But long after his daughters Dana and Lydia’s time with the Wheeling Park High School speech and debate team ended, Holmstrand still wakes up early on weekends and volunteers his time judging debate rounds at different tournaments. That has included the West Virginia state tournament, which has given Holmstrand a front-row seat to Wheeling Park’s lengthening of what is now a 43-state-title winning streak.

It was in 2009 that speech team head coach Bill Confrorth approached Holmstrand, a partner in the law firm of Grove, Holmstrand & Delk about judging debate. Attorneys long have been sought after as debate coaches, and Holmstrand decided to give it a try.

He said that Cornforth, who oversaw the debate side of the team before becoming head coach, was extremely helpful in his learning how to judge.

“(He) was such a resource in terms of explaining to me what the different types were, what the background of the debates are, and the difference between a public forum and Lincoln Douglas which were the two styles of debate that existed in West Virginia at the time that I started.”

Holmstrand started out almost exclusively in public forum debate, where he said contestants compete in more empirical, fact-based debates. He soon added Lincoln Douglas debates – which he said are more philosophical in nature – to his judging plate.

In nearly a decade and a half as a judge, Holmstrand has seen competition evolve. In the past, when debaters cited sources for the facts they used, he said it was on the other team to have done the research to have access to that source. Now, that team can do what Holmstrand called “card calling,” asking for the other team’s card for the statistic they just cited.

Also, debaters are now able to access their cases on their computers during rounds, when that wasn’t allowed in the past. Yet there are some parts of competition, good parts, that Holmstrand said have remained constant.

“One of the things I’ve always been impressed with is the level of civility, most of the time,” he said, “that the teams treat each other with respect. There are parts during debate where you are actively cross examining the opposite side and that can break down into name calling or shouting, and only a couple of times have I seen that.”

There has been another constant that Holmstrand has seen as a judge, one that began before he ever participated in a tournament – Wheeling Park’s state championship streak. The team bumped that up to 43 straight after last week’s victory. He has seen part of that run happen as a dad – Dana is a former team co-captain and Lydia is a former division leader – and as a judge.

He has judged at nearly every state tournament since 2010, so he has been able to watch the WPHS team compete for the title from start to finish, giving him a perspective that few get to see.

One thing he noticed was the pressure that the students put on themselves, pressure that the coaches never introduce. Those students don’t want to be the streak-breakers.

He also recognized the immense amount of work it takes for team members to reach that level of excellence each year.

“People kind of understand about sports and the amount of work that goes into being a high-level football player or a high level basketball player,” he said. “You get a natural talent and, if you don’t work to develop it, you’re not going to be at the top of your game. People, I don’t think, appreciate the amount of work that these (speech and debate) students and those coaches put into getting ready to successfully defend that state title. I don’t think people necessarily appreciate the work that goes into doing this.”

Holmstrand said he’ll keep judging as long as the tournaments will have him back. He enjoys the experience, even if it has him rising at 5:30 in the morning to head to a tournament. What he enjoys most is watching students from all over West Virginia and beyond taking the competition seriously and putting in the effort to be their best.

“The students that do this are so conscientious and so hard working and they really care,” he said. “You know, you hear a lot about what kids don’t do these days, and to see somebody want to put that kind of effort into it … I think the students are great across the board. I’m happy to do It’s interesting and it’s intellectual.”