On speech team, Fitch athletes find a new level of competition

By Ed Runyan

A weekend speech tournament can be physically and mentally draining.

AUSTINTOWN — Travis Watson and Mark Cornman love to compete.

Watson was a successful middle school wrestler at Austintown several years back, and Cornman has played football for the Falcons all four years of high school.

But a couple of years ago they found an academic outlet for their competitive drive: the speech and debate team.

They now own a state championship in public forum debate.

Coaches John Mazzucco and Alysia D’Amico say the two are the first public forum and debate state champs the Mahoning Valley has produced in the five years since the category was introduced.

Ken Carano, former head speech and debate coach at Fitch until 1999, said he believes the area has produced only two state champs in any of the debate categories in the past 10 years, despite the long list of area champs in speech.

The public forum category involves researching and debating a current issue, then serving like a lawyer would in cross examining his or her opponent and refuting the other person’s arguments.

D’Amico said the category was a good fit for Watson and Cornman, who both plan to pursue careers in law and are skilled with their words.

Watson, whose aggressive style makes itself apparent in conversation, said he’s had judges tell him he’s a little too loud at times.

Cornman, the smaller of the two, says he may be the “good cop” in their “good cop/bad cop” team.

Both say the last three seasons of speech and debate have shown them a type of competition they don’t find in sports.

“Being in football, it’s tough and competitive, but I didn’t really develop as a competitor until I joined speech,” explained Cornman, who has an easy smile.

“It taught me not to back down from any challenge — no matter who your opponent is, you’re going to give it your all.”

Watson said he got out of wrestling after his freshman year because he was tired of the physical demands. He discovered that debating tired him even more — mentally.

“I remember when I did wrestle and I’d come home from wrestling tournaments, I would be really physically tired, but I could still stay up late at night,” Watson said.

“But when I’d come back from a speech tournament, I usually have a headache. I am utterly exhausted. The mental stress of having to outwit someone every single round, four times a day for an hour per round, is excruciating ...”

Instead of staying up late, he’ll asleep right away, Watson said.

A weekend speech tournament can also be physically draining, Watson said, because the team typically competes eight to 10 rounds in one weekend, with each round lasting about an hour.

Watson said he finds it hard to eat all day on tournament day. Blood to the stomach required for digestion can make the head sluggish, he noted, and sometimes there’s no time to eat.

There’s two ways to qualify for the state speech tournament: at the district tournament in January or a National Forensic League tournament in February.

The two didn’t qualify for state at the district meet, so their backs were against the wall, and they responded.

Leading up to the National tournament at Ursuline High School, they practiced 15 to 20 hours per week, even when snow days caused school to be closed.

D’Amico remembers calling the two on the telephone one Friday snow day and making arrangements for them to practice that night for three hours, and for three hours each on Saturday and Sunday.

They were determined to do well, and they did, finishing first at the national forensics event. That also qualified them for the national NFL competition in Las Vegas June 15-21.

Their state championship came about five weeks ago at Medina High School.

“We were determined we were going to work as hard as we could because we needed to qualify for state,” Watson said of the local NFL competition.

The two have worked out a method of attacking their opponent: Cornman begins by reading his four-minute presentation, hearing his opponent’s presentation and then debating with him or her. Then Watson, taking notes on the other team’s presentation, looks for weaknesses in their case.

Watson is at his best when he can put the other team on the defensive. “If they’re so focused on defending, they don’t get to present their case,” Watson said.

D’Amico added, “You have to be competitive and want to win. You have to have that competitiveness, that desire.”

A loud voice doesn’t hurt, either.

runyan@vindy.com