A champion is someone who has surpassed all rivals in competition. We find champions in all areas of our lives. From the most physically intensive sports to the mentally draining decathlons, there is always a winner, and that winner is a champion. But what would it be like if every champion from each competition competed against each other?
Welcome to the Speech and Debate Tournament of Champions, or the TOC. For the past 53 years, the best of the best in the country have met at TOC. Held at the University of Kentucky, this competition determines the ultimate champion. The events vary from Lincoln-Douglas to Congressional debates and even Speech.
James Zucker ‘91, the head coach of Loyola’s Speech and Debate team, often remarks at Speech and Debate events that “[the] tournament of champions is the Super Bowl of debate.”
In order to qualify to compete at TOC, an individual must earn at least two TOC bids at high-level tournaments throughout the school year for their respective events. These tournaments include, but are not limited to, Berkeley, Stanford, Emory, Yale and Harvard.
For years, Loyola has consistently sent competitors to the TOC; however, the team has seen an elevated amount of success this year. In 2024, Loyola sent only Carlos Adrian Macias ‘26 to compete in Congressional Debate. Yet, in 2025, the team sent Macias, Diego Pa-Ortiz ‘26, Israel Ramirez ‘26, Joseph Schimmoller ‘26 and Ricardo Torres ‘26 for Congressional Debate; Tomas Gonzalez ‘26 and Rishad Vaghaiwalla ‘26 for Lincoln-Douglas; and Lucas Canley ‘27 for Speech. Not only did the team send more competitors than ever before, but they also had the most success in terms of round advancement.
In Speech, Canley just missed advancing to quarters but still had a great performance. He emphasized, “The competitors were amazing, and I really felt I was among the best of the best.”
In Lincoln-Douglas, Gonzalez advanced to the doubles round and said, “The person I lost to would go on to win the tournament, so I really only lost due to skill-based matchmaking.”
In Congress, both Ramirez and Pa-Ortiz advanced to the semifinals, and Pa-Ortiz advanced to the final round. Destroying the career of another famous debater in the process, he ended up placing 15th overall out of nearly 200 competitors!
After his success, Pa-Ortiz commented, “Meeting the best debaters in the nation, researching specific topics as a team and watching the tabulators announce the final round breaks made TOC a truly unique experience.”
Although the other Congressional Debaters were not able to advance, besides Pa-Ortiz, they still thoroughly enjoyed the competition.
Torres stated, “It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event; witnessing our guys go head to head with some of the best in the nation made the whole experience feel surreal.”
Macias proudly lauded, “It was an honor to represent Loyola two years in a row.”
This year, the team put up a strong and historic performance at TOC and intends to send even more competitors next year. Now with eight cubs heading to the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, the team hopes to perform similarly with yet another strong performance.
