Lars Andersen and Nathan Loutsch Win State Debate Championship

Lars Andersen and Nathan Loutsch were crowned the 2019 South Dakota Class “A” State Champions in Public Forum Debate. Caitlyn Oien coaches the MHS team who earned the team title of Runner- Up in Class “A” Debate at the 2019 South Dakota State Debate Tournament at O’Gorman High School in Sioux Falls from March 1 through March 2.

Individually, Lars Andersen took home sixth place in International Extemporaneous Speaking. Marion Mischel was a semi-finalist and Claire Mischel was an quarter-finalist in Class “A” Lincoln – Douglas Debate. In Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, Nathan Loutsch took fifth place and Claire Mischel took sixth. Marion Mischel also took sixth place in Class “A” Original Oratory. Trevor Nolting and Samantha Staehling competed in Public Forum Debate.

The 2019 state tournament selected the 105th annual state champions in Policy Debate. Extemporaneous speaking events have been held for over 90 years, and Original Oratory for 85 years. Although it has a long history in the world of political debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate is one of the more recent high school state championship speech events. This year’s winners were the 39th state champions in South Dakota. Public Forum Debate celebrated its 17th year as a state tournament event.

Submitted photos: Top-Lars Anderson and Nathan Loutsch

Back row: Coach Oien, Nathan Loutsch, Lars Andersen, Claire Mischel, Trevor Nolting                                                      Front row: Claire Mischel and Samantha Staehling