The North Dakota High School Activities Association announced on April 28 the results of the seventy-third annual Class B Speech State Tournament, which took place at Mandan High School on April 25. Participants qualified for the event through one of ten regional tournaments or an invitational tournament held during the regular season.
Valley City was named team champion, followed by Dickinson Trinity/New England as runner-up and Washburn in third place. Enderlin, Our Redeemer’s, and Beach rounded out the top six teams. Paula Rauschenberger, coach at South Prairie-Max, was elected by her peers as the 2026 State B Speech Coach of the Year.
Winners were recognized across fourteen speech categories. In Radio Broadcasting, Carter Hass from Valley City took first place. Anna Peterson from Kenmare led Storytelling. Lorelei Emter of Dickinson Trinity/New England won Extemporaneous Programmed Reading. The Humorous Duo category was won by Ethan Skoog and Grayson Mjoness from Richland.
Other notable results include Sidney Montgomery from Washburn taking first in Dramatic Interpretation; Jonas Jones of Our Redeemer’s leading Speech to Inform; Nevaeh Garces from Enderlin winning Serious Prose; and a three-way tie for first in Humorous Interpretation between Ethan Skoog (Richland), Ava Olson (Hatton/Northwood), and Anna Petersen (Kenmare).
Bostyn Blankenbaker and Chloe Haar from Bowman County won Serious Duo while Karter Nielsen of Rolette earned top honors in Poetry. The Speech to Persuade category saw a three-way tie for first among Cadence Fetsch (Valley City), Faith Gravley (Our Redeemer’s), and Molly Ellerkamp (Dickinson Trinity/New England). Henry Sveen of Park River Area topped Speech to Entertain; Carter Hass again placed first in Extemporaneous Speaking; and Natalie Ronderos from Washburn led Impromptu Speaking.
The annual state tournament highlights achievements in speech across North Dakota’s high schools, offering recognition for students’ public speaking skills as well as their coaches’ dedication.
