Benjamin Rutten

Founder, Owner, & Head Coach

Benjamin competed for five years across Stoa and NCFCA. He competed in Team Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Parliamentary Debate as well as in Moot Court and Apologetics, Extemporaneous, Impromptu, Mars Hill, Original Oratory, and Persuasive Speaking. Over the course of his career, Ben achieved 44 first-place finishes across all six of his speech events and his three debate events. He achieved 6-0 records in Team Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Parliamentary Debate numerous times. He won tournaments in all three and won speaker points in all three. At Nationals in 2023, Ben placed 2nd in both Parliamentary Debate and  Mars Hill Speaking. At Nationals in 2024, Benjamin captured the national title in Extemporaneous Speaking. His favorite event was Mars Hill in which he won 12 tournaments. Benjamin capped off his career by being ranked 1st in the nation for the majority of his final season. Since then, Ben has led multiple of his students to become national champions themselves. Regardless of your experience level, Benjamin would be honored to help you pursue excellence.

John Semple

Associate Coach

John competed in Stoa for six years and has been involved in the Stoa community since 2011. Beginning with Apologetics and Lincoln-Douglas only, he eventually added more events to his repertoire. Throughout his senior year, John consistently placed high in all 10 of his regular events, earning first-place titles in Apologetics, Impromptu, Extemporaneous, Original Oratory, Expository, and Open Interpretation as well as in Parliamentary Debate, Parliamentary speaker points, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Lincoln-Douglas speaker points, and Team Policy Debate. His favorite speech was his Expository which won first-place at six tournaments his senior year. At NITOC in 2023, John captured the national titles in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Apologetics Speaking. He broke the NITOC record for the most picket fences with seven and won second-place Tournament Champion. John ended his final season ranked 1st in the nation overall. Whatever event you seek to excel in, John would be honored to help you.