Speech & Debate at Nationals, 2025

by | Jun 26, 2025 | HS Speech and Debate

Three speech and debate students in the lobby of the competition venue holding up cut outs of the number one hundred.

In June of 2025, Bigfork School District proudly sent three qualifiers to the Speech and Debate National Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa – a first for Bigfork Speech and Debate! 

Brody Henion is a first year Speech and Drama competitor. Brody is a first time Montana Class A State Champion this year in Dramatic Interpretation. At Nationals, Brody made it 6 rounds, with amazing scores; judges were blown away by his acting.

Olivia Close is a second year Speech and Drama Competitor. She is a two-time Montana Class A State champion as part of a Duo team. At Nationals, Olivia competed in Storytelling and made it through the first cut, going 4 out of 7 rounds.

Micah Butler is a first year Speech and Drama competitor. At Nationals, Micah competed in Storytelling and made the semi-finals and is now ranked 12th in the nation for Storytelling.

Thank you, Bigfork, for believing in and supporting our students. We hope to do this again with this team next year in Richmond, Virginia.

Three speech and Debate students in their plane seats giving thumbs up.
Three speech and debate students in the lobby of the competition venue pose with a trophy.
Logo of the National Speech and Debate tournament 2025 in Des Moines displayed on screen on a stage.
Three speech and debate students in the lobby of the competition venue holding up cut outs of the number one hundred.
Olivia, Micah and Brody, Bigfork High School's speech and debate competitors are standing against a blue curtain holding up their name tags.
Three speech and debate students are standing in front of a lush plant with pink flowers.
Speech and debate students and their coaches are standing behind a large display which says NSDA100. Behind them are images of a city skyline at night.