MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
High school students from across the area earned top finishes, medals and semifinalist honors during the Kansas State Forensics Championships held May 3 at multiple sites across the state.
Class 5A competition was hosted at Valley Center High School, Class 4A was held at Washburn Rural High School and Class 3A competition took place at Maize High School.
Hutchinson High Earns Multiple Semifinalist Honors
Students from Hutchinson High School brought home strong results from the 5A State Forensics Tournament, with five entries advancing to the semifinal round.
Head Coach Daniel Stout said Hutch High qualified 10 entries for the state tournament.
Students earning semifinalist honors included seniors Mersadies Marciano and Brayden Graham in Duo Interpretation, junior Abby Dater in Humorous Interpretation, sophomore Emma Ruzhanovska-Garcia in Informative Speaking, junior Nikon Sublett in International Extemporaneous Speaking, and Marciano in Original Oration.
Additional state qualifiers for Hutchinson High included senior Mia Lopez in Informative Speaking, junior Aiden Koontz in International Extemporaneous Speaking, sophomore Caspian Hayes in Original Oration, Emma Ruzhanovska-Garcia in Original Oration and Abby Dater in Oral Interpretation of Prose.
The state appearance capped another successful season for the Hutchinson High debate and forensics program.
Buhler Finishes Third in 4A
Buhler High School earned a third-place team finish at the 2026 4A State Forensics Championships, highlighted by multiple individual medals and state titles.
Jacob Friesen captured the 4A state championship in Original Oration, while Regan Walle claimed two state titles by winning both Program of Oral Interpretation and Serious Solo Acting.
Buhler also posted several runner-up finishes. Kiron Bradley placed second in Extemporaneous Speaking, while Emmerie Flores finished second in Humorous Solo.
Additional placers included Micah Otto, sixth in Extemporaneous Speaking; Nora Busenbark and Paityn Weber, sixth in Improvised Duet Acting; Jacob Friesen, fifth in Impromptu Speaking; Kiron Bradley, fifth in Informative Speaking; Shelby Harriman, fifth in Lincoln-Douglas Debate; and Bradley, third in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
Semifinalists included Kiron Bradley in Impromptu Speaking and Nora Busenbark in Prose.
Also contributing to Buhler’s third-place finish were Wesley Freeman, Bailey Harbaugh, Quincy Jensen, Sterling Schroeder and Aiden Theriot.
Nickerson Places Sixth Overall in Class 3A
Nickerson High School earned a sixth-place team finish out of approximately 40 schools competing at the state tournament.
Will Barkley led the Panthers with state championships in both Informative Speaking and Impromptu Speaking while also placing fifth in Original Oration.
Ellery Stapleton earned runner-up honors in Extemporaneous Speaking and was also a semifinalist in Impromptu Speaking.
Additional award winners included Polly Frank, a semifinalist in Serious Solo Acting and Poetry who also placed fourth in Program of Oral Interpretation, and Kyleigh Hathaway, a semifinalist in Prose.
Also representing Nickerson at state were Hunter Fickett, Cora-Mae Narron and Breckan Peters.
Nickerson’s performance helped secure a top-10 finish in one of the state’s largest forensics competitions.
Haven Students Compete in Class 3A
Students from Haven High School competed in multiple events during the state tournament.
Nora Percy and Abby Thalmann competed in both Improvised Duet Acting and Duet Acting, earning semifinalist honors in Duet Acting.
Additional Haven competitors included Charlee King and Juliette Dalke in Improvised Duet Acting, Camden Benk in Humorous Solo, Jack Golding and Willow Clayman in Informative Speaking, and Vivian Fry and Josh Mulligan in Extemporaneous Speaking. Fry also competed in Impromptu Speaking.
The tournament appearance wrapped up another successful season for Haven’s forensics program.