At a special “Signing Day” ceremony at Savannah High School, Savannah senior Brent Rosenauer accepted a scholarship to participate in speech and debate at Missouri Western State University starting in fall 2014.
“Brent has established himself as one of the top speakers in the country, and we’re excited that he’s going to be a part of Griffon Speech and Debate,” said Sohail Jouya, Missouri Western’s debate coach.
Rosenauer has placed at several regional tournaments in Public Forum, Extemporaneous Speaking and Original Oratory. He is currently ranked 7th in the state of Missouri in overall comprehensive speech and debate rankings. Nationally, he’s ranked 115th and is a certified National Speech and Debate Association All-American. He qualified for the National Speech and Debate Association’s National Championship after he and his partner went undefeated in one of the largest qualifying districts in the country. This past April, Rosenauer and his partner qualified in Public Forum at the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s State Tournament and placed in the top 8.
Rosenauer is the fourth Savannah speech and debate product to join the recently revived Missouri Western speech and debate program. Abi Richardson, Missouri Western speech and interpretation coach, is also a product of Savannah High. Savannah speech and debate is coached by Daniel Strang.
The 2013-2014 school year was the first time in more than 10 years that Missouri Western fielded a speech and debate team, and the team comprised of all freshmen did very well. The parliamentary debate team of Graham Deckard of Kansas City, Mo., and Eli Dodge of Stewartsville, Mo., placed first in the novice division of the first tournament of the year, and finished second at the Missouri Association of Forensic Activities State Championship to conclude the season. Another Griffon debate team, Haden McDonald of Rosendale, Mo., and Brad Stanton of Savannah, both graduates of Savannah High School, finished third behind Deckard and Dodge at the State Championship. Kasey Maag of Cosby, Mo., took third place in informative speaking at a November tournament in Kansas.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.