Minnesota students own the national speech and debate tournament
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White Bear Lake's Sanyu Mwassa, left, and Mariam Elias-Danjuma won a national championship in duo interpretation last year. Photo: Emily Bratton/Courtesy of the NSDA
More than 200 Minnesota students have a chance this week to prove again why the state is a hotbed for high school speech and debate.
The big picture: They're among the 6,300 competitors at this week's National Speech & Debate Tournament in Des Moines.
- Since 2000, Minnesotans have won the tournament's main events more times (43) than competitors from any other state, including Texas (38), California (37) and Florida (35).
🎙️ Kyle's thought bubble: Their success came after proving themselves at Twin Cities tournaments, which — as a former Minnesota speech kid and now a part-time coach, I can attest — are some of the toughest local competitions in the U.S.
- Every time I watch these competitors, and hear the strength in their voices, I know our future is in good hands.
How it works: At nationals, 12 main categories of competition fall under the umbrellas of "speech" or "debate."
- In debate events, competitors verbally spar over morals and values, current events or policy plans or in mock sessions of a legislature.
- In "public address" speech events, competitors deliver persuasive or informative speeches. In one event, high schoolers have 30 minutes to prepare a seven-minute oration on questions like: "Will Syria be able to establish a stable government anytime soon?"
- "Interpretation" events look more like competitive acting, featuring humorous or dramatic monologues or a scene with a partner.
Case in point: White Bear Lake's Sanyu Mwassa and Mariam Elias-Danjuma won the championship in 2024 for their "duo interpretation" about how white audiences demand Black artists to perform pain.
By the numbers: Apple Valley remains the region's most venerable speech power, producing more champions (16) than any other U.S. high school since 1931.
- The next closest to that mark anywhere in the U.S.? Eagan, which is tied for second place with 10 speech and debate titles. Eastview is not far behind them with eight.
What we're watching: Minnesota has produced 40 main event finalists since 2022 — and four of those competitors are back this year for another run at the stage.
- The returning finalists: Apple Valley's Aniya Bostick and Isaiah Craig, Eastview's Sahiti Atluri and Moorhead's Eleanor Culloton.
The intrigue: Some of our future leaders in politics and culture are probably in Des Moines right now.
- Four of the nine current U.S. Supreme Court justices are speech and debate alums — and Neil Gorsuch is a former national champion.
- A young Oprah did speech. So did Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Hasan Minhaj and Stephen Colbert. The actor Josh Gad (Olaf in "Frozen"!) gave one of the most memorable speeches in the history of the national tournament.
What's next: You can watch live streams of the final rounds all day on Thursday and Friday.