Congratulations to the Northwood mock trial team on earning 8th Place at the 2021 American Mock Trial Association’s (AMTA) annual National Championship Tournament (NCT)
The members of the NU NCT team include:
Lukas Baker, of Grand Rapids, MI
Simeon Lawrence of Elyria, OH
Richard Ascherl, of Hartland, MI
Jacob Walters, of Mt. Pleasant, MI
Parker Luchenbill, of Fenton, MI
Elisse Richardson, of Dexter, MI
J. Austin Wolfe, of Cincinnati, OH
Aidan Garvie, of Elk Grove, CA
Jordan Barker, of Hartland, MI
Northwood earned its 8th Place finish at the NCT by winning their round (trial simulation) against Cornell University and University of California-San Diego, splitting ballots in their round against University of Maryland-College Park (two scoring judges selected NU as the winner and 2 other scoring judges selected MD as the winner of that same trial), and narrowly lost their final round to Patrick Henry College who went on to finish 2nd in our division. A list of the top ten teams in our division is as follows:
1st Yale
2nd Patrick Henry College
3rd University of Florida
4th Emory University
5th Duke University
6th Stanford University
7th University of Minnesota
8th Northwood University
9th University of Michigan
10th Boston University
In the final trial of this academic year, our division winner (Yale University) lost to the other division winner University of Maryland-Baltimore County who became the 2021 National Champion.
In addition to the team success, NU junior Lukas Baker won an All-American Award, which can only be won at the NCT against some of the best teams in the country. Almost 700 teams from more than 400 colleges around the county registered to compete in a 2021 AMTA regional tournament. Of those teams, the top 192 were invited to attend one of the March qualifier tournaments called the Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS). Of those teams, only 48 are invited to attend the NCT. Each of the eight ORCS tournaments accepts only 24 teams. The top six teams from each ORCS tournament earn a bid to the NCT. The hours Lukas and his teammates spent constructing his direct examination and preparing for his cross examination paid great dividends at the 2021 NCT!.
For more details about the division NU competed in, see the Nelmark Division Tabulation Summary.
For more details about the other division see the Zeigler Division Tab Summary.
For a list of the entire 48 great teams that qualified for the 2021 NCT, see the NCT Earned Bid List.
Northwood has qualified for the NCT for the last four consecutive years. In AMTA’s most recent NCT (held in 2019), Northwood finished in the top 10. Although NU qualified for the 2020 NCT, the tournament was not held due to COVID. NU has also earned division runner up 3 times (2008, 2010, 2014) and won the National Championship Tournament in 2009.
Please congratulate our students on their success! This success would not have been possible without help from Stephen Dunn (a graduate student assistant) and Professor Romanchuk, as well as many other volunteers who judged one of our innumerable practice rounds. We are grateful to all who helped our students use their critical thinking, communications, and teamwork skills to rise to this level.
