DGS Speech Team Places at State Tournament

DGS Speech Team Places at State Tournament

Downers Grove South High School’s speech team and individual students placed in several events at the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Sectional and the State Tournaments.

For the first time, the IHSA competitions were held virtually with individual events performed live over Zoom and performance in the round pre-recorded and submitted in advance. 

“It has been inspiring to watch the speech community come together to give students the opportunity to perform, even during a difficult season,” South High School English Teacher and Speech Team Sponsor Justin Matkovich said. “I'm so proud of our students for sticking together and making this state tournament just as special as ever.”

South High School’s speech team had 34 students involved in the State Speech Tournament. Students earned the following awards at the 2021 competitions.


South High Speech Team Awards:

  • 3rd Place Overall at Sectionals
  • 7th Place Overall at State


South High School Individual State Competition Awards:

  • Samantha Wiggins: 3rd place Original Oratory
  • Gwen Royle: 3rd place Humorous Duet Acting 
  • Sydney Richardson:- 3rd place Humorous Duet Acting, 4th place Original Comedy
  • Kayte Salgado: 5th place Prose Reading


South High Performance in the Round: 2nd place at Sectionals and 6th Place at State

  • Samantha Bachara
  • Delaney Turner
  • Gianna Caponigro
  • Maija Flannery
  • Sabrina Crowely
  • Samuel Kissi-Baah
  • Audrey Jayne
  • Eleanore Malinowski
  • Catherine Hewawissa
  • Jazmin Brown
  • Jo Stewart
  • Max Fido
  • Megan Fox
  • Nathan Frewen
  • Naomi Yong

For more information about the competitions, contact Speech Sponsor Justin Matkovich at jmatkovich@csd99.org.