DDF makes triumphant return to Wrangell High

Drama, Debate and Forensics made a grand return to Wrangell High Scool last weekend as the home of the Wolves hosted their first DDF tournament in nearly a decade – and saw an amazing turnout with participants from 7 Southeast Alaska high schools acting, orating and arguing the benefits of the electoral college.

Aside from Wrangell, competitors from Juneau-Douglas, Kayhi, Sitka, Thunder Mountain, Haines and Mt. Edgecumbe took part in the two-day event.

Wrangell’s head coach, Mike Symons, said the tournament was a long time coming, but was a hit with the students and judges involved.

“It was an incredible success,” Symons said. “All kinds of coaches came up to me and told me how great the community is and how the school has such good karma. Everyone, especially the students, had a great time.”

Symons also spoke of his gratitude to those who took part in the competition.

“I want to thank all the coaches, judges, the students and all those who helped with the hospitality room,” he added.

The tournament, which most was most recently held at WHS in 2003, featured a number of events, including Debate, Extemporaneous Communication, Duet and Solo Acting, and Oratory. Many of the students who take part in DDF compete in multiple events and find they can use skills from one competition in yet another.

“It was very stiff going for all of the students in their varying events,” Symons said. “The judges said they had a great time doing it, but it was difficult because everyone was so good across so many styles.”

For Wrangell’s part, a number of Wolves took high spots after the opening rounds of competition and found themselves in the finals.

In Extemporaneous Commentary, Haley Reed ended the tournament with a 4th place standing, while Erin Ellis made it through the finals with a 6th place spot.

“I always expect Haley to make it to finals because she is so good” Symons said. “It was the first time Erin made finals in Extemporaneous Commentary, so he did exceedingly well.”

In Reader’s Theater, all three of the Wrangell teams made it to finals with a 3rd place final score the Wolves’ WKUK team of Reed, Kristin Galla, and Annie and Molly Prysunka.

Their performance was so good, Symons said, that it was chosen for a command performance on Saturday night.

“WKUK was selected as the command performance in Readers Theater and it brought down the house in the high school’s commons,” Symons added. “The place went wild.”

Reed, Victoria Ingram, and Malachi and Joel Cole took a 5th place spot with their “Riddles In The Dark” performance, and the team of Malachi Cole and Ben Florschutz landed in 6th place with a performance “Who’s on First?”

In Humorous Interpretation, Ingram placed 6th among a tough group of competitors.

“Victoria has been making finals in all her tournaments so far and it was another solid performance by her,” Symons added.

Wrangell principal Monty Buness said the return of DDF showed off academic skills and the spirit of competition in a way Wrangell hasn’t seen in nearly a decade.

“The tournament was really cool to have back here, with a lot of talented kids from a lot of different schools,” Buness said. “We haven’t had it here in a lot of years so it was nice to have an event that is competitive on a different level than sports. DDF is a nice venue for kids who perhaps have interests other than in athletics. It was great.”

After the competition, Symons also gave thanks a special visitor to Wrangell and his assistance during the tournament.

“Another big thanks goes out to Matt Olsen from Ketchikan,” Symons said. “He was our tabulator and his organizational skills and calm demeanor made this tournament happen for us and run smoothly.”

The next DDF tournament appearance for Wrangell will be Jan. 13-14 in Ketchikan.