State Qualifiers From Speech and Debate
With another email from Mr. Eble coming out, it’s time for an update on Moeller Speech and Debate. With most people not reading the speech and debate news, most might not be aware that the team is well into postseason action. After five tournaments this year, this past Saturday (2/7) the team went to their first postseason tournament with the Greater Miami Valley district tournament at Oakwood high school.
Going into the tournament the team already had two state qualifiers after the regular season. First Calvin Wisniewski, a Junior, qualified in Congressional Debate after winning the Wayne Train Tournament on January 17th, as he earned his fourth qualifying bid. Moeller’s second state qualifier going into the weekend was Senior James Lauver, earning his fourth qualifying bid after placing third in Informative Speaking, also at Wayne. When asked about his experience with Moeller Speech and Debate, he said it’s been a great opportunity for him, saying “a core skill in building any man is the ability to use his voice.” He and the rest of the team certainly can use their voices, with all their success. James and Calvin are certainly names to look out for as Moeller looks to place in the State Tournament and qualify for Nationals.
Moeller continued their success February 7th, bringing another three state qualifiers into the mix. Quinn Wheeler is the first of two sophomores to qualify for State, doing so in Humorous Interpretation. In the same category, Ben Meiners and Asher George earned first and second alternate respectively. The second sophomore to qualify for the State Tournament was Logan Todd in Congressional Debate. Freshman Andrew Farkas qualified in the same category. This makes a total of three State Qualifiers in Congressional Debate with Logan, Andrew, and Calvin. The last result from the tournament is Stephen Kirwan earning first alternate in Lincoln Douglass Debate.
Our five state qualifiers (Calvin Wisniewski, James Lauver, Quinn Wheeler, Logan Todd, and Andrew Farkas) will be competing in the State Tournament in Youngstown, March 5th-7th. There’s more excitement to come before that though, as the team will be competing at the NSDA National Qualifying Tournament on February 20th. Last year saw two members of the team, Patrick Everly and Gavin Vaughn, placing top 25 in the country, so hopes are high for this year.
With all the success the team has seen this year, Moeller Speech and Debate is excited to continue with the postseason, and their potential success is plenty of reason to stay up to date with the team the rest of the year. More emails from Mr. Eble are sure to come soon, hopefully with some cause for celebration.