Bobcat Speech and Debate notch first and second at tournaments

The Hot Springs Speech and Debate Team continued their successful season, bringing home a 1A/2A Championship trophy for the third weekend in a row after finishing first at the large, dog-themed Roverton Speech and Debate Tournament held at Riverton High School on February 9-10, 2024. The Bobcats followed up the Riverton competition with a second place Small School sweepstakes trophy at the Evanston High School Tournament on February 16-17, 2024.

Both tournaments saw success from senior Bobcat competitors. Seniors Ivey Goff and Brison Steere were crowned tournament champions in Duo Interpretation at Evanston after breaking into semifinals at Riverton. Goff also finished in second place in Humorous Interpretation at Riverton, while Steere broke into semifinals in Extemporaneous Speaking at Evanston. Senior Chris Bapst and junior Brendan Butler finished seventh overall in Duo Interpretation at Evanston.

Butler joined junior Ki Kraushaar and freshman Jackson Coates as semifinalists in Humorous Interpretation at Evanston.  Butler ended seventh in Humor at both Riverton and Evanston, while Kraushaar took eighth and Coates ended in tenth place. Kraushaar also broke into semifinals in Impromptu at Evanston, finishing in eleventh place just ahead of Goff who finished twelfth. Kraushaar and sophomore Kass Chavez had good showings in Dramatic Interpretation at Evanston as well, finishing in eighth and thirteenth place.

Bobcat debaters continue to improve as the season progresses. Sophomore Dean Bihr was tournament runner-up in Lincoln-Douglas debate at Evanston (losing on a close split ballot in the championship) and ended in sixth place in LD debate at Riverton. Bihr added two top ten finishes in Congressional Debate in large competitive fields, taking seventh place at Riverton and fifth place at Evanston. 

Junior Rosalie Willson ended in seventh place in LD debate at Evanston.  Willson was also part of the three person World Schools Debate team that finished in second place at the Riverton tournament that included Butler and freshman Annalyn Sharp. It was the first time all of them tried out the team debate. “Having usually debated one on one, it’s an interesting new thing getting to try debating with a team of three. I had fun,” said Willson about World Schools.  Sharp added, “It was very fun and interesting to try a new type of debate.”

Sophomore Luci Andreen and partner Coates added to Bobcat debate success with a thirteenth place finish in Public Forum Debate at Riverton.  Coates additionally tried out LD debate at Evanston, and finished in fifteenth place.

Freshmen Aubriana Layman and Hayden Franklin improved in Duo Interpretation with a twelfth place finish at Evanston.  Layman also finished in ninth overall in Original Oratory at Evanston, with teammate and fellow freshman Riley Crowder right behind at tenth place. Junior Zoey Larson also finished in the top twenty of a huge field of Informative Speaking competitors at Riverton.

Head Coach Lyle Wiley reflected on the growth of the team. “It is a long season, but these students haven’t slowed down. As we approach the end of the year, I’m confident that they will give their best effort,” said Wiley. He added, “It has been a joy working with this group of students, and the larger community has especially been a big support in their progress.”

Goff praised the efforts of the younger team members. She said, “Our young members are the best batch of freshmen I’ve seen.”

 Next up, the Bobcats will be competing at the Greybull and Burlington Forensic Challenge at Greybull High School on February 23-24, which will be followed by the Wind River District National Qualifying Tournament in Rock Springs on February 29-March 2 and the Wyoming State Speech and Debate Tournament in Cheyenne on March 7-9.