Flathead High School, the defending Class AA state speech and debate champion, has been “one step behind” Glacier High School this season but is hoping to make a final push for consecutive state titles.

Glacier has been the sweepstakes champion this season in every tournament but the opener.

“We are having a great season,” Glacier Head Coach Greg Adkins said. “Probably the biggest difference between last year and this year is our depth throughout the events. We have a great core of seniors who were assisted by a nice group of underclassman, including some kids who were new to our season.”

Now the two Kalispell teams are vying for top honors in Class AA at the state tournament Friday and Saturday at Billings Skyview High School.

Flathead started the season on a tense but high note, winning a tiebreaker over Glacier at the Kalispell Kickoff, which set the tone for the rest of the season’s neck-and-neck competition.

In every Montana tournament that Glacier won, Flathead finished second.

It was expected that Glacier would come back “guns blazing” this season, Flathead Head Coach Shannon O’Donnell said. Yet the point margin between first and second place in team scoring has been close, making state anyone’s game this weekend in Billings.

“The Flathead team hopes to stay focused on the moment — the competition of each round, one round at a time,” O’Donnell said. “Glacier and Bozeman are both hoping to unseat us as defending state champions, but we are determined to give it all we have and to bring home a back-to-back win for Flathead.”

Flathead’s strength this season lies in events such as Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Serious Interpretation and Lincoln-Douglas Debate, according to O’Donnell.

The Duo Interpretation team of seniors Parker Kouns and Wyatt Dykhuizen — four-time national qualifiers and two-time state champions — are primed for the competition.

“They have won all but two of this season’s tournaments,” O’Donnell said. “Additionally, Wyatt Dykhuizen is always a threat to win Humorous Interp. He finished second in that event the past two years.”

Also slated to be tough competition from the Flathead team is senior Maija Hadwin, a two-time national qualifier in Original Oratory who has placed in the top three consistently all season.

Senior Sarah Ward, a 2014 state champion, “is the definite favorite in Impromptu Speaking,” O’Donnell said. “She also has a shot in Extemporaneous Speaking, having previously qualified twice for nationals in that event.”

Senior Kodee Wagner has proven to be a strong competitor in Expository Speaking, while sophomore Noah Love “is certainly in the running for an individual title” in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

The key to winning state will be the team’s 14 senior competitors and two senior alternates, according to O’Donnell. What has surprised her this season has been the talent of the underclassmen.

“I have been most surprised by the talent of our freshman class — we have six freshmen competing at state this year, and two more who are alternates, and that is unusual,” O’Donnell said.

For Glacier, the near-perfect season has included not just Montana tournament titles but also a dominant triumph in Spokane at the Conway Classic, which featured 30 teams from 10 states.

It’s no surprise Glacier is angling to once again be the leader of the pack at state.

“Our goal is to compete — every round of every tournament,” Adkins said. “Speech and debate is a very subjective activity. We just have to trust our team, rely on our depth and continue to push for excellence.”

Glacier’s strength is its versatility.

“We have won every event this year and probably have over 30 kids who could conceivably win an individual state title,” Adkins said.

Adkins listed the roll call of the team’s top competitors.

“Senior Aaron Robinson has won six of seven AA tournaments in Original Oratory. Senior Kyersten Siebenaler has won Legislative Debate four times this season, including her last three tournaments,” Adkins said.

Multiple wins have also gone to seniors Anika Fritz in Expository Speaking; Hannah Tullett in Dramatic Interpretation; Dylan Crandell in Extemporaneous and Impromptu Speaking; Adam Habel in Memorized Public Address and Duo Interpretation team Abby Van Allen and junior Brock Adkins.

Adkins also singled out returning national qualifiers Adkins, Allen, Siebenaler, Ryker McIntyre, Josie Jolly and Spencer Johnson.

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.