NDHSAA News Release (April 18, 2023)

JAMESTOWN, N.D. – The 2023 and seventieth annual NDHSAA Sponsored Class A Speech State Tournament was held at Jamestown High School on April 15. All participants qualified from one of two regional tournaments or at an invitational tournament held during the season.

Valley City (pictured above) captured first place with 122 points. West Fargo Horace took second with 108 points, Jamestown was third with 89 points, and St. Mary’s was awarded 4th with 43 points.

The following are the top place winners in each of the 14 categories.

Radio Broadcasting: 1st - Maggie Dick, West Fargo Horace; 2nd - Carter Hass, Valley City;  3rd - Griffin Terras, West Fargo Horace;  4th - Micha Ndayisenga, West Fargo Sheyenne;  5th - Aneesh Vegi, West Fargo;  6th - Lydia Picotte, Fargo Davies;  7th - Mathew Foolish Bear, St. Mary’s;  8th - Ryan Benson, West Fargo Horace; 9th – Elyse Weber, Dickinson.

Storytelling:  1st – Tucker Johnson, Valley City; 2nd - Matthew Motschenbacher, Jamestown;  3rd - Rebecca Smith, West Fargo Horace;  4th - Keagen Kratcha, West Fargo Horace;  5th - Gabriel Herzog, Valley City;  6th - Abhiram Kotala, West Fargo Sheyenne;  7th - Amelia Meester, Valley City;  8th - Rebecca Sather, Red River.

Extemporaneous Programmed Reading:  1st - Anja McDermid, Jamestown;  2nd - August Phillips, Bismarck Century;  3rd - Laney Tolman, Dickinson;  4th - Reagan Koppelman, West Fargo Sheyenne;  5th - Jaden Bjur, West Fargo Horace;  6th - Cady Wang, Fargo Davies;  7th - Eva Rykowsky, St. Mary’s ;  8th - Patricia Schmitz, Watford City; 9th – Britta Solderholm, West Fargo Horace.

Humorous Duo: 1st - Ross Motter/Brooke Wickens, Jamestown; 2nd - Abigail Martineck/Olivia Ingstad, Valley City;  3rd - Gabrielle Johnson/Bryson McBain, Minot;  4th - Liam Rude/Lucy Scherbenske, West Fargo Horace;  5th - Alora Rude/Veda Voegele, West Fargo Horace;  6th - Savannah Mauch/Trae Reardon, West Fargo Horace;  7th - Ethan Frisch/Griffin Terras, West Fargo Horace;  8th - Drew Burris/Seth Lamount, Fargo North.

Dramatic Interpretation:  1st – Cady Wang, Fargo Davies; 2nd – Abigail Martineck, Valley City;  3rd – Jocelyn Midboe, West Fargo;  4th - Kylie Steverman, West Fargo Horace;  5th - Alexis Wobbema, Valley City;  6th - Ayden McPartland, Valley City;  7th - Eden Ellingsen, Jamestown.

Extemporaneous Speaking:  1st – Will Nelson, Jamestown; 2nd – Lukas Robinson, Fargo South;  3rd – Ariel Bahn, Fargo Davies;  4th – Casey Kruger, Valley City;  5th – Levi Gorden, West Fargo Horace;  6th – Jonah Follingstad, West Fargo Sheyenne;  7th – Abigail Redfearn, Valley City;  8th - Veda Voegele, West Fargo Horace.

Poetry:  1st - Sumaya Abuker, West Fargo; 2nd - Anja McDermid, Jamestown;  3rd - Madison Roehrl, St. Mary's;  4th - Toluwanimi Fadairo, Grand Forks Central;  5th - Ada Gilbertson Valley City ;  6th - Libby Kadrmas, St. Mary’s; 7th- Brooke Wickens, Jamestown;   8th - Joyli Kamau, West Fargo Sheyenne; 9th- Reagan Koppelman, West Fargo Sheyenne.

Humorous Interpretation:  1st - Benjamin Kruta, Valley City; 2nd - Theodore Hochhalter Valley City ;  3rd - Ross Motter, Jamestown;  4th - Isabella Sletteland, St. Mary’s;  5th - Trae Reardon, West Fargo Horace;  6th - Katherine Devney, St. Mary’s;  7th - Keagan Kratcha, West Fargo Horace; Jake Sletteland, St. Mary’s.

Serious Duo:  1st - Emmalee Jones/Tucker Johnson, Valley CIty; 2nd - August Phillips/Haley Mezger, Century;  3rd - Houston Gonzalez/Mikko Angelo Vilas, Red River;  4th - Jaden Bjur/Reese Richard, West Fargo Horace;  5th - Maria Kryjevski/Seth Lamount, Fargo North; 6th - Trinity Pitzer/Landyn Meidinger,  Mandan;  7th - Eden Ellingsen/Autumn Roberts, Jamestown;  8th - Ada Gilbertson/Leah Hochhalter, Valley City.

Inform:  1st - Mathew Foolish Bear, St. Mary’s ; 2nd - Maggie Dick, West Fargo Horace;  3rd - Micha Ndayisenga, West Fargo Sheyenne;  4th - Amelia Meester, Valley City;  5th - Asiya Gedi, West Fargo Sheyenne;  6th - Agustin Zettel, Dickinson;  7th - Benjamin Kruta, Valley City ;  8th - Madeline Abbott, Fargo Shanley

Speech to Persuade: 1st – Lydia Picotte, Fargo Davies; 2nd – Matthew Motschenbacher, Jamestown, 3rd – Asyia Gedi, West Fargo Sheyenne;  4th - Nathan Rateau, Fargo South;  5th - Rachel Huynh, West Fargo Sheyenne;  6th - Casey Kruger, Valley City;  7th - Abigail Redfearn, Valley CIty;  8th - Madison Roehrl , Bismarck St. Mary's.

Serious Prose:  1st - Alora Rude, West Fargo Horace; 2nd - Cecilia Maulding, Jamestown;  3rd - Mercy Johnson, West Fargo Horace;  4th - Ayden McPartland, Valley City;  5th - Leah Hochhalter, Valley City;  6th - Haley Mezger, Bismarck Century;  7th - Grace Goettle, St. Mary’s;  8th - Isabel Scherer, Fargo Davies.

Impromptu:  1st - Will Nelson, Jamestown; 2nd – Nadir Mohamed, West Fargo Horace; 3rd – Kipling Olson, Fargo South; 4th – Levi Gorden, West Fargo Horace; 5th - Carter Hass, Valley City; 6th - Aiden Schultz, West Fargo.

Speech to Entertain:  1st – Gabriel Herzog, Valley City; 2nd – Elizabeth Cave, Bismarck St. Mary’s;  3rd - Katie Uhlir, Grand Forks Central;  4th – Emma Hoke, Jamestown;  5th – Nadir Mohamed, West Fargo Horace;  6th - Leah Dokken, Minot;  7th - Elena Weng, West Fargo Sheyenne;  8th – Kallyn Shirley, Bismarck Century.