By Vedant Hathalia
Elliott Barringer ‘26 delivers his final round speech on the national stage. NSDA.
When Elliott Barringer walked into his freshman-year rhetoric class at Bellarmine, he had no idea he was stepping into the beginning of a defining journey. What started as what he thought was an English class quickly transformed into a four-year obsession, a community, and ultimately a national championship. But that path almost didn’t happen.
“I had no experience in speech and debate. I had no idea it was something I was interested in,” Elliott explained, recalling how he actually came to Bellarmine intending to play basketball. It wasn’t until Mr. Langerman brought the class to the Speech and Debate trophy room early in the year that something clicked. “That was really the moment where I felt super inspired. I went home and told my parents I didn’t want to do basketball anymore.”
That spontaneous pivot led Elliott into policy debate first, before he later discovered the event that would define his high school career: Lincoln-Douglas. Surprisingly, LD wasn’t an immediate choice. He first tried policy, even attending camp between freshman and sophomore year, but something felt off.
“I didn’t have a great experience with a partner,” Elliott said. “I’ve always liked working by myself. I trust myself the most at the end of the day.” But the pull toward LD was more than just independence. Debate camp exposed him to philosophy, critical theory, and deeper argumentation. “When I learned Lincoln-Douglas was a more philosophical event and one-on-one, it was like both the things I wanted to do combined.” Around the same time, he was taking English II Honors with Mr. DeLateur, who he initially described as intimidating but “really, really cool.” All of this pushed him toward Lincoln-Douglas.
From there, Elliott’s debating accelerated. The biggest shift? Obsession.
“Sophomore year is kind of a transformative experience… it was just research, research, research all the time,” he said. By junior year, that commitment only increased. He describes long nights cutting evidence, strategy calls with coaches, and a near-constant mental engagement with the topic. “Being good at debate is a question of being obsessive about the topic,” he emphasized.
Along the way, older debaters played a crucial role. Even as a new sophomore, upperclassmen took the time to mentor him, something that left a lasting impact. “They felt mythological when you’re a freshman,” Elliott said. “I felt really embedded that they would even give me the time of day… that’s what I’m trying to do this year as well.” Now captain, his biggest goal is to give current underclassmen the same support system he once received.
As the LD team grows larger and stronger, Elliott sees his role as shaping a tradition that lasts beyond him. “My main goal is just to engineer a group of people that next year will be able to give others the same experience I had when I was young.”
For Elliott, debate started as an accident. It became a passion. It turned into a national title. And now, it’s an opportunity to give back and build the next generation of debaters who, like him, might walk into a classroom unsure of what they’re capable of, until something sparks.