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Canfield student places 11th in speech competition
By kalea hall
canfield
Tim Nesnidol, an 18-year-old recent Canfield High School graduate, likes to make people laugh.
Although this is Nesnidol’s main goal when he performs during speech competitions, winning awards for his humorous interpretation is also nice.
Nesnidol has done well in the National Forensic League speech and debate competition. In June, he placed 11th in the competition in Alabama out of more than 240 competitors, the highest ranking he ever received.
“It is real high energy and crazy, and you can be as weird as possible — and no one thinks you are weird,” Nesnidol said of why he enjoyed competing.
Nesnidol, a son of Carol and Ken Nesnidol, joined the speech and debate team at Canfield High School the first year he arrived. His sister was on the team when she was in high school, and he thought it would be similar to stand-up comedy, so he decided to join. Although there was more acting involved than in stand-up comedy, Nesnidol decided to stay and develop the comedic skills he already had.
“When he joined the team he was like most freshmen, just eager to join and wanted to see what would happen, and he had talent from day one,” said Jeremy Hamilton, head coach of the Canfield speech and debate team. “He had some really cool voices. He had some confidence and just that presence on the stage.”
Nesnidol was able to work his way up to compete with the help of a lung coach. His sophomore year, he placed as a state runner-up in the speech competition and was in the top 60 for the national competition.
“Halfway through his sophomore year he really had a breakthrough, he went from being an above-average competitor to a standout competitor,” Hamilton said.
The next year Nesnidol once again was the state runner-up, but he moved up to the top 30 for the national competition. Nesnidol’s past experience in the competitions is what led him to place 11th this year in the national competition and once again a runner-up in the state competition.
“Really sophomore year, junior year and senior year, he has done terrific in competition and it is not just a result of just his talents,” Hamilton said. “He is very talented, but he practices a lot.”
Nesnidol’s performance this year included multiple characters and nine voices. Nesnidol is hoping to continue to make people laugh as a stand-up comedian. He also plans on attending Youngstown State University for hospitality management.