Historic finishes for WSU Speech team; Debate earns second straight championship

The Wayne State University Department of Communication's competitive speech and debate teams had another incredible competitive season.

At the 2026 National Forensic Association national championship in Nashville, the team finished fourth in the nation out of approximately 70 schools - the highest sweepstakes placed in the program's history. The team went from 22nd in the nation to 14th, followed by two seventh place showings, before reaching the new program high.

Driving this historic finish? The outstanding performance of first-year competitor Mason Lloyd, who won a national championship in Duo Interpretation with partner and sophomore Reggie Hayes, who also earned the Individual Sweepstakes title by cumulatively finishing the best in the nation in five different events.

This also was the first time the program saw three top 10 individual sweepstake finishes, with Hayes in sixth place and senior Jetmir Mezini in 10th. Individually, Metzini finished fourth in Extemporaneous Speaking and fifth place in Program Oral Interpretation. Many WSU students were in late elimination rounds.

Robert Como, a graduate assistant coach and major spark for the team's recent success, noted the rarity of a program like WSU to place into the top team sweepstakes ranks.

"Typically, a select few powerhouse schools hold a near monopoly on the top five sweepstake places," he said. "However, this year we broke through while still having fun, learning, and keeping the Wayne State spirit alive and embedded at the heart of everything we do."

Como credits the success to the hard work of the students, a critical group of volunteer alumni who help coach the team, and the program's directors.

Dr. Sydney Pasquinelli concurred.

"I am so proud of our speech team for setting a hard-reaching goal, that is to place top five in the nation, and for doing the work throughout the season to achieve it," said Pasquinelli. "All 10 of our speech team competitors, the WSU speech and debate coaches, and a host of dedicated alumni volunteers, worked relentlessly and collaboratively to make this dream a reality."

Not to be outdone, the WSU debate team also finished the season on a high.

At the 2026 National Educational Debate Association (NEDA) national championship in Dayton, Ohio, the team won its second consecutive teams sweepstake championship and won several team and individual student awards.

WSU had four teams in late elimination debates, with three reaching the semifinals. Maty Diop was the top speaker in Novice Rapid Fire debate and Chris George in Varsity Rapid Fire. Lily Tubbs was the top speaker in Novice Public Forum.

"The Wayne State Debate Team, through sustained hard work and dedication, successfully repeated as National Education Debate Association season champions," said Dr. Ronald Stevenson. "I could not be prouder of the students' competitive spirit and the way they rose to meet adversity, especially after graduating nearly half the team in December."