Hear ye, noble scholars and eloquent orators! By the grace of thy intellect and the flourish of thy words, thou art hereby summoned to partake in a wondrous spectacle of rhetoric and discourse - the second annual Medieval Melee Tournament, co-ran by the teams of Irondale and Mounds View on Saturday, January 25, 2025. We are a NIETOC bid tournament and will offer the 13 MSHSL events plus POI and Impromptu.

 

The Medieval Melee will be held at Highview Middle School this year. The address is 2300 7th St NW, New Brighton, MN 55112.

Because the Irondale mascot is the Knights and the Mounds View mascot is the Mustangs, this will be a magical Medieval-themed tournament! We’re talking crowns for first place winners, Renaissance-inspired decor, court jesters on the loose… it will be a site to behold.

 

The tournament will consist of three prelim rounds and a final round. There will be finals (1-7), honor finals (8-14) and additional final rounds if numbers warrant it for the purpose of granting NIETOC bids. All students, regardless of division, will compete together to give new students an opportunity to learn from seasoned speakers. Novice awards will be granted to the top speaker in each MSHSL category based on prelim scores. There will not be separate novice finals, which means novices will be eligible to make finals or honor finals and potentially receive a NIETOC bid.

 

Students may double enter in any events. The exception is that students may not double-enter in Discussion and a draw event, or in two draw events. Additionally, students may only triple enter if impromptu is their third event.

 

The tournament schedule is as follows:

7:30 AM - Teams begin arriving at Highview Middle School

8:00 AM - Confirm Entries in Speechwire (will be live scheduling)

8:30 AM - Draw Round 1

8:45 AM - Round 1 Discussion

9:00 AM - Round 1

10:00 AM - Draw Round 2

10:15 AM - Round 2 Discussion

10:30 AM - Round 2

11:30 AM - Draw Round 3

11:45 PM - Round 3 Discussion

12:00 PM - Round 3

1:30 PM - Finals Draws

1:45 PM - Discussion Finals

2:00 PM - All Other Finals

4:00 PM or ASAP - Awards

 

Registration and Fees

$7 per entry / $14 per duo. No entry limits in each category.

Our registration deadline is Thursday, January 23 at 11:59 PM.

We will be site scheduling, so please let us know by 7:45 AM on tournament day if there are any changes. You can report changes to Bailey’s cell phone number: 763-370-1706

If you are short judges and would like to hire one for $100, send an email to Bailey. (contact info below)

Checks can be made out to:

 

ATTN: Alex Gray (if mailed)

Irondale High School Speech Team

2425 Long Lake Rd

New Brighton, MN 55112

 

EX READING PROSE SELECTIONS: All selections.

EX READING POETRY SELECTIONS: All selections.

STORYTELLING SELECTIONS: Stories 1-10.

DISCUSSION TASKS: Topics I and II. Prompts will be delivered in the room on paper by the judge.

IMPROMPTU SPEAKING: Prompts will be delivered in the room on paper by the judge. Speakers will draw several prompts from an envelope, and select one prompt to speak on. Speakers have a total of 7 minutes to decide on their prompt, prep and deliver their speeches. The judge will start timing a speaker at the time they draw their prompts from the envelope.

Assemble, therefore, on the appointed day, bedecked in thy finest attire and armed with the arsenal of thy rhetoric. Together, we shall celebrate the splendor of language! Thy presence is beseeched, and we await with bated breath to witness thy triumphant utterances!

(vr24)