Class A State Speech Tournament Results

Mounds Park Academy of St. Paul led all schools with three gold medals. Of the five returning gold medalists, only two succeeded in winning an event again this year at the 2014 Minnesota State High School League Class A State Speech Tournament.

Sydney Erhardt of Cannon Falls was the only competitor to strike gold for a second consecutive year. She claimed her second consecutive title in Extemporaneous Speaking. It was also her third medal overall.

Aniket Naravane of Mounds Park Academy was the only other competitor to win a second title. He won in Original Oratory in 2011 and won in the same category this year. Last year, he was the runner-up in Original
Oratory. This was also his third medal overall.

Three additional defending champions were not so lucky this year. Nick Kinnen of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton was seeking his second consecutive title in Discussion. He placed third and claimed his third medal
overall.

Alex Long of Byron and Sarah Anderson of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley were the final two defending champions. Long was looking for his second consecutive title in Extemporaneous Reading, but placed sixth this year. Anderson, who won in Informative Speaking in 2013, placed third in Original Oratory this year. It was the second medal overall for both Long and Anderson.

Mounds Park Academy led all schools with three gold medals and Fairmont followed with two. Besides Erhardt and Naravane, the other 2014 champions are: Zach Brown of Fairmont in Creative Expression; Maddie Nelson
of Maple Lake in Discussion; Neil Porter and Chloe Swanson of Wrenshall in Duo Interpretation; Heidi Bau of Murray County Central of Slayton in Extemporaneous Reading; Amber Preuss of Adrian in Great Speeches; Laramie Jackson of Eagle Valley of Eagle Bend in Humorous Interpretation; Anagha Komaragiri of Fairmont in Informative Speaking; Andrew Grant of Mounds Park Academy in Serious Interpretation of Drama; Munira Khalif of Mounds Park Academy in Serious Interpretation of Poetry; Ruben Flores of East Grand Forks in Serious Interpretation of Prose; and Jared Sowers of Parkers Prairie in Storytelling.

Zach Brown of Fairmont was the only competitor to win a coveted fourth medal this year.

In addition to Anderson, Erhardt, and Naravane, eight other competitors also won third medals this year: Tommy McCarthy of Adrian, Matt Lockett of Cannon Falls, Laramie Jackson of Eagle Valley, Mary Ninneman of Mankato Loyola, Shane Price of Mankato Loyola, Munira Khalif of Mounds Park Academy, Rachel Newville of Perham, and Molly Dunn of River Valley.

In addition to Kinnen and Long, 22 other returning medalists also earned their second medals this year: Amber Preuss of Adrian, Josh Siebenaler of Cannon Falls, Nicole Reigert of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Abby Plumley of East Grand Forks, Courtney Guetter of Fairmont, Mary Kennedy of Fairmont, Nick Reed of Jackson County Central, Andrew Grant of Mounds Park Academy, Aaron Hathaway of Mounds Park Academy, Riley Lannon of Mounds Park Academy, Allison Leopold of Mounds Park Academy, Peyton Lewis of New Ulm Cathedral, Emily Tsen of Park Christian of Moorhead, Zach Olson of Parkers Prairie, Jared Sowers of Parkers Prairie, Chris Knutson of Perham, Rory Risk of Perham, Hannah Sorenson of TrekNorth of Bemidji, Matthew Koring of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley, Grace Steward of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley, Neil Porter of Wrenshall, and Chloe Swanson of Wrenshall. Fairmont won nine medals this year and Mounds Park Academy followed with
six. With medals awarded to as many as eight top finishers, 50 schools were represented by students awarded medals for their 2014 state tournament performances.

There were 96 Class A teams represented at the tournament, conducted at Blaine High School on Saturday, April 12. There were 187 Class A teams that competed in speech statewide this year.

Walker-Hackensack-Akeley still tops the Class A list with 40 state champions between 1969 and 2014, which is good for a third-place tie on the list of Most State Champions-All Classes. Mounds Park Academy now has
30 state champions, which is good for fifth-place on that list. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley still tops the list of top medal-winning Class A schools with 226, and Mounds Park Academy has 144. Mankato Loyola had six
medalists this year and the school now ranks third with 115.

The 13 speech categories and the 2014 Class A results: Creative Expression

1^st Zach Brown of Fairmont
2^nd Kelsey Curfman of Morris Area School
3^rd Cam Pederson of East Grand Forks
4^th Aaron Hathaway of Mounds Park Academy
5^th Sarah Osborne of Jordan
6^th Cole Gardner of Melrose Area
7^th Sam Haefner of Byron
8^th Clayton Rud of Parkers Prairie

Discussion
1^st Maddie Nelson of Maple Lake
2^nd Chloë Litts of Staples-Motley
3^rd Nick Kinnen of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
4^th Zach Olson of Parkers Prairie
5^th Brian Pagnano of Chatfield
6^th Bailey Grussing of Adrian
7^th Connor Prafke of St. Peter
8^th Knute Oldre of Luverne

Duo Interpretation
1^st Neil Porter/Chloe Swanson of Wrenshall
2^nd Andrew Nelson/Andrew Johnson of Breckenridge
3^rd Rory Risk/Chris Knutson of Perham
4^th Natalie Schlager/Nick Reed of Jackson County Central
5^th Hannah Atkinson /Rachel Schaub of Mankato Loyola
6^th Mackenzie Marconcini/Kate Hillesheim of Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart
7^th Kate Folkman/Alyna Kleinwolterink of Morris Area School
8^th Riley Lannon/Allison Leopold of Mounds Park Academy

Extemporaneous Reading
1^st Heidi Bau of Murray County Central
2^nd Julia Okerman of Fairmont
3^rd Chris Molenaar of New London-Spicer
4^th Kennedy Stomberg of TrekNorth
5^th Emily Tsen of Park Christian
6^th Alex Long of Byron
7^th Dylan Kinn of Bigfork
8^th John Paul Sosa of LeSueur-Henderson*

Extemporaneous Speaking
1^st Sydney Erhardt of Cannon Falls
2^nd Shane Price of Mankato Loyola
3^rd Nicole Riegert of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
4^th Josh Siebenaler of Cannon Falls
5^th Charlie Stejskal of Maple Lake
6^th Bradley Foster of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
7^th Spencer Svendsen of Staples-Motley
8^th Brent Larson of Marshall School, Duluth

Great Speeches
1^st Amber Preuss of Adrian
2^nd Blake Warner of Windom Area
3^rd Peter Nielsen of Fairmont
4^th Sarah Nelson of Sauk Centre
5^th Hannah Sorenson of TrekNorth
6^th Matt Breuer of Cannon Falls
7^th Gemechu Mekonnen of St. Croix Lutheran
8^th Julia Pearson of Perham

Humorous Interpretation
1^st Laramie Jackson of Eagle Valley
2^nd Matthew Koring of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
3^rd Tiras Dotson of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
4^th Will Cipos of Mankato Loyola
5^th Maija Eickhoff of St. Cloud Cathedral
6^th Jonah Meyer of Belle Plaine
7^th Espen Anthony of Fairmont
8^th Tucker Nelson of Virginia

Informative Speaking
1^st Anagha Komaragiri of Fairmont
2^nd Margaret Silhasek of Byron
3^rd Tommy McCarthy of Adrian
4^th Rachel Newville of Perham
5^th Jodi Bents of Adrian
6^th Hailey Bruns of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
7^th Heidi Geislinger of Eden Valley-Watkins
8^th Mitchell Moe of Montevideo

Original Oratory
1^st Aniket Naravane o Mounds Park Academy
2^nd Madi Thibert of East Grand Forks
3^rd Sarah Anderson of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
4^th Katie Hieserich of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
5^th Lizzy Ehren of Mounds Park Academy
6^th Briana Schmidt of River Valley*
7^th Rebecca Engel of Sauk Centre
8^th Michaela Schull of East Grand Forks

Serious Interpretation - Drama
1^st Andrew Grant of Mounds Park Academy
2^nd Courtney Guetter of Fairmont
3^rd Anne Olafson of Eveleth-Gilbert
4^th Zuag Paj Her of Westbrook-Walnut Grove
5^th Mary Kennedy of Fairmont
6^th Abby Voigt of St. Cloud Cathedral
7^th Kassy Juarez of Blue Earth Area
8^th Masen Virginia of Wrenshall

Serious Interpretation - Poetry
1^st Munira Khalif of Mounds Park Academy
2^nd Grace Steward of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
3^rd Peyton Lewis of New Ulm Cathedral
4^th Lily Satterlee of Sauk Centre
5^th Matt Lockett of Cannon Falls
6^th Rachel Poppe of Fairmont
7^th Hannah Eslinger of St. Croix Lutheran
8^th Madison Malzahn of Park Rapids Area

Serious Interpretation - Prose
1^st Ruben Flores of East Grand Forks
2^nd Erin Hackenmueller of Milaca
3^rd Antonio Johnson of Fairmont
4^th Taylor Sexton of Mankato Loyola
5^th Kenneth Lusty of St. Peter
6^th Danai Kerbaugh of Annandale
7^th Kira Graber of Luverne
8^th Calli McCartan of Stewartville

Storytelling
1^st Jared Sowers of Parkers Prairie
2^nd Kallie O'Neill of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
3^rd Mary Ninneman of Mankato Loyola
4^th Alec Lorenz of Belle Plaine
5^th Molly Dunn of River Valley*
6^th Abby Plumley of East Grand Forks
7^th Molly Tengwall of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
8^th of Kristie Slindee of Blackduck