The Lafayette Forensics Society travelled to West Chester University this weekend for the 2012-2013 Pennsylvania Forensics Association state tournament.

Six students travelled to the tournament and all six contributed to a strong effort that saw the team finish in third place.

Senior Angela Wnek led the way by continuing her strong season with final round appearances in ALL FIVE of her events: After Dinner Speaking, Persuasion, Impromptu, Poetry Interpretation and Prose Interpretation. Sophomore Sharon Chen was named state champion in Rhetorical Criticism and also made the final in Informative Speaking. Sophomore Ryan Raesly was crowned state champion in Extemporaneous Speaking and made the final round in Impromptu as well. Finally, first-year competitor Luke Wasacz was named state champion in Prose Interpretation in his first ever trip to the state tournament! First-year Cassidy Reller and sophomore Daniela Filip also received awards in Extemporaneous and Rhetorical Criticism respectively.

Despite such a small group of students, the team still managed to finish in third place behind champions West Chester University and St. Joseph’s University.

The tournament is an important step in Lafayette Forensics Society’s preparation for the upcoming National Tournament. The debate team travels to Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio on March 2nd. Cassidy Reller and Luke Wasacz now must prepare for the Novice National Tournament at Berry College in early March.

Full Results:

Angela Wnek – 4th place After Dinner Speaking, 4th place Persuasion, 6th place Impromptu, 3rd place Poetry, 2nd place Prose, 6th in Pentathalon
Sharon Chen – 1st place Rhetorical Criticism, 5th place Informative
Ryan Raesly – 1st place Extemporaneous Speaking, 4th place Impromptu
Luke Wasacz – 1st place Prose Interpretation
Cassidy Reller – 2nd place Extemporaneous Speaking
Daniela Filip – 7th place Rhetorical Criticism
Lafayette Forensics Society – 3rd place Team Sweepstakes

EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to a communications typo, the team previously announced that it had won four state championships, when in fact we only won three.  Sharon Chen did not win Informative, she finished fifth.  Three or four championships, the team still had an excellent weekend and is poised for greater success as the season continues!