BHS forensics team qualifies four for nationals
Bulletin staff report
Four members of the Buffalo High School forensics team have qualified for the National Forensic League’s National Speech & Debate Tournament, June 10-15 in Indianapolis.
Those students include Cody Giles, Andie Schueler, Shayla Wolf and Brianna Taylor.
“I just can’t tell you how proud I am of all these kids,” said BHS coach Walter Farwell. “This is the third year in a row that we will be taking four students to the national tournament, and we are all very excited. We are really looking forward to nationals this summer in Indianapolis.”
Farwell took eight students to Cheyenne on March 29-31 to compete in the Hole-in-the-Wall District National Qualifying Tournament.
“The team had an amazing showing in Congressional Debate and together they earned the Congress Sweepstakes, beating out several much larger schools like the three Cheyenne high schools as well as schools from South Dakota and Nebraska,” Farwell said.
The Congress Sweepstakes Award is in its inaugural year, which is a new team honor awarded by the national office.
At the meet, junior Rex Yeigh competed in Congressional Debate in the House, earning a fourth-place finish and third-alternate to nationals.
In Public Forum Debate, the team of seniors Schueler and Wolf were able to be among the top eight teams, and finished as sixth-alternates to nationals.
Schueler and Wolf also competed in Congressional Debate, where both earned national qualifier spots in their respective houses.
Wolf also competed in Domestic Extemp where she went all the way to the final round, placing fourth overall and is the first-alternate to nationals. However, even if she should be bumped up to a qualifying spot in Extemp, she has chosen to attend the national tournament in Congressional Debate.
Taylor, a junior, had an amazing weekend, Farwell said. She competed in both Congressional Debate and Lincoln-Douglas Debate – earning a spot in the national tournament in the House.
But since she was still competing in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, she made it to finals – where she faced teammate Giles. Because Giles had already qualified for nationals in his chosen event, he deferred to Taylor - thereby not requiring a formally debated final round.
With that win, she earned an LD Debate National Qualifier spot in addition to the spot in Congress. Taylor has chosen to attend the National Tournament in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
Giles, a junior, advanced to the finals in three different events – and earned firsts in each.
Giles will attend the national tournament in International Extemp.
Farwell said he’s proud of his students – and proud of the community support shown to his team.
“I also want to thank all the community people for their assistance this year,” Farwell said. “As a thank you to our community, and as a fundraiser for the kids that have qualified for nationals, we are planning to host our second-annual Forensics Fight Night. This is a great opportunity for community members to see our kids in action and well as providing a venue for the adventurous to debate the debaters.”
The fundraiser is set for 6 p.m. on April 24 at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Buffalo.
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