41 Straight Titles and Counting: Wheeling Park Speech Team Captures West Virginia State Speech and Debate Tournament
Trending
WHEELING — The victory took an extra year in coming, but the wait made the Wheeling Park High School speech team's 41st consecutive state championship Saturday all the more sweeter, coach Bill Cornforth said.
The team was the overall winner of the 2021 West Virginia Speech and Debate Tournament, with team members also taking home another 12 individual 1st place trophies.
This year's tournament took place virtually after the 2020 tournament was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, and students competed from classrooms at their home schools.
There was no traveling to a tournament site. Instead, students learned of their victories during a virtual award presentation ceremony they watched together from WPHS's Beneke Theatre.
Afterwards, they all went for a drive.
"We're riding the yellow school bus now, because after all the other ones we would ride the school bus home from the tournament, rather it would be from West Virginia University or Marshall University," Cornforth said after the victory.
"We ride the school bus home, and we are greeted by parents and friends at the Stone Room at Wheeling Park."
From the school they traveled to National Road, then went west through Woodsdale before getting onto Interstate 70 and traveling back to Elm Grove and later the Stone Room.
Students receiving awards at the tournament are as follows:
n Adesh Urval, 1st place Oral Interpretation of Literature; 1st place Extemporaneous Speaking; 5th place Original Oratory
n Jacqueline Heil, 1st place Student Congress Debate; 2nd place Public Forum Debate
n Dailey Ward, 1st place Duo Interpretation; 2nd place Dramatic-Humorous Interpretation; 2nd place Poetry
n Towne Moores, 1st place Duo Interpretation; 3rd place Prose; 5th place Dramatic-Humorous Interpretation
n Alexis Hoskins, 1st place Dramatic-Humorous Interpretation; 4th place Poetry Interpretation
n Lucia Perri, 1st place Original Oratory; 3rd place Dramatic-Humorous Interpretation
n Harper Aulick, 1st place Prose Interpretation; 2nd place Original Oratory; 2nd place Program Oral Interpretation
n Eliza Aulick, 1st place Poetry Interpretation; 4th place Dramatic-Humorous Interpretation
n Adeline Barbour, 1st place Broadcasting
n Tyler Faulstick, 1st place Impromptu; 2nd place Oral Interpretation of Literature
n Charlie Ihlenfeld, 1st place Lincoln-Douglas Debate; 4th place Student Congress Debate
n Tony Meisel, Top Speaker in Lincoln-Douglas Debate; 2nd place Lincoln-Douglas Debate; 2nd place Student Congress Debate
n Collin Connor, Outstanding Presiding Officer & 5th place Student Congress Debate; 2nd place Public Forum
n Lauren Marquart, 2nd place Impromptu; 2nd place Broadcasting; 2nd place Extemporaneous Speaking; 3rd place Program Oral Interpretation
n Amanda McGovern, 2nd place Informative; 3rd place Poetry
n Kaden Cunningham, 3rd place Informative; 3rd place Extemporaneous Speaking
n Laken Franke, 3rd place Duo Interpretation
— Maggie Fuller, 3rd place Lincoln-Douglas Debate
n Ellie Reasbeck, 3rd place Duo Interpretation; 4th place Declamation
n Abby Sheller, 4th place Public Forum
n Brooke Sikole, 4th place Public Forum
n Addison Wright, 4th place Prose Interpretation
n Charlie Mattingly, 6th place Dramatic-Humorous Interpretation
n Clare Seibert, 6th place Declamation
Additional contributing team members were Mariana Alkhouri, Laken Faulstick, Logan Frazier, Braeden Keen, Laykin Milton, Gracie Schehl, Caroline Spencer, and Mia Suwaid.
Cornforth has been involved with all 41 championships, either as head coach or as an assistant coach. He is assisted by coaches Kayla Kreitzer Nelson, Isabella Droginske and Jen Mathieu
"It is exciting everytime it happens," Cornforth said of winning.
This year the WPHS team saw strong competition from the Huntington and Parkersburg high school teams, according to Cornforth.
"They gave us a run for the money, but I think the judges maybe just liked us a little better," he said.
Cornforth termed himself "blessed" as a coach.
"I have been allowed to experience 41 years of this, and I just feel blessed to be able to work with students who make this happen," he said. "Every year, they are determined to get another championship for the next year
"We are going to be starting soon to elect captains, and have tryouts for the next team. This is coming from a very blessed coach. Not many people can say they have experienced what I have had the experiences I've had. I am a very lucky guy," Cornforth said.