Speaking of another State title ...

Mark Mahoney 

KEARNEY – The Wausa Vikings speech team has successfully spoken its way to a state championship. 

Wausa won the Nebraska School Activities Association’s 2022 State Speech Championships in Class D1 on March 18 at Kearney High School in Kearney. 

The Vikings marched back to the state competition in search of the team title that eluded them a year ago and took it home this year by a large margin. 

Wausa finished in first place with 202 points, well ahead of Humphrey, which earned second with 106 points. Osmond ended up in third with 102 points. 

The team victory for the Vikings comes with the extra satisfaction that they handily beat Humphrey, which topped Wausa by four points for the Class D1 state title in 2021. 

Samantha Stevens works together with her husband, Kyle, as the Vikings’ high school speech coaches. 

“We are proud beyond comprehension at the hard work, time and dedication we’ve seen this season,” she said. “What is even greater is this work ethic and dedication is not new; it’s what these kids have grown to expect out of each other. 

“They cheer each other on and help one another be better, and to us, that is what we are striving for as coaches and teachers,” she said. 

Wausa had all of its varsity speech team entries qualify for this year’s state competition, the first time that has happened in school history as far as anyone knows. 

Of those 18 state-qualifying entries, the Vikings ended up with 12 of them competing in various event finals. The next closest teams had seven such entries in various event finals. 

Below is a breakdown of Wausa’s individual results from the state speech contest: 

-Duet Acting: Seniors Tyler Baue and Cole Story, first; seniors Abrielle Nelson and Darla Nelson, second. 

-Oral Interpretation of Drama: Seniors Tyler Baue, Leah Bloomquist, Trey McQuay, Abrielle Nelson and Cole Story, first; senior Reghan Bloomquist, senior Darla Nelson, sophomore Holly Johnson, sophomore Claire Kumm and freshman Colton Baue, second. 

-Serious Prose: Senior Tyler Baue, first. 

-Entertainment Speaking: Senior Trey McQuay, first; senior Emily Kleinschmit, sixth. 

-Extemporaneous Speaking: Junior Joe Johnson, second; senior Brandon Kristensen, sixth. 

-Humorous Prose: Senior Cole Story, second. 

-Poetry: Sophomore Sophia Wilken, third. 

-Persuasive Speaking: Senior Emily Woockman, fourth. 

Tyler Baue noted that he had a fun time during the trip to the state speech competition, during which he saw great success with three first-place medals. 

“State speech was long, but totally worth it,” he said. “I knew what type of results I wanted before I got to state, and as a result, I placed first in all my events. 

“I am the second person in state speech history to win all three of my events, and I’m so lucky to have great coaches, teammates and supporters for always believing in me,” he said. 

The older Baue noted that winning his state speech events was a plus, but spending time with his friends and family was the highlight of the trip for him. 

“I’m sad to say that my speech career is over at Wausa, but I hope that this year’s team left a legacy that will carry over to the next group of Wausa speech kids,” he said. “This program is filled with incredibly talented students and coaches, and I’m very excited to see what they’ll do in the following years.” 

Kleinschmit described her experience at the state speech contest as “incredible.” 

“I still am in disbelief that it happened,” she said. “State speech will forever go down as one of my favorite experiences ever. I love and appreciate my coaches and all of my teammates.” 

McQuay really enjoyed the trip to Kearney with the Vikings speech team for the state competition. 

“I was fortunate enough to have the ability to be entered in two events, Entertainment and Oral Interpretation of Drama,” he said. “I found myself in finals and won both events. I was astonished by this achievement. 

“I know that most of this is thanks to my amazing coaches always pushing me beyond where I thought was possible,” he said. “I told them my freshman year that I wanted to win state, and with their encouragement, I was finally able to achieve this my senior year.” 

Holly Johnson also enjoyed the state speech contest. 

“State speech was a really fun and exciting thing to get to experience,” she said. “Speech has helped me so much with public speaking and not being afraid to talk in front of a large group of people.” 

Kyle Stevens, one of Wausa’s speech coaches, noted that his and his wife’s speech students have had a successful season, one that has been topped off by a state title for the team. 

“Our team worked hard every minute of this season and they deserved this outcome,” he said. “We are so proud of every one of them.”

Greg Conn, the activities director for Wausa Public Schools, expressed his excitement to the school district’s board of education March 21 about the speech team’s success at the state contest and overall for the 2022 season.

“I’m a little speechless, to be honest with you,” he said.

Conn was impressed by the Vikings’ dominance in Kearney at the state speech competition, which he witnessed in person.

“It was awesome,” he said. “I think I set a record probably for myself for getting in as many events that I could that day. It was really cool. It was something else.”

Conn noted that either one of Wausa’s Oral Interpretation of Drama teams could have placed first or second - it was a toss-up to him.

“How do you pick one and two? I don’t know,” he said. “I thought they were pretty close. Good thing I’m not a judge.”

Conn reiterated how impressed he has been with the Vikings speech team this season.

“I thought the kids did a great job,” he said. “Hats off to those guys and the Stevenses for a super year.”