Decorah Speech Shines at All-State: 15 Groups Honored

Your contribution today guarantees Decorah News is asking the questions tomorrow. Act now. DECORAH — Fifteen Decorah High School Speech events and approximately 90 students were honored on Saturday, February 21, at the 2026 Large Group All-State Festival held at the Iowa State campus in Ames. At the Festival, each critic selects one performance at the end of the day and awards a banner to that entry signifying them as "best of center" in that category. The banner winner, in the eyes of the critic, represents a "state championship" quality performance that stands out above the rest. This year, Decorah's musical theater performance of "Six (But With Eight)" was chosen as the Banner Winner. This is the second time in school history that Decorah has won a banner in the area of musical theater. Cast members of "Six (But With Eight)," directed by Gabriel Twedt and Carrie Kauffman. Seven other DHS events were nominated as outstanding performances and joined other elite speech students from across the state to share their performances with a professional critic. Those performances included: Choral Reading "Fly Away" was directed by Molly Holkesvik and Allysen Lovstuen. Participants include Poppy Bellrichard, Isaac Bentley, Lulu Bellrichard, Brody Darling, Kira Dowden, Ava Hanson, Kaelyn Kuhn, Myla Leitz, Raelyn Newhouse, Ryan Northup, Nils Peterson, Eden Scheidel, Lauren Severtson, Cassie Stammeyer and Alex Mercado-Arneson. Ensemble Acting "The Yellow Wallpaper" was directed by Rachel Breitenbach-Dirks. Participants include June Breitenbach-Dirks, Elsa Christman, Klara Kelly, Clarence Nimrod and Kaylie Wemark. Group Improv was directed by Molly Holkesvik, Lyra McKnight and David Grouws. Group One: Brody Darling, Derek Hrdlicka, Olivia Volkmann and Raelyn Newhouse Group Two: Jackson Irwin, Isaac Bentley, Grace Stockman and Max Goodner Solo Mime "Break Free" by Vivian Searcy - directed by Molly Holkesvik, Gabriel Twedt and David Grouws. Radio Broadcasting "KNIT" was directed by Gabriel Twedt and Carrie Kauffman. Participants include Lyla Lovstuen, Nina Sessions, Pranav Caton, Claire Storhoff, Gavin Wilkins, Addi Ivy, Victoria Stammeyer and Cassie Stammeyer. 9th Grade TV News "Iowa Gems" was directed by Molly Holkesvik and Gabriel Twedt. Participants include Xavier Ahrndt, Rosie Burkholder, Isaiah Bonnet, Charly Courtney, Kenyon Bartels, Robert Davis, Ruth Kueny, Leonard Nimrod, Olivia Sheffield and Ellis Thompson. In addition to the nominated performances, seven other groups received All-State honors, but due to strict time constraints for the festival were designated as non performing. Those performances included: Musical Theater "Spamalot" was directed by Gabriel Twedt and Carrie Kauffman. Participants include Spencer Christensen, Ezra Harman-Wood, Caleb Johnson, Kaya Johnson, Jameson LaBelle, Noah Potvin, Grace Stockman and Colin Thompson. Radio Broadcasting "KRAP" was directed by Gabriel Twedt and Carrie Kauffman. Participants include Lulu Bellrichard, Claire Ko, Evelyn Opheim, Poppy Bellrichard, Frankie Kollasch, Kate Pattison, Oliver Bollinger and Molly Kuehner. Readers Theater "Puffs" was directed by Gabriel Twedt and Carrie Kauffman. Participants include Ariana Albert, Kennedy Carlson, Emma Cline, Sawyer Courtney, Leah Garcia-Prats, Mikayla Hiner, Klara Kelly, Naomi Kutz, Nora Lesmeister, Sophia McGee, Carter Riley, Olivia Rissman, Olivia Volkmann, Rachel Weis and Kaylie Wemark. Solo Mime "Out of the Box" by Charlotte LaBelle - directed by Molly Holkesvik, Gabriel Twedt and David Grouws. Short Film "Running Out of Time" was directed by Molly Holkesvik, Lyra McKnight, Allysen Lovstuen and David Grouws. Participants include Patrick Gallagher, Pranav Caton, Eli Sassaman and Fox Lana. TV News "The Repost Report" was directed by Molly Holkesvik and Gabriel Twedt. Participants include Nils Peterson, Griffin Brauer, Lawrence Christman, Thomas Davis, Ava Hanson, Jackson Irwin, Jack Hammell, Marley Harmening, Jayden Lundtvedt, Kyan Oftedahl, Elliot Berland, Regine Hougen, Mack McElree, Olivia Rissman and Luke Franzen. TV News "Vanished: A Trail of Angels" was directed by Molly Holkesvik and Gabriel Twedt. Participants include Ezra Harman-Wood, Eden Scheidel, Thatcher Brown, Claire Storhoff, Simone Downing, Kate Pattison, Marri Feuerhelm, Oskar Swanson, Maxwell Goodner, Myla Leitz, Nina Sessions, Lauren Severtson, Drew Zwart, Kaelyn Kuhn and Naomi Kutz. "The All-State nominations and subsequent banner win are a culmination of the work that has been done in our speech program over the years," large groups speech directors Molly Holkesvik, Gabriel Twedt, Carrie Kauffman, Rachel Breitenbach-Dirks, Lyra McKnight, Allysen Lovstuen and David Grouws said, at the conclusion of the weekend's events. "A big thank you for all involved in the fire truck parade, the ringing of the victory bell and for packing the house at all our performances throughout the season. Saturday night was a true celebration of our entire speech team." Fresh stories, delivered! Sign up for the free DecorahNews.com newsletter and stay informed, inspired, and ahead of the curve.