Debate team takes top trophy at Twin Falls meet

The Talkin' Tigers Mountain Home High School Speech and Debate easily won the Twin Falls Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament last weekend, outdistancing Idaho Falls and six other high schools to earn the Sweepstakes Trophy.

Youth was the key to the Mountain Home success as the Talkin' Tigers won both Novice Lincoln/Douglas and Novice Policy Debate competitions.

Mountain Home completely dominated Novice Lincoln/Douglas Debate as four Tigers finished in a tie for first place with undefeated records. After the preliminary rounds, Mountain Home had all six of of its competitors in the round of eight quarter-finals.

Robert Welle and Jeromy Hyatt lost to teammates in the quarterfinals to finish fifth.

Conner Tuttle, Lucas Marsh, Chelsea Wegrizyniak and Mirriam Forrest were all semi-final winners and had posted perfect 4-0 records to that point. All four were declared first-place winners.

The story was almost the same in Novice Policy Debate as Mountain Home had three of the final four teams.

Ben Cumber and partner Cody Hardwick, along with teammates Erika Sabol and Racquel Dickerson, lost in the semi finals to finish third.

Melodie Lettkeman and Linzi Dudding posted a semi-final win then went on to capture the final, giving Mountain Home a sweep in the novice events.

Fallyn Wadsworth and Alexis Rios were quarter finalists in Novice Policy Debate.

In Public Forum debate, Allyica Crandal and Amanda Raines, both novices, finished second with teammates Josh Tarbox and Ali Howe, along with Katie Fennel and Arrianna Montgomery, both earning semi-finalists awards.

In open Policy Debate, Bryan Rich and Raif Armstrong finished third.

The Talkin' Tigers also did well in speech events as Novice Ben Cumber was second in Impromptu Speaking.

Melodie Lettkeman was second in Dramatic Interpretation with Arrianna Montgomery second in Humorous Interpretation.

Patrica Wade's third-place finish in Expository Speaking rounded out the Talkin' Tigers scoring.