Max Schuelke Advances to National Debate Tournament

Max Schuelke, a sophomore at Milbank High School, has punched his ticket to the National Speech and Debate Championship to be held from June 11-16 in Phoenix. Schuelke will be one of two Lincoln- Douglas debaters representing the northern district of South Dakota. Over 6000 students, representing over 2000 schools from across the nation, will compete. 

Schuelke earned his trip to the national championship during the Northern South Dakota District’s annual national-qualifying tournament held February 17-18 in Harrisburg. He moved into the finals round of four teams after winning three of four regular rounds. Schuelke then won two of three rounds, all against  Aberdeen teams, to claim a spot in the national contest.

Kathy Tyler, head coach for the Bulldogs, said, “We are so proud of what Max has accomplished this year. This award is the culmination of hours and hours of hard work — 99 percent of which he did on his own. He loves LD, and it shows!”

Qualon Grant, Rylen Frerichs, Carlos Olivares-Zuniga, Dane Anderson, Camron Graham, Evan Kretzschmar, Ruth Luis-Gomez, Trixie Coalter, Dana Chan, and Ixtal Macias also represented MHS at the national-qualifying tournament in Harrisburg.

Tyler said, ” IE coach Sandy Christensen and I are also  looking forward to our last competition of the season.” Milbank debaters will compete against other “A” schools at the South Dakota State Debate Tournament in Mitchell from March 3-4.