The Speech and Debate Team had an outstanding day at the KHSSL State Debate Championship on Saturday!
Winning individual speaking awards were:
Charlie Ellingsworth: Third place speaker in Varsity Public Forum
Xander Leavell: 2nd place speaker in Varsity Public Forum
Liam Wahl: 1st place speaker in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas
The team of Oscar Cardoza and Zayden Wright dropped on a 2-1 decision in the playoff round to semis in Public Forum and finished 5th. Liam also placed 5th in Lincoln-Douglas.
Xander and Charlie won the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP in Public Forum!
With strong performances from teammates Chase Wissing and Gio Roccisano, the team took 6th place in overall team sweepstakes.
The team was also awarded the Sustained Excellence traveling trophy, a first for the program under Ms. Zuccaro’s leadership.
Each year, schools’ total team points are added to their running totals from state debate tournaments past. The team that ends State 2026 with the highest cumulative total will take custody of it for the next year.
