The voices of five Ithaca College students resonated above more than 180 debaters last weekend at the Sydney Landon Invitational Debate Tournament.

Debates were held in Campus Center, Friends, Williams and Textor halls. More than 20 schools across the county participated in the tournament to debate labor unions, human cloning and injustice in Sudan from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Scott Thomson, assistant professor of speech communication and adviser of Ithaca College’s debate team, said this is the first time the college has hosted a debate tournament in more than 20 years.

The tournament was divided into three categories: world style debate, public forum debate and cross examination debate association. Sophomore Brian Rank and freshman Jessica Mortellaro won first place in the sixth round of the world style debate, defeating students from Cornell University, King’s College and the University of Vermont. Mortellaro and Rank were quarterfinalists in the overall world style competition.

“We had debated the Vermont kids the night before and they seemed to have a wave of confidence about them, so it was very nice when we heard we got first place,” Mortellaro said.

Thomson said the team usually participates in Lincoln-Douglas style debating, which is a policy dialogue between two people based on evidence and logical reasoning.

For this tournament, Mortellaro and Rank were paired with two students from Cornell University to represent the government’s perspective on police entrapment in the world style debate. Mortellaro said the topic was given to them 15 minutes before the debate began. This was the first time she or Rank had participated in a world style debate.

“It was nice to know that our [Lincoln-Douglas style skills] could transfer to a new style that we hadn’t prepared for and that we knew nothing about,” she said. “It was a big confidence booster.”

The debate, which is usually at Cornell was held at the college for the second time.

“The type of debating we do has a pretty set schedule, so there’s never been any need for us to hold a tournament,” he said. “I like debating no matter what form it’s in, and a part of our philosophy at Ithaca is we want students to see a variety of different types of debating.”

Freshman Caleb McWhorter said he joined the debate team after attending Thomson’s first year seminar in August. He said the team travels every other weekend to participate in national debating competitions. Last semester, the team attended competitions at Lafayette College,  Suffolk University, Saint Anselm College and Ohio State University.

“What the team really teaches you is how to present ideas in very logical ways,” he said. “You learn how to speak in a clear, coherent way, which can make for more eloquent résumé writing and essay writing.”

McWhorter, who was one of the judges for the world style debate, participated in the public forum competition last weekend.

The speech and debate teams meet several times per week. Currently, there are about 12 members and new members are encouraged to join. Thomson said he suggests students keep up with current events and contribute information they’ve learned from classes to help with their debates.

Freshman Krystina Drasher also judged the world style debate and was one of 15 student volunteers at the tournament. She said judging the competition was a valuable experience for her as a legal studies major.

“It’s very interesting to sit back and see how other people perceive the same situation,” she said. “I’ve learned to better articulate myself, speak more clearly and sound smarter than I think I am.”