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Two weeks ago, extempers from South Dakota competed in the South Dakota Activities Association State Tournament. South Dakota has two classes for its state tournament, which are then divided into International and United States Extemp categories.
In Class A International Extemp, Brady S. Jandl of Lennox High School became the first winner from Lennox since 2010. Jandl defeated Kadon Leddy of Milbank High School for the title. Jandl’s Lennox teammate August W. Meyer finished in third place.
In Class A United States Extemp, Berk Ehrmantraut of Beresford High School became the first state champion from his school in the category since 1992. Joe Miller of Vermillion High School finished runner-up for the second consecutive year and was trying to become the second consecutive Vermillion extemper to win the U.S. Extemp state title. Connor Lightfield of Milbank High School took third place, an improvement over his seventh place finish last season.
Class AA International Extemp saw Shyanne Redlin of Watertown High School successfully defend her state championship. Redlin defeated Ryan Wellman of SF Lincoln High School. She becomes the first back-to-back winner in AA International Extemp since Ann Fishback of Brookings High School accomplished the feat in 1996. Yilun Li of Brookings High School finished third.
And in Class AA United States Extemp Ryan Solberg gave Mitchell High School its fourth consecutive winner in the category, defeating Caleb Munce of SF Lincoln. Solberg was a return finalist, having placed fifth at last year’s state tournament. Emily Meier of Aberdeen Central High School rounded out the top three.
All of the finalists at the tournament earned an automatic qualification to the 2015 Extemp TOC at Northwestern University.
Here are the results of the 2015 South Dakota High School Activities Association State Tournament (Click here for tab sheet):
Texas usually hosts one of the largest state tournaments in the country and this year’s Texas Forensic Association (TFA) State Tournament lived up to that billing by attracting more than one hundred competitors in International Extemp and ninety-nine competitors in United States Extemp.
Durham Academy claimed its fifth extemporaneous speaking state championship in six years last weekend at the North Carolina Tarheel Forensic League State Tournament. Connor Leech of Durham defeated Elizabeth Kingaby of Central Cabarrus High School by two ranks for the title, thereby continuing an impressive streak of dominance by Durham in the category. However, Kingaby nearly won the championship, taking two of the three first place ranks in the final round. An errant sixth place rank doomed her title hopes.
The Ohio High School Speech League (OHSSL) held its state tournament last weekend at Canfield and Boardman High Schools. Forty-seven extempers participated in the International Extemp half of the tournament and fifty extempers participated in the United States Extemp half.
Des Moines Roosevelt High School continued its domination of the Iowa extemp circuit as it swept both extemporaneous speaking categories at last week’s Iowa High School Forensic League All-Iowa Finals for the seventh consecutive year.
Two of the top five extempers in this year’s National Points Race won state championships at last week’s Florida Forensic League State Championship Tournament. In International Extemp, Noah Wexler of Nova Senior High School, who is ranked fifth in the country, achieved an eight-rank victory over Andrew Langford of Lake Highland Preparatory School. This is Wexler’s first state championship and it is the first time that a Nova extemper has won the International Extemp category in seven years. Nova had four of the six finalists in the category, with Sanjay Supan finishing third, Adele Stock finishing fourth, and Eleanor Bock finishing sixth.
Kari Janhsen of South Anchorage High School became the first extemper to successfully defend a state championship when she won her second consecutive state title in International Extemp at the Alaska High School Activities Association State Tournament, held two weeks ago at East Anchorage High School. Jahnsen’s teammate Jack Sezauer took second place and AJ Tsang of Eagle River High School took third.
This year’s Illinois High School Association State Speech Final was primed as a showdown between Parth Patel of Huntley High School and Vinesh Kannan of the Illinois Math and Science Academy. Last year both extempers, along with Saumya Jain of Neuqua Valley High School, shared the state championship after an unbreakable three-way tie. However, the anticipated story did not go as planned as Kannan finished one rank out of the final round and Moyo Abiona of Carl Sandburg High School defeated Patel by one rank to win Sandburg’s first-ever extemporaneous speaking state championship.
Along with Montana, Maine became one of the first states to hold its state championship tournament when it hosted the state’s best extemporaneous speakers at Lewistown High School last weekend. This year’s Maine Forensic Association (MFA) crowned Abby Westberry of Maranacook Community High School as its state champion. The MFA State Tournament is cumulative and Westberry staged a comeback in the final round, going straight one’s among the three finals judges and securing a three rank margin of victory over Desmond Molloy of Falmouth High School.
Two weeks ago, the Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association held its 2014 state speech tournament. The state divides teams into two classes: Class A and Class BCD. The tournament is cumulatively tabbed. In Class A, Matt Greydanus of Grand Rapids Christian School won the state title by four ranks over teammate Johan Lee. Kendall Hitch of Seaholm High School finished third. Greydanus is the first Grand Rapids Christian School extemper to win a state title in the twenty-first century.
Last month, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association State Speech Tournament took place on the campus of the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. The highlight of the tournament was Alex Sapadin of Snohomish High School winning his third consecutive Class 4A state championship. Sapadin’s historic victory was not easy, though, as Heather Selby of Gig Harbor High School tied him in the tournament’s final round and won a majority of the judges, but lost on reciprocals. Austin Jang of Union High School placed third.
Westview High School returned to the winner’s circle at this year’s Oregon School Activities Association State Speech Tournament when Suyash Sharma edged McKinley Rodriguez of Lincoln High School by judges’ preference to capture the state title. Sharma’s victory is the first by a Westview extemper since Nima Ahmadi, an NFL finalist in International Extemp, won in 2008. Edward Szczepanski of Wilson High School palced third.
North Dakota divides its state competitions into two classes and these classes traditionally hold their state championship competitions on different dates. The Class B North Dakota High School Activities Association State Speech Tournament took place last week at Mandan High School. Gavin Muscha of Richland High School successfully defended his tournament title and gives Richland its third extemporaneous speaking state title in at least the last four years. Brandt Vernon and Dakota Degenstein of Hazen High School finished second and third, respectively.
Missouri, the “Show-Me” state, crowned two new state champions last week when it hosted its 2014 state tournament on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia. The state divides extemp into United States and International categories, a split that began last season. In International Extemp, Brandon Splitter of Carthage High School became the second extemper from his school to win a state extemp title in three years. Splitter defeated Raj Patel of Liberty North High School by two ranks. Benjamin Anderson of Nixa High School took third.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association held its 2014 state tournament last week at Ridgeland High School. Elizabeth Liu of Madison Central High School won the cumulative tournament and her first state championship by five ranks over Albert Nabiullin of Sacred Heart Catholic School. John Pearce Robertson of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, a school that had won the last two state titles, finished third. Madison Central and St. Andrew’s Episcopal had two finalists at the tournament, which was more than any other school.