Boise State’s Speech and Debate team, the Talkin’ Broncos, continued their 2024-2025 undefeated regional/conference record with a first-place overall sweepstakes finish at the Fran Tanner Open hosted by College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, ID, Sept. 26–27, 2025. The Talkin’ Broncos competed against 11 schools from Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and Montana.
In Open Public Debate, Allie Hampton (senior, Meridian) and Bridget Gibson (junior, Boise) both went undefeated through six rounds of debate, with Hampton finishing in first-place and Gibson finishing in second-place. Adam Pendergrass (junior, Nampa) and Anthony Thomas (senior, Meridian) both finished with 5-1 records, taking third and fourth-place respectively. In Junior Public Debate, Cadence Marang (junior, Nampa), Ari Ashby (sophomore, Idaho Falls), and Seddi Momenpour (freshman, Nampa) all went undefeated through six rounds of debate, with Marang finishing in first-place, Ashby finishing in second-place, and Momenpour finishing in third-place. Ryan Wind (junior, Meridian) and Colby Bond (sophomore, Meridian) both finished with a 5-1 record, taking fourth and fifth-place respectively. Charlie Giulian (freshman, Ripon, CA) finished in sixth-place. In novice public debate, Ben Hobbs (freshman, Caldwell) finished in third-place.
In Individual Events, Aleigh Holmes (freshman, Garden City) led the Talkin’ Broncos with first-place finishes in both persuasive speaking and prose interpretation. Ashby took first-place in informative speaking and second-place in both extemporaneous speaking and impromptu speaking. Hampton took first-place in program oral interpretation and second-place in persuasive speaking. Thomas tied for first-place in impromptu speaking and took second-place in after dinner speaking. Jesse Madison (sophomore, Meridian) took first-place in extemporaneous speaking and second-place in informative speaking. Jaxon Holmes (junior, Garden City) took first-place in duo interpretation and second-place in prose interpretation. Pendergrass took first-place in duo interpretation and third-place in both persuasive speaking and impromptu speaking. Kiryn Willet (senior, Boise) took first-place in communication analysis and third-place in both impromptu speaking after-dinner speaking. Chloe Sellers (senior, Twin Falls) took first-place in after-dinner speaking. Marang tied for first-place in impromptu speaking.
Other top competitors included: Momenpour, who took second-place in impromptu speaking and third-place in extemporaneous speaking; Sam Kleman (junior, Boise), who took second-place in communication analysis; Hobbs, who took second-place in dramatic interpretation; and Brayden Parks (freshman, Mountain Home), who took third-place in informative speaking.
The Talkin’ Broncos will continue their 2025-2026 season with their first designated conference tournament at Lewis & Clark College in October 2026. The Talkin’ Broncos are supported in part through the generosity of the Jeker Family Trust. For more information about the Talkin’ Broncos, contact Manda Hicks, director of forensics at Boise State, at mandahicks@boisestate.edu.