Forensics finishes season in style through historic State performance

The West forensics team poured out into the cool spring air on the morning of April 11, piling onto a packed bus headed for Neenah High School. This wasn’t just an ordinary weekend tournament, which filled their Saturdays for months, but the event they worked and practiced for all year, the WFCA (Wisconsin Forensics Coaches Association) state tournament, where they competed against over 60 other teams. Throughout the day they competed through three grueling preliminary rounds, hoping to reach semi finals or even finals. 

After a couple of decades of team trophy drought, the squad was able to take home sixth place in the Division 1 category, which came as a pleasant but nevertheless well deserved surprise to many, including science teacher and assistant coach Logan Martilla. 

“This is the first time we’ve actually placed as a Division 1 team in 20 years,” he said. “It is a very positive culmination of all the work students have put into their pieces. It was especially exciting to see so many of our students make it into the top six or top 12.”

Typically, tournament divisions are based on the number of entries per team. However, the WFCA State tournament does things a little differently, according to English teacher and head coach Michelle Huettl.

“We didn’t take home trophies on weekend tournaments when we competed as a large team, which is why it was super exciting that at state who you compete against is different because it’s based on the same classifications as WIAA, which is school enrollment numbers,” she said.

According to Huettl, the forensics state tournament is incredibly similar to the state tournaments that athletes compete at, with the same level of intense competition.

“WFCA State is the head-to-head state level tournament that is akin to the WIAA head-to-head tournaments,” she said. “This means that students are in direct competition with people in the same category, and they are essentially duking it out for who is best.”

Individual contributions helped the team reach major success. This includes the work of senior and four time state finalist Piper Crawford, who placed second in storytelling. 

“I like the competition,” she said. “I compete in a smaller category, so when there’s more people it solidifies that I’m actually good.”

Similarly, freshman Raluca Miron says that a bigger tournament helped her to perform her best on competition day. Although the increase in pressure may sound stressful for some, it pushed her to constantly improve.

“WFCA State means higher competition for me, which pushes me to challenge myself and do better in my category,” she said.

Senior Ollie Hardy, who placed third in special occasion speaking, appreciates the different aspects of competition. 

“My favorite part is probably the validation from winning. The competition gives me a tummy ache, but I love it,” they said. “Given that I ran out of space on my shelf for my trophies, I would say it’s worth it.”

Although winning is always a potential perk of entering tournaments, freshman Ayesha Zafar Ullah has gained new skills that have become worth much more than trophies. From meeting new people to gaining new abilities, Forensics has shaped her into a better person.

“Forensics to me is building new relationships and connections with all the people I’m competing against, and it’s also just improving my speaking skills,” she said. “I talk to myself a lot, and it has helped me be more articulate with my words and think on the spot.”

Senior Annabelle Schmitz has also seen the benefits that come with being a part of something like Forensics, giving her an outlet to express herself.

“Forensics is a place to show off your skills and how far you have come,” she said. “You can talk about literally whatever you want and everyone has to listen to you.”

Senior and 6th place finalist in informative speaking Nick Miller realized his major growth and improvements in public speaking came from dispelling external pressures.

“The first year, I had big imposter syndrome, but over time something I’ve realized is that even after one year of a really good person being gone, they are already forgotten,” he said. “I love the buds we made along the way and am no longer intimidated by a lot of the competitive aspects.”

Sophomore Barakat Akinyele has also tried to rid herself of the more intimidating aspects of competing. Instead of focusing on winning, she learns to appreciate the special times that go along with being a part of a team.

“Usually, I have the sort of mindset that at the end I tried my best and I put my best effort, so that’s all that matters,” she said. “It’s a place to have fun and interact with different people, so I shouldn’t put too much pressure on myself.”

Competitions have also led to many unexpected friendships for Schmitz. Through weekends spent at competition, she has grown close with all sorts of new people.

“The people are my favorite part of forensics,” she said. “Everyone is really nice and cool.” 

Miron also feels a fondness for all the different schools she has competed against.

“Getting to meet so many new people and getting to have new friendships with people at different schools has undoubtedly been a plus,” she said. 

Despite the many friendships, Zafar Ullah is able to remain competitive throughout her competition rounds.

“I love competition because it is an opportunity for me to become a better version of myself,” she said. “In the time between rounds, we just get to talk with other competitors. At the start I just saw them as competition but now they are some of my really close friends.”

At the same time, the pressure, and the subsequent feedback from judges provides a sense of closure for team members.

“The competition gives me something to work towards,” Akinyele said.

To Crawford, this feeling of improvement is a driving factor. 

“My favorite part is refining the piece and getting comments on it,” she said.

A successful day of high stakes competition came accompanied by intensified feelings due to how this tournament represented the culmination of many student’s forensics careers.

“The day was emotional because my students are brilliant,” Huettl said. “We also have a great group of seniors, most of whom I’ve worked with and known for four years. I think the precedent set by our outgoing seniors inspires younger members.”

While bidding farewell to the team’s outgoing seniors, both Martilla and Huettl are looking forward to future seasons.

“I think for future seasons we should be trusting our captains a lot more,” Martilla said. “We trusted our captains, but never implemented them to help with coaching students because it doesn’t only help develop their skills, but everyone’s skills.”

Ultimately, the WFCA State Tournament culminated with seven finalists and semi-finalists from the squad taking home hardware. Team members can be satisfied seeing their hard work finally pay off with the seasons receiving its proper capstone.

“My favorite part of state was seeing how much work students put into their performance, and how we could see that throughout the day, and of course having students be proud of their own performances,” Martilla said.

by Zosia Bowlus Jasinski and Isaac Considine-Buelow

Published April 27, 2026

Oshkosh West Index Volume 122 Issue VII