When Ismael Dominguez chose his first poetry piece on the PHS speech and debate team, he didn’t realize where poetry would lead him over the next four years.

“As a freshman, I don’t think I ever thought I would go as far as I have,” Dominguez said.

Now a senior, Dominguez is the top-ranked poet in the nation, according to the National Speech and Debate Association.

“It never was a goal of mine to become number one in the nation, but that is just so amazing,” Dominguez said. “I could not have done it without my team and my coaches helping me.”

It’s been a busy and exciting week for Dominguez and his teammates on the Powell High School speech and debate team.

On Saturday, the team won the 3A state championship in Buffalo. As the senior captain, Dominguez had the honor of walking across the stage with his coaches to receive the trophy.

Beginning today (Thursday), the Panthers will compete at the Wind River National Speech and Debate Association District Tournament in Riverton, where they have the opportunity to qualify for the national tournament in June.

To prepare for this weekend’s district tournament, Dominguez and fellow Panthers have worked hard to perfect their pieces.

In addition to poetry, Dominguez has competed in dramatic interpretation and duet interpretation. His duet partner is Madisen McDonald.

Though Dominguez branched out into other events, poetry is the only one he’s stayed with all four years.

“I like how you can mesh different pieces and create such a different feeling,” he said of poetry. “With poetry, it’s more of an interpretation than acting.”

When he first began on the speech and debate team as a freshman, Dominguez initially chose poetry because it seemed easier than other events.

“A lot of new people will do poetry simply because you get to have your binder in front of you with all of your lines in it, so if you forget, you look down and it’s right there,” Dominguez said.

By his sophomore year, he advanced to the semifinals in poetry at the state tournament.

“That’s where I really got interested in poetry and decided this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my high school career,” Dominguez said.

Over the years, his poetry topics have included the human psyche, problems with the United States’ foreign relations and an inspirational piece on focusing on the people in your life instead of material things.

His poetry piece this year is on racism in America, and it blends different poems together.

Dominguez’s interest in poetry isn’t limited to his speech and debate competitions.

“It’s also sparked my own interest in writing,” Dominguez said. He’s started writing slam poetry pieces.

Dominguez’s national ranking in poetry is based on his success at various tournaments over several years.  He consistently finished in first place throughout the season this year.

In his junior year, Dominguez won the state title in poetry. At the state tournament last weekend, Dominguez finished in second place in 3A and fifth place overall among roughly 70 competitors.

Dominguez also won an Ambassador Award, which PHS coach Ted Menke called the highest honor. Only five Ambassador Awards are given, based on character, service and contribution, Menke said.

Dominguez’s mother is Estella Limon-Clark and his step-father is Harry Clark.

The PHS senior is looking at his options for college and may compete in speech and debate, but he hasn’t decided.

Looking back over the last four years at Powell High School, Dominguez said he’s most proud of how much he’s grown as a competitor in speech.

He also said he’s proud of “how much of a family my team has become to me.”

The state-championship winning PHS speech and debate team will present a showcase at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Powell High School. The event is free and open to the public.