Cal State Fullerton’s moot court team completed a successful season, garnering more than 20 trophies. The trophies included 12 speaker gavels, 11 placement plaques and one trophy for writing. Six of the seven CSUF teams advanced to preliminary nationals, and three advanced to the final round of the national tournament.
This fall, CSUF students competed in four different regional tournaments with more than 500 teams from over 100 universities. CSUF sent seven teams and a hybrid team with one CSUF student who partnered with a student from The University of Chicago.
CSUF students Ayanna Grunwald and Mazi Mustafa won the Great Lakes Regional at Saginaw Valley State University and were undefeated in the tournament. Mustafa earned 10th-place speaker.
At the Capital Classic Regional at the Capital Law School in Columbus, Ohio, Aliana Acosta and Jane Paden placed second while Luke Dao and Danielle Miranda advanced to the semifinals and placed right behind them. Dao won first-place speaker, Miranda won third and Paden earned 10th.
At the Eastern Regional at Fitchburg State University in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Juan Salguero and Valentina Perez were CSUF’s top ballot earners of 48 competing teams. They advanced to the quarterfinals along with Brandon Gutierrez and Meghann Domond. Alexa King and Leah Allar were knocked out of the competition by team members Salguero and Perez. Colson Houck Teal and Ashlie Dale advanced to the elimination rounds as well. Perez earned fifth-place speaker while her partner Salguero was close behind her for sixth place
At the Northeastern Regional at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, Victoria Canonizado partnered with a student from The University of Chicago, facing very tough competition. She brought home a gavel for fifth-place speaker.
From each of these regional tournaments, the top 25% of teams earned bids to preliminary national tournaments, where 32 teams competed. Six of seven CSUF teams were invited to two preliminary national tournaments based on their placements in their regionals.
Competing at the University of Houston Law Center in Houston, Texas, Paden and Acosta advanced to the semifinals, while Grunwald and Mustafa advanced to the quarterfinals after having to face Dao and Miranda in the octofinals. Grunwald and Mustafa won that round to move on. Dao earned his second gavel of the season in 12th place, Mustafa earned eighth place and Grunwald earned third-place speaker.
At the J. David Rosenberg College of Law – University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, Houck Teal and Domond were CSUF’s top team and advanced to quarterfinals. Salguero and Perez advanced to elimination rounds and narrowly lost that round. Allari and Canonizado had a strong showing in preliminary rounds. Perez won sixth-place speaker, bringing home yet another gavel.
From four different regional tournaments, the top 25% of teams earned bids to the final round of the national tournament, where the top 32 teams competed for the national championship.
At the final round of the National Tournament at Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock, Texas, Houck Teal and Domond made it to the octofinals after having to face Grunwald and Mustafa in the first elimination round. Acosta and Paden also competed fiercely in the tournament. Domond earned a gavel for the fifth-place speaker in the nation.
Dao and Miranda earned ninth place in the national brief writing tournament.