Whitefish speech and debate nearly pulled off an upset for the ages.

It came down to the final round of competition, but in the end Whitefish capped its season with a strong second-place finish at the State A tournament.

Both Whitefish and Columbia Falls were close the entire tournament at Belgrade, leaving the winner to be decided by the final round of ballots. Columbia Falls came out on top to earn its 11th consecutive title with 229 points. The Bulldogs had 204 sweepstakes points and Polson finished third with 83 points.

Coach Sara Mueller said Whitefish had an incredibly strong showing with students placing first or second in every speech event, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the 25-point difference with Columbia Falls.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of the way the team held up to the solid competition at the state tournament,” Mueller said. “The team state championship was up in the air until final results came in.”

This is the first state trophy for Whitefish since 2009.

The Bulldogs were led by two individual champions — Sam Benkelman and Dakota Henson — who earned first-place finishes in three events.

Benkelman, a senior, claimed two individual state championships in memorized public address and original oratory. Benkelman will graduate with a career total of four state titles in three separate speech events.

“This is an accomplishment for the record books,” Mueller said.

Senior and first-year competitor, Henson battled through eight rounds with a 7-1 record to win Lincoln-Douglas debate.

“Earlier in the season, she spoke of how much she wanted the title and then proved it through hours of practice,” Mueller said. “At the tournament, she knocked out competitors with up to four more years of experience debating than she carried into the round.”

Also earning points for Whitefish were five runner-up placings from Hunter Cripe in dramatic oral interpretation, Abbie Belcher in both extemporaneous and impromptu speaking, Saige Perchy in humorous oral interpretation, and Teigen Tremper in expository speaking.

“Taking this team as far as we did was a gift,” Mueller said. “Although we will graduate eight seniors who have been foundations of this team, it is their leadership that has created a legacy. I don’t believe Whitefish speech and debate will be shrinking away anytime soon.”

Individual results:

Policy debate: 4. Ian Caltabiano and Zach Kasselder

Public forum debate: 5. Bergen Carloss and Kate Ehrenberg

Lincoln-Douglas debate: 1. Dakota Henson

Extemporaneous speaking: 2. Abbie Belcher, 4. Zach Ade, 8. Makkie Haller

Impromptu speaking: 2. Abbie Belcher, 4. Saige Perchy, 6. Teigen Tremper

Memorized public address: 1. Sam Benkelman, 3. Zach Ade, 5. Austin Reese

Original oratory: 1. Sam Benkelman, 8. Lindsey Matulionis

Expository speaking: 2. Teigen Tremper, 8. Regan Tintzman

Humorous oral interpretation: 2. Saige Perchy

Dramatic oral interpretation: 2. Hunter Cripe