Mock Trial teams from across the country descended on the Missouri State University campus Nov. 1-3, 2024, to compete in the annual Bear Brawl Classic Mock Trial tournament.
The Bear Brawl Classic is one of many invitational tournaments across the nation that utilize American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) rules and case materials.
MSU’s Mock Trial team not only hosted the event but also competed along with eight other schools. Those schools were Bellarmine University, Hendrix College, Rhodes College, Saint Louis University, University of Central Missouri, University of Mississippi, University of Missouri-Kansas City and University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Representatives from MSU’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice organized the tournament. These included Mock Trial coordinators Dr. Jennifer LaPrade and Dr. Jordan Riddell, MSU alum and founding team member Chris Johnson and graduate assistant Samantha Trowbridge.
“The preparation for a tournament like this is a big lift and very time consuming,” said Dr. Brett Garland, head of the criminology and criminal justice school. “Drs. LaPrade and Riddell and our Mock Trial team members deserve a lot of praise for organizing and facilitating this event. I’m personally very proud of them all.”
MSU’s Mock Trial team will next compete at University of Missouri-Kansas City Nov. 22-24.
Tournament winners
Rhodes College took first place in this year’s Bear Brawl Classic. St. Louis University placed second, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln placed third.
Bellarmine University won the Spirit of AMTA award, given to the team that best exemplifies the ideals of honesty, civility and fair play. University of Nebraska-Lincoln received an Honorable Mention.
Top honors for Collison
MSU also garnered some impressive wins during the event.
Junior criminology and criminal justice major Zackary Collison won top honors for outstanding witness, receiving a perfect 20/20 for his role as a defense witness.
“This is my first-ever perfect rank, so I was extremely excited,” Collison said.
Collison started the season playing both a witness and an attorney, but said he will play character witnesses for the remainder of the competitive season.
Veterans Roberts and Boggs also win
Other Bear Brawl Classic winners from MSU include Josh Roberts and Delilah Boggs.
Roberts, a junior criminology and criminal justice major, won an outstanding witness honor with a score of 17/20. He is in his second year with Mock Trial and currently serves as a team captain.
Boggs, a junior political science and philosophy major, won outstanding attorney honors, also with a score of 17/20.
“I had an amazing team, and that contributed to me getting an award,” said Boggs, who is in her second year in Mock Trial. “Dr. LaPrade always says that individual awards are also team awards. I believe this wholeheartedly, because teamwork contributes to the success you have on your individual performance.”
While LaPrade is ecstatic with the wins, she sees the Bear Brawl Classic more as an opportunity for the team to get in some good practice while representing the program and the university.
“When we host a tournament, we have even bigger roles to be good hosts and make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible,” she said.

Volunteers essential to tournament success
Several MSU alum and former members of the Mock Trial team volunteered to judge the competition, as did many local attorneys, judges and legal professionals, according to LaPrade.
“We were honored to have two sitting judges, 18 local attorneys, and eight MSU Mock Trial alumni judging this tournament and giving valuable feedback to help these students grow,” LaPrade said. “We even had five alumni drive in for the weekend from St. Louis and Kansas City to help make this tournament a success.”
Two volunteer judges were assigned to each trial, one as a presiding judge and the other as a scoring judge. In addition, Mock Trial team members from each school served as timekeepers for every trial.
LaPrade is always looking for volunteers because they are so essential to a tournament’s success.
“I am incredibly grateful, and we couldn’t do this without their support,” she said. “Anyone interested in helping, please feel free to reach out.”
Judges assess skillsets
During the judges’ orientation, Chris Johnson reviewed how the volunteers should evaluate the Mock Trial teams and individual competitors.
Judges needed to remember that the goal of the trial is not to reach a verdict, Johnson emphasized. Instead, they were to evaluate on presentation and poise, demonstrated knowledge of facts and rules of evidence, ability to present a case and control the cross-witness process, and witness credibility and character.
All teams were also required to present opening statements, call three witnesses and cross examine all witnesses called to the stand.
MSU to host regional tournament in February
In addition to hosting the Bear Brawl Classic this year, the AMTA has selected Missouri State to host one of its regional tournaments Feb. 21-23, 2025.
“We look forward to organizing another successful and even bigger tournament then,” LaPrade said.
Hosting brings benefits to MSU
LaPrade, Garland and Mock Trial team members all stressed the benefits of hosting tournaments at Missouri State.
“Hosting tournaments like this not only helps give visibility to our university and our Mock Trial program, but it helps save on travel costs for our team,” LaPrade said.
“With well-known and highly successful Mock Trial teams being willing to come to Springfield and compete on our campus, the [Bear Brawl Classic] is helping to raise the profile of both our School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the university itself,” Garland noted.

Veteran Mock Trial team member Lanya Mangiapanello agreed that hosting tournaments brings positive attention to MSU.
“The Bear Brawl Classic is so important for putting Missouri State Mock Trial out there,” said Mangiapanello, a junior mathematics/math education double major. “I think it gives us a wonderful opportunity to highlight our facilities as well as our hospitality.”
“We want to build as many working relationships with other teams across the country as we can,” Collison said. “While it is a competition, the relationships we build are extremely important.”
Kathryn Wagner, a junior criminology and criminal justice/business management double major, emphasized how hosting the Bear Brawl Classic improves the team’s competitive edge.
“Bear Brawl is important because it’s a chance to compete against teams from all around the country in a place that we are comfortable in,” said Wagner, who is in her second year with Mock Trial. “It’s an opportunity to show off Missouri State University as both a competitive threat and a welcoming host.”
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