Decorah Middle School’s four Mock Trial teams swept the Regional Competition at Waterloo earning first through fourth place among 12 teams. Three Decorah teams advanced to the State Tournament in Des Moines November 27-29.

All four Decorah teams were undefeated against their opponents at Regionals. 

This year’s competition is based on the fictional criminal case set in Manassas, Iowa.   In the case, a referee made some bad calls in a Battle Ball game and was murdered that evening.  The defendant in the case was a huge supporter of the team who lost the game due to the bad calls. The referee also had connections with the Albanian mob who may have played a role in the murder.

The team that won first place consists of Matthew Burkholder, Pranav Caton, Brody Darling, Leah Garcia-Prats, Eva Hurley, Addisyn Ivy, Breyden McCain, Shree Patel, Kate Pattison, and Bristol Parker. Second place winners include the team consisting of Poppy Bellrichard, Isaac Bentley, Maxwell Goodner, Oscar Grimstad, Kaya Johnson, Sophia McGee, Raelyn Newhouse, Oak Pasche, Nils Peterson, and Davis Walter.  The team of Austin Bohner, Isaiah Bonnet, Rosella Burkholder, Charly Courtney, Nathaniel Crose, Robert Davis, June Fassbinder, Lula McAbee, Kelbi Schuman, and Veda Shimek took third place.  Fourth place winners include the team consisting of Crosby Butler, Sofia Hageman, Ruth Kueny, Edith Marable, Harper Menke, Simon Potvin, Abigail Stevens, Ellis Thompson, and Kylie Zoulek.

A large number of Decorah students earned outstanding witness and attorney nominations from judges. While the final results have not been released, the following students were nominated as outstanding witness: Pranav Caton, Bristol Parker, Leah Garcia-Prats, Matthew Burkholder, Davis Walter, Maxwell Goodner, Nils Peterson, Kaya Johnson, Harper Menke, Crosby Butler, Edith Marable, Abigail Stevens, Sofia Hageman, Charly Courtney, Lula McAbee, Rosella Burkholder, and Nathaniel Crose.

Outstanding attorneys were also nominated by judges during the competition.  While the final results have not been released, the following students were nominated as outstanding attorneys: Leah Garcia-Prats, Kate Pattison, Pranav Caton, Addisyn Ivy, Eva Hurley, Nils Peterson, Maxwell Goodner, Sophia McGee, Davis Walter, Poppy Bellrichard, Nils Peterson, Oak Pasche, Isaac Bentley, Sofia Hageman, Harper Menke, Simon Potvin, Ellis Thompson, Rosella Burkholder, Kelbi Schumann, Charly Courtney, Robert Davis, Veda Shimek, and Lula McAbee.

Many mentors and experts assisted the DMS students in preparing for Mock Trial competition including Attorney Jacob Stock, Attorney Jeremy Thompson, and Attorney Andrew Casper. Carole Sand and Sarah Zbornik shared their mock trial expertise with students through the season. Numerous high school students also volunteered as mentors to assist students with writing and delivery. Teams are coached by Dana Hogan with the help of Scott Boylen. Mock Trial is part of the DMS Extended Learning Program.

First Place Team: Row One (l-r): Eva Hurley, Leah Garcia-Prats, Addisyn Ivy, Kate Pattison, Bristol Parker 

Row Two (l-r): Pranav Caton, Breyden McCain, Brody Darling, Matthew Burkholder, Shree Patel

Second Place Team: Row One (l-r): Nils Peterson, Isaac Bentley, Oak Pasche, Oscar Grimstad, Davis Walter 

Row Two (l-r): High school mentor Spencer Christensen, Maxwell Goodner, Sophia McGee, Raelyn Newhouse, Poppy Bellrichard, Kaya Johnson, high school mentor Myla Leitz

Third Place Team: Row One (l-r): June Fassbinder, Veda Shimek, Charly Courtney, Lula McAbee Row Two (l-r): Robert Davis, Kelbi Schuman, Rosella Burkholder, Isaiah Bonnet, Nathaniel Crose, Austin Bohner

Fourth Place Team: Row One (l-r): Sofia Hageman, Abigail Stevens, Harper Menke, Edith Marable

Row Two (l-r): Kylie Zoulek, Ellis Thompson, Ruth Kueny, Simon Potvin, Crosby Butler