Forensics team places in both speech and debate at Northwest tournament

The Central Wyoming College forensics team placed in both speech and debate at a tournament over the weekend at Northwest College in Powell.

The debate team of Jordan Barthel and Daryon Baumberger won first place in the novice division of Parliamentary Debate, with Barthel being named the top individual speaker in the event and Baumberger finishing as the eighth best individual speaker.

Both students also competed in the After Dinner Speaking event, where Baumberger took second place and Barthel finished fourth.

In debate, the pair won four of six preliminary debates to earn a spot in the tournament’s elimination rounds, which is when they really separated themselves from the competition, coach Josh House said.

Each of their three elimination rounds was judged by a panel of three critics, and all nine of those critics voted for the pair. They defeated a team from Colorado Christian University on a 3-0 decision in the quarterfinal round, a team from Northwest College on a 3-0 decision in the semifinal round, and avenged one of their preliminary round losses by defeating another Northwest College team on a 3-0 decision in the final round.

“I am incredibly proud of the hard work they put in to prepare for the tournament as well as the determination they showed by making it through nine rounds of competition with a final ballot count of 13-2,” House said.

In After Dinner Speaking, Baumberger was the top seed going into the final round, and very nearly won the event. Based solely on the rankings of the three judges in the final round she was tied with another competitor for first place. The tournament had to look to not one, but two tie-breakers to determine the final order. Meanwhile, the fourth place finish by Barthel represents his second consecutive finals appearance in the event.

House said the now has a few months prepare for the next tournament at the University of Utah in January. “We are hoping to use the time to both polish the skills of our current competitors and to get some new students on the team and up to speed for next semester,” he explained.

Students interested in joining the team should know that there is scholarship money available as early as next semester, and should contact me for more information at jhouse@cwc.edu. Prior speaking experience is a plus, but is in no way necessary.