WKU News

The WKU Forensics Team placed second in debate team sweepstakes and second in open individual event team sweepstakes at the National Forensic Association national tournament.

No other team placed in the top 10 of both debate and open individual event team sweepstakes during the tournament held April 18-22 at Santa Ana High School in Santa Ana, California.

The WKU team faced 88 other schools—the most over the last 15 years—including Missouri State University, Truman State University, Bradley University, the University of Texas at Austin, Ball State University, Northwestern University and Illinois State University.

WKU junior Anthony Survance of Louisville was named the tournament’s top speaker and won the final round over Missouri State University on a 6 to 1 decision, becoming the Lincoln-Douglas national champion. He represents WKU's 11th L-D championship and the seventh in the last 10 years. 

On the path to victory, WKU logged wins over Missouri State University, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Pennsylvania State University and California State University Sacramento. As a team, WKU placed second in team sweepstakes. This year’s debate tournament was the largest in NFA history, with over 120 students competing from around the country. WKU advanced seven of its eight debaters into elimination rounds, and five of the eight students earned places among the top 10 speakers in the nation for debate.

WKU senior Andrea Ambam of Peculiar, Missouri, won the national championship in pentathlon after advancing to final rounds in every event in which she competed. Sophomore Derek Collins placed seventh. Pentathlon is a measure of personal success across five or more events.

“I am extremely proud of this team’s resilience,” said WKU Director of Forensics Ganer Newman. “Bradley University and UT Austin both had significantly larger entries at the tournament, but our students did not let that reality deter them. They stayed supportive of one another and fought hard round after round. Everyone stepped up. Whenever a student did not advance, they watched another teammate in their event or helped a fellow debater prepare for their next opponent.”

Newman highlighted the unified effort of a team sweepstakes challenge, noting “Several freshman team members advanced to late out-rounds in individual events and debate, four of our transfer students reached final rounds of competition, junior Anthony Survance won the L-D National Championship on a 6-1 decision, and senior Andrea Ambam reached final rounds in all six of her events.

“We confronted many challenges as a squad this season, but countless hours of practice with our brilliant coaches paid off with a Lincoln-Douglas Debate National Championship and an Individual Sweepstakes Championship. “

Speaking of the future, Newman said, “We’ll take a few days to rest and enjoy the time with our seniors, then we start looking ahead to next year. We have a few major recruitment trips and our annual high school summer institute. Then we will begin preparing for next season.”

WKU sent 32 competitors with a total of 122 individual event entries and eight debate entries to the national tournament. Of the total entries, 75 advanced to octofinal rounds, 46 advanced to quarterfinal rounds, 29 advanced to the semifinal round, and 13 events made it to the final round of competition.

Individual results from the National Forensic Association National Tournament are as follows:

• Andrea Ambam, a senior from Peculiar, Missouri, national champion in pentathlon, national champion in persuasive speaking, national champion in after-dinner speaking, second in poetry interpretation, second in informative speaking, second in programmed oral interpretation and fourth in prose interpretation.
• Derek Collins, a sophomore from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, national champion in rhetorical criticism, seventh in pentathlon, semifinalist in informative speaking, quarterfinalist in persuasive speaking, quarterfinalist in duo interpretation (with Emma Warnecke) and octofinalist in prose interpretation.
• Anthony Survance, a junior from Louisville, national champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate, top debate speaker, semifinalist in extemporaneous speaking and octofinalist in impromptu speaking.
• Isaac Keller, a sophomore from Kansas City, Missouri, second debate speaker and octofinalist in Lincoln-Douglas debate.
• Sabas Del Toro, a senior from El Paso, Texas, third in duo interpretation (with Sal Tinajero, Jr.), fourth in dramatic interpretation, quarterfinalist in programmed oral interpretation and octofinalist in prose interpretation.
• Natalie Hedberg, a senior from Chaska, Minnesota, third in informative speaking, quarterfinalist in rhetorical criticism and quarterfinalist in persuasive speaking.
• Sal Tinajero Jr., a junior from Santa Ana, California, third in duo interpretation (with Sabas Del Toro) and quarterfinalist in after-dinner speaking.
• Ryan Gosling, a sophomore from West Palm Beach, Florida, fourth in duo interpretation (with Rickey Williams), sixth in duo interpretation (with Corey Newsome), semifinalist in poetry interpretation, semifinalist in programmed oral interpretation and octofinalist in dramatic interpretation.
• Rickey Williams, a sophomore from Minneapolis, Minnesota, fourth in duo interpretation (with Ryan Gosling), semifinalist in poetry interpretation, semifinalist in informative speaking, semifinalist in duo interpretation (with Zakkiyah Sanders) and octofinalist in rhetorical criticism.
• Matt Wisenden, a senior from Moorhead, Minnesota, fifth in duo interpretation (with Reese Johnson), quarterfinalist in dramatic interpretation, octofinalist in prose interpretation and octofinalist in informative speaking.
• Reese Johnson, a freshman from Burnsville, Minnesota, fifth in duo interpretation (with Matt Wisenden), octofinalist in dramatic interpretation, octofinalist in after-dinner speaking and octofinalist in duo interpretation (with Casey Child).
• Madelynn Einhorn, a freshman from Oakwood, Ohio, fourth debate speaker and octofinalist in Lincoln-Douglas debate.
• Corey Newsome, a sophomore from Morehead, sixth in duo interpretation (with Ryan Gosling), semifinalist in rhetorical criticism and quarterfinalist in persuasive speaking.
• Alex Rivera, a junior from Newton, Kansas, sixth debate speaker and double-octofinalist in Lincoln-Douglas debate.
• Kelly Stone, a senior from Louisburg, Kansas, 10^th debate speaker, octofinalist in rhetorical criticism and double-octofinalist in Lincoln-Douglas debate.
• Lane Hedrick, a senior from Morehead, semifinalist in extemporaneous speaking, semifinalist in persuasive speaking and semifinalist in informative speaking.
• Emma Warnecke, a sophomore from West Bloomfield, Michigan, semifinalist in programmed oral interpretation, quarterfinalist in rhetorical criticism, quarterfinalist in duo interpretation (with Derek Collins) and octofinalist in poetry interpretation.
• Brian Anderson, a senior from Hodgenville, semifinalist in impromptu speaking, quarterfinalist in Lincoln-Douglas debate and quarterfinalist in extemporaneous speaking.
• Zakkiyah Sanders, a sophomore from Apple Valley, Minnesota, semifinalist in duo interpretation (with Rickey Williams), quarterfinalist in after-dinner speaking and quarterfinalist in persuasive speaking.
• Bradley Wascher, a junior from Montgomery, Alabama, semifinalist in impromptu speaking, quarterfinalist in extemporaneous speaking and octofinalist in rhetorical criticism.
• Faith LoPiccolo, a junior from Lexington, semifinalist in prose interpretation and octofinalist in programmed oral interpretation.
• Casey Child, a senior from Taylor Mill, quarterfinalist in prose interpretation, quarterfinalist in duo interpretation (with Tayland Ratliff), octofinalist in dramatic interpretation, octofinalist in poetry interpretation and octofinalist in duo interpretation (with Reese Johnson).
• Tayland Ratliff, a sophomore from Youngsville, Louisiana, quarterfinalist in duo interpretation (with Casey Child), octofinalist in dramatic interpretation and octofinalist in poetry interpretation.
• Symone Whalin, a sophomore from Sonora, octofinalist in after-dinner speaking, octofinalist in persuasive speaking and octofinalist in impromptu speaking.
• Paige Allbright, a freshman from Youngsville, Louisiana, octofinalist in dramatic interpretation and octofinalist in after-dinner speaking.
• Ashlyn Jones, a sophomore from Lafayette, Louisiana, octofinalist in extemporaneous speaking and octofinalist in persuasive speaking.
• Jessica Duncan, a freshman from Arnaudville, Louisiana, octofinalist in persuasive speaking.
• Kelly Lingen, a freshman from Lakeville, Minnesota, octofinalist in after-dinner speaking.
• Tess Welch, a freshman from Houston, Texas, double-octofinalist in Lincoln-Douglas debate.

More: Check out the WKU Forensics Facebook page or follow @wkuforensics on Twitter.

Contact: Ganer Newman, (270) 745-6340