YSU’s Moot Court teams do well

Staff report

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The Youngstown State University Moot Court team sent three teams to the American Collegiate Moot Court Association’s Midwest Regional Tournament on Nov. 19 and 20.

The competition took place at the College of Wooster. After the first day of competition, the teams did well in the individual oratory rankings. Out of 72 individual competitors, YSU’s Kevin Hulick took seventh place, Travis Watson took sixth and James Toliver took first place as the best orator in the regional competition. On the second day, the two YSU teams composed of Watson and Hulick and Toliver and Mark Cornman reached the final four.

The other two teams reaching the final four were Denison University and Saginaw Valley State University. As a result of their performance, the two YSU teams have been invited to compete in the national tournament at the Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans on Jan. 14 and 15. Narrowly missing the sweet-16 round at the regional tournament was the YSU team of Jerod Everly and Katie Carpenter. Carpenter-Everly won one round and tied one round but lost to a team from the College of Wooster which was the number one seed entering the second day of competition.

The team is instructed and coached by Atty. Ron Slipski, a part-time instructor in the Political Science and History departments and a senior partner in the Youngstown law firm of Green Haines Sgambati Co. The team is sponsored by the Rigelhaupt Pre-Law center in the YSU Political Science Department under the direction of Paul Sracic, chairman.

Assisting the YSU team to prepare for the competition were Seventh District Court of Appeals Judges Gene Donofrio, Mary DeGenaro and Cheryl Waite, Ohio Disciplinary Counsel Jonathan Coughlan, J. Dean Carro, Director of Appellate Advocacy at the University of Akron’s School of Law, Attorney Michelle Manzoian, Fitch High School Speech and Debate Coach Alysia Damico and Youngstown attorneys Shawn Scharf, Megan Graff, George Millich and Matt Vansuch.