WKU News

WKU Forensics Team debaters in front of Cherry Hall: Tess Welch, Madelynn Einhorn, Symone Whalin, Alianna Casas, Miles Morton, Andre Swai, Anthony Survance, Ben Hanson, Bailey Rung (GA), Isaac Keller, Chad Meadows (head debate coach) and Alex Rivera.

The WKU Forensics Team kicked off its competitive season by hosting the WKU/Alumni Fall Forensic Tournament on WKU’s campus the weekend of Sept. 20-22.

Combining four tournaments into a single weekend, the event offered competition in debate and individual events over three days, hosting 14 schools from Louisiana to Michigan and Pennsylvania, including the University of Alabama, Bradley University, Illinois State University, Pennsylvania State University and Truman State University. WKU students competed in the tournament, but as host the team was not eligible for team sweepstakes awards.

WKU Director of Forensics Ganer Newman said the tournament is intended to bring debate and public speaking together. “WKU is equally dedicated to both debate and public speaking, so we provide a tournament which acts as a model for a more comprehensive forensic education,” he said. “Considering that this is the first tournament of the school year for most teams, they find that getting ready to compete this early is a prohibitive challenge. I am extremely proud of all of the work our students and staff put into making our season opener a success. We especially want to thank the thirty-nine instructors and graduate students who volunteered as judges. This tournament was truly a campus community effort.”

Along with hosting, WKU team members also competed. On Friday, the team competed in the Alexis Elliott Memorial Round Robin Debate Tournament, where each school entered their top competitors. WKU seniors Alex Rivera and Anthony Survance went undefeated in the tournament, closing out the round robin for the first time since the tournament began in 2014. The students traded duties hosting and competing in the subsequent Saturday and Sunday events. 

 “Over the course of the weekend,” Newman said, “our students won 11 event championships, our novice debaters closed out the Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate final round, while the varsity debaters closed-out the quarterfinal round of open Lincoln-Douglas debate—so, top four—and won an individual sweepstakes championship. It was a great way to start the season!”

Next week, the Hilltoppers will travel to Normal, Illinois, to compete at Illinois State University.

Results from the WKU/Alumni Fall Forensic Tournament are as follows:

• Derek Collins, a junior from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, tournament champion in informative speaking, tournament champion in poetry interpretation and tournament champion in duo interpretation (with Ryan Gosling) at the Sunday tournament.
• Alex Rivera, a senior from Newton, Kansas, co-champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate and second debate speaker at the Saturday tournament; tournament champion in quadrathon, second in extemporaneous speaking and third in impromptu speaking at the Sunday tournament.
• Ryan Gosling, a junior from West Palm Beach, Florida, tournament champion in dramatic interpretation, tournament champion in duo interpretation (with Derek Collins) and second in poetry interpretation at the Sunday tournament.
• Bradley Wascher, a senior from Montgomery, Alabama, tournament champion in informative speaking, third in impromptu speaking and fifth in extemporaneous speaking at the Saturday tournament.
• Anthony Survance, a senior from Louisville, co-champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate and fifth debate speaker at the Saturday tournament.
• Rickey Williams, a junior from Minneapolis, Minnesota, tournament champion in poetry interpretation and third in duo interpretation (with Warren Forstmann) at the Saturday tournament.
• Sal Tinajero Jr., a senior from Santa Ana, California, tournament champion in prose interpretation and fourth in poetry interpretation at the Saturday tournament.
• Faith LoPiccolo, a senior from Lexington, tournament champion in after-dinner speaking, sixth in prose interpretation and sixth in dramatic interpretation at the Sunday tournament.
• Tess Welch, a sophomore from Houston, Texas, co-champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate and fourth debate speaker at the Saturday tournament.
• Isaac Keller, a junior from Kansas City, Missouri, co-champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate at the Saturday tournament; sixth in extemporaneous speaking at the Sunday tournament.
• Madelynn Einhorn, a sophomore from Oakwood, Ohio, top debate speaker and co-champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate at the Saturday tournament.
• Ashlyn Jones, a junior from Lafayette, Louisiana, tournament champion in communication analysis at the Saturday tournament.
• Miles Morton, a freshman from Sherman Oaks, California, co-champion in novice Lincoln-Douglas debate and third novice debate speaker at the Saturday tournament.
• Andre Swai, a freshman from Springfield, Missouri, co-champion in novice Lincoln-Douglas debate at the Saturday tournament.
• Paige Allbright, a sophomore from Youngsville, Louisiana, second in prose interpretation, third in quadrathon, third in dramatic interpretation, fifth in programmed oral interpretation and sixth in after-dinner speaking at the Saturday tournament.
• Parker Anderson, a sophomore from Hodgenville, second in after-dinner speaking at the Saturday tournament.
• Reese Johnson, a sophomore from Burnsville, Minnesota, second in duo interpretation (with Taylor Headrick) at the Saturday tournament.
• Taylor Headrick, a freshman from Wadsworth, Ohio, second in duo interpretation (with Reese Johnson) at the Saturday tournament.
• Emma Warnecke, a junior from West Bloomfield, Michigan, third in informative speaking, fourth in prose interpretation and fifth in after-dinner speaking at the Sunday tournament.
• Zakkiyah Sanders, a junior from Apple Valley, Minnesota, third in duo interpretation (with Tayland Ratliff) and fifth in prose interpretation at the Sunday tournament.
• Warren Forstmann, a freshman from Hollywood, Florida, third in duo interpretation (with Rickey Williams) and fifth in duo interpretation (with Daliss Hicks) at the Saturday tournament.
• Tayland Ratliff, a junior from Youngsville, Louisiana, third in duo interpretation (with Zakkiyah Sanders) at the Sunday tournament.
• Amanda Langford, a sophomore from Goodlettsville, Tennessee, fourth in communication analysis at the Sunday tournament.
• Caitlyn Woitena, a freshman from Houston, Texas, fifth in dramatic interpretation and fifth in prose interpretation at the Saturday tournament.
• Corey Newsome, a junior from Morehead, fifth in poetry interpretation at the Saturday tournament.
• April Saysithi, a freshman from St. Michael, Minnesota, fifth in programmed oral interpretation at the Sunday tournament.
• Daliss Hicks, a freshman from Miramar, Florida, fifth in duo interpretation (with Warren Forstmann) at the Saturday tournament.
• Rahmane Dixon, a junior from Houston, Texas, sixth in informative speaking at the Saturday tournament.
• Ben Hanson, a sophomore from Louisville, octofinalist in Lincoln-Douglas debate at the Saturday tournament.

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

Contact: Ganer Newman, (270) 745-6340