The 2021-2022 postseason has begun, with state tournaments taking place in Montana, Maine, Alaska, Illinois, Arizona, and New Mexico. Extemp Central congratulates all of those who made the finals of their respective state championships, and also congratulates those who won state titles.
From now until May, Extemp Central will be providing recaps of state tournaments. Sometimes these columns will appear weekly. Sometimes monthly. But regardless, we will do our best to give recognition to extempers doing great things at the state level.
We will also be rolling out our NSDA national qualifying boards, with more information to come about those next week.
Here is a roundup of results for state championships in the states listed above:
Montana High School Association State Tournament (January 28-29, 2022)
Class A
State Champion: Henry Jagodzinski (Billings Central High School)
2nd: Shae Goeke (Laurel High School)
3rd: Aiden Judge (Columbia Falls High School)
4th: Emma Trieweiler (Whitefish High School)
5th: Sara Bocquin (Laurel High School)
6th: Caleb Donsbach (Columbia Falls High School)
7th: Victoria Gasparakis (Park High School)
8th: Hope Morrison (Polson High School)
Class AA
State Champion: Olivia Bulis (Bozeman High School)
2nd: Leah Spangler (Flathead High School)
3rd: Scout McMahon (Flathead High School)
4th: Brooke Bothner (Bozeman High School)
5th: Rylin Wilde (Flathead High School)
6th: Jonas Jontow (Sentinel High School)
7th: Bella Teggeman (Glacier High School)
8th: Caleb Lamb (Glacier High School)
Class B/C
State Champion: Kylee Ann Botsford (Manhattan High School)
2nd: Caden Freeborn (Three Forks High School)
3rd: Tyler Broesel (Bigfork High School)
4th: Isabella Fink (Three Forks High School)
5th: Keena Lewis (Gardiner High School)
6th: Nick Howard (Three Forks High School)
7th: Molly Kurkowski (Bigfork High School)
8th: Claire Murnin (Shepherd High School)
Maine Forensic Association State Tournament (February 12) (Tab sheet)
State Champion: Peter Verrill (Falmouth High School)
2nd: Daniel Kim (Falmouth High School)
3rd: Michael Reynolds (Showhegan Area High School)
4th: Morah Jewell (Showhegan Area High School)
5th: Lillian Lambert (Lawrence High School)
6th: Carly McCabe (Showhegan Area High School)
Alaska School Activities Association State Tournament (February 17-19)
International Extemp
State Champion: Atigun Pensely (Mt. Edgecumbe High School)
2nd: Lillian Yang (West Anchorage High School)
3rd: Bella Kershaw (Ketchikan High School)
4th: Braxton Zink (Ketchikan High School)
5th: Ethan Madsen (Thunder Mountain High School)
United States Extemp
State Champion: Reed Davidson (South Anchorage High School)
2nd: Eduardo Gomez Horta (Ketchikan High School)
3rd: Lauren Olson (Ketchikan High School)
4th: Ben Borsnahan (West Anchorage High School)
5th: Ben Moisan (West Anchorage High School)
6th: Leah Goodwin (Eagle River High School)
Illinois High School Activities Association State Tournament (February 18-19) (Tab sheet)
State Champion: Ajay Gupta (Hinsdale Central High School)
2nd: Luke Fosdick (Neuqua Valley High School)
3rd: Grace Morgan (Wheaton Warrenville South High School)
4th: Matthew Leonardson (Hinsdale South High School)
5th: Eman Qasmieh (Sandburg High School)
6th: Aaron McIntyre (Homewood-Flossmoor High School)
Arizona Interscholastic Association State Tournament (February 25-26)
Division 1 (Tab Sheet)
State Champion: McKinley Paltzik (Phoenix Country Day School)
2nd: Isaac Kan (Desert Vista High School)
3rd: Sofia Piraino (McClintock High School)
4th: Ava Claus (Sunnyslope High School)
5th: Akshay Venkatachalam (McClintock High School)
6th: Isabel Matos (McClintock High School)
Division 2 (Tab Sheet)
State Champion: Sophia Berg (Arizona College Preparatory)
2nd: Katelyn Cai (BASIS Scottsdale)
3rd: Brandon Lazna (Arizona College Preparatory)
4th: Esther Cho (Scottsdale Preparatory)
5th: Sruti Peddi (BASIS Scottsdale)
6th: Shria Ajay (BASIS Scottsdale)
New Mexico Activities Association State Tournament (February 25-26) (Tab Sheet)
International Extemp
State Champion: Dana Roelofs (Los Alamos High School)
2nd: Aubrey Amon (East Mountain High School)
3rd: Noah Burdick (Santa Fe Preparatory)
4th: Eliana Merhege (Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School)
5th: Brian Han (Los Alamos High School)
6th: Grace Wei (Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School)
7th: Liam Pereira (East Mountain High School)
United States Extemp
State Champion: Abigail Merhege (Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School)
2nd: Arabella Camunez (Arrowhead Park Early College High School)
3rd: Darian Kapelianis-Donado (Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School)
4th: Jocelyn Davis (Cottonwood Classical Prepartory School)
5th: Andrew Curtice (Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School)