, Georgia) in the quarterfinals before losing to the sixteenth seed from College Prep (Oakland, California) in the semifinals. The St. Mark’s School of Texas (Dallas, Texas) defeated College Prep in the finals to claim the championship.

2005 - The Southern Bell Forum XXIII

Brookfield Central’s team of Amit Bindra and Zack Brown advanced to the octafinals as the tenth seed but was defeated by the seventh seed from the Kinkaid School (Houston, Texas). Westminster (Atlanta, Georgia) eventually won the championship over Chattahoochee (Alpharetta, Georgia).

Posted in History |