CWC forensics team wins three events at Colorado meet

Central Wyoming College’s Forensics Team won three events at a speech and debate tournament in Colorado Springs last weekend.

In addition to placing first in persuasive speaking for the second consecutive tournament, Riley Moore qualified for the American Forensics Association’s National Individual Events Tournament in Tempe, Arizona in the spring. Moore is the first student to qualify for the tournament from CWC since the program’s re-launch in the fall of 2011.

Jordan Barthel joined Moore in the winner’s circle this weekend by taking home first place in two different events. He started by winning the inexperienced division of impromptu speaking, which was the second largest event of the tournament.

While other events went directly from the preliminary rounds to a final round, this event was so large that it required a semifinal round to narrow the field before finals, explained CWC Forensics Coach Josh House. Barthel placed first in his semifinal round before going on to win the event in finals.

“Although he was in the inexperienced division of impromptu speaking he competed in the open division of After Dinner Speaking,” House said. “The step up in competition didn’t slow him down though, and he defeated every other competitor to win this event.”

Barthel picked up where his high school teammate, Daryon Baumberger, left off at the Casper tournament, giving the team its second consecutive win in this event.

The team finishes the fall semester of competition at Northwest College Nov. 8-9 and then begins preparation for winter and spring tournaments.

House continues to build his team and is looking for more students to compete. “We have some scholarship money to offer for motivated individuals who want to be a part of our growing program,” he said.