Apr. 4—CHEYENNE — Thirty-three Cheyenne students have qualified for the national competition sponsored by the National Speech and Debate Association in Des Moines, Iowa, in June.

Students from the three main capital city high schools competed against each other and schools from across the state last month to clinch a spot at the biggest stage in high school debate.

During the weekend of March 7-9, high school forensics teams from across the state met at Laramie County Community College to compete for spots at the national tournament. Activities included debates concerning current policy, dramatic and humorous performances, mock congress sessions and creative original presentations.

Speech and debate season began last October, and students and coaches dedicated hours of practice throughout the week to prepare for weekend-long tournaments across the state throughout the year.

“I’ve worked with some really great kids, really dedicated kids,” said Cheyenne’s Central High School speech and debate coach John Watson, who is completing his first year as coach of the team. “They certainly can do things that I’ve never seen young adults do before. They’re just very intelligent, hardworking, and it’s just an honor to get to know them.

“I learned from them, as well. They’ve taught me a lot over the year, so I’m very thankful for that. And I’m looking forward to our season next fall, and, hopefully, we can continue to build this program up.”

In Watson’s debut season as coach of Central’s team, 15 of around 45 students on the team qualified for nationals. They finished second at the state tournament behind Cheyenne’s East High School, who recorded a back-to-back victory in the state tournament.

In addition to teaching two speech and two debate classes, Watson is also an English teacher at Central who began teaching this year. At Cheyenne’s South High School, speech and debate Coach Tyler Will is primarily a social studies teacher. This year, three of around 26 high schoolers on the team qualified for nationals, the smallest team in Cheyenne.

“We are growing a little bit year over year, which is good,” Will said. “I think we’re trending toward being more competitive in the state and also more competitive with Cheyenne East and Cheyenne Central, here in the area.”

South seniors Jack Artery and Tyson McMillion won first place in the public forum style of debate at the state tournament. This is only the fourth individual title for the school, and the first in public forum, since South opened in 2009.

The school also saw two students, Emily Pivik and Adelaine Schneide, qualify for the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in Omaha, Nebraska this spring, which is another national speech tournament.

Of the roughly 3,000 high school speech and debate teams across the country, East is ranked 27th, putting it in the top 1% of teams nationwide. This year, the Thunderbirds, coached by Marcus Viney, saw 15 students qualify for nationals.

Will said that, compared to other regions of the country, southeast Wyoming is very supportive of its speech and debate community.

“We’re a very competitive district in the country,” he said. “Wyoming speech and debate is kind of a bright spot for the state. … There’s a lot of financial support for speech and debate … particularly from the University of Wyoming and Casper College. There’s a kind of infrastructure here for speech and debate that really doesn’t exist in other places.

“So, I think it’s kind of special that we have so many schools here in Cheyenne that are doing well, I think it reflects a lot of the support that the community gives to the activity. I’ve lived in other places, and it’s not like that.”

He said direct funding comes from Laramie County School District 1, but there are programs through the University of Wyoming that offer camps, workshops, online events, and make the activity accessible and sustain it in the area.

Results from Cheyenne schools competing in the Wyoming Speech and Debate State Tournament:

Central

— Addison Bean — State Participant, Program Oral Interpretation

— Porter Carson — State Participant, Humor Interpretation

— Isabelle Conwell — State Participant, Dramatic Interpretation

— Caroline Fay — 2nd (2nd, 4A), Public Forum Debate

— Anu Glennie — Quarterfinals, Public Forum; 2nd (2nd, 4A), Extemporaneous Speaking

— Chauncy Hendon — State Participant, Informative Speaking

— Zoya Khan — Octofinals, Lincoln Douglas Debate

— Abdullah Khan — State Participant, Lincoln Douglas Debate

— Madisen Laird — 4th (4th, 4A), Extemporaneous Speaking

— Reuben McGuire — Semifinals, Informative Speaking

— Brayden Metcalf — Supers Finalist, Congressional Debate

— Wyatt Miller — 6th (4th, 4A), Dramatic Interpretation; 4th (4th, 4A), Duo Interpretation

— Abbilene Odell — 5th (5th, 4A), Extemporaneous Speaking; Quarterfinals, Public Forum

— Meridith Paul — 1st (Champion, 4A), Original Oratory

— Kempton Perriton — 2nd (2nd, 4A), Public Forum Debate

— Thomas Smedley — Quarterfinals, Public Forum

— Saimaa Widi — Quarterfinals, Public Forum; State Participant, Poetry Interpretation

— Austin Winstead — 4th (4th, 4A), Duo Interpretation; 4th (2nd , 4A), Humor Interpretation

East

— Sadie Casey — 2nd (2nd, 4A), Original Oratory

— Chloe Fitzgerald — Semifinals, Program Oral Interpretation

— Emma Golden — 5th, Original Oratory

— Addy Goodman — 5th (3rd, 4A), Humorous Interpretation; Semifinals, Duo Interpretation

— Ella Goodman — 2nd (2nd, 4A), Informative Speaking

— Alyvia Hardy — 3rd (Champion, 4A), Humorous Interpretation; Semifinals, Dramatic Interpretation

— Solomon Henderson — 3rd (Champion, 4A), Program Oral Interpretation

— Clara Kerschner — 1st (Champion, 4A), Informative Speaking; 2nd (Champions, 4A), Duo Interpretation

— Ellie Kerschner — 3rd (3rd, 4A), Original Oratory; 2nd (Champions, 4A), Duo Interpretation

— Andrew Schulz — Semifinals, Duo Interpretation

— Oakley Simons — 3rd (Champion, 4A), Dramatic Interpretation

— Josh Thompson — 3rd (2nd, 4A), Duo Interpretation

— Jeri Tolle — 3rd (2nd, 4A), Policy Debate

— Cristina Welch — 4th (2nd, 4A), Dramatic Interpretation

— Ben Woolsey — 3rd (2nd, 4A), Duo Interpretation

— Luke Zacharias — 3rd (2nd, 4A), Policy Debate

— Rosie Zubrod — 3rd (3rd, 4A), Informative Speaking; Octofinals, Lincoln Douglas

South

— Artery & McMillion — 1st, PF Debate

— Jack Artery, 3rd — Congress

— Rhayce Barta — 6th, Congress

— Emily Pivik — 4th, Oratory

— Adelaine Schneider — Semifinals, Extemporaneous speaking

— Tyler Hughes — Semifinals, Congress

Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.