Comps of the Week Recap: 1/31/26

By William Soquet, Editor-in-Chief

Across the Midwest, from Ohio to Nebraska, established regional powers showed why they are exactly that, but in South Dakota, an outsider came in and took all the glory.

Lincoln East Spartan Spectacular

Final Results

GC: Millard West “West in the Groove” (BC)

1RU: Gretna East “Equinox” (BV/BB)

2RU: Lincoln Southwest “Resonance”

3RU: Norris “Gold”

4RU: Jenks “Trojanaires”

5RU: Millard South “South on Stage”

The anticipated close battle between Millard West and Gretna East turned out to be, well, very close. WIG extended its winning streak to four consecutive competitions, and they’ve taken Best Choreography in all four of those. Gretna East’s bid for an undefeated season has been dashed, but Equinox has now taken Best Vocals at each of its last three competitions. These two groups will go their separate ways the rest of the season, but this matchup proved that they are truly two of Nebraska’s absolute best groups. Resonance came into Spartan Spectacular with a three-competition streak of Best Band awards. That streak ended, but Rez’s performance kept them on the podium for the eighth straight competition. Norris has now placed second, fourth, and sixth this season, completing the even-placement straight by the end of January. Jenks kicked off its four-state competition with a solid finals appearance, a good get in the back pocket before they head to Texas this upcoming weekend. Millard South outscored Grand Island for the last spot in finals. SOS now has two finals appearances at deep competitions to kick off the season, and the good vibes will need to carry as they will not compete again until Feb. 21. Ultimate Image, on the other hand, will have a chance for a get-back this upcoming weekend at Grand Island Northwest.

Olentangy Keynote Classic

Mixed Final Results

GC: Center Grove “Sound System” (BV/BC)

1RU: Marysville “Swingers Unlimited”

2RU: Loveland “By Request” (BB)

3RU: Fairfield “Choraliers”

4RU: Twinsburg “Great Expectations”

Womens Final Results

1^st: Center Grove “Debtones” (BV/BC)

2^nd: Fairfield “Pure Elegance”

3^rd: Marysville “Swingers Select” (BB)

In a competition where groups competing had varying amounts of school in the week leading up to the contest (the host school had no in-person instructional days at all), the preparation or lackthereof was no matter to some of the region’s top ensembles. Center Grove put out a statement performance to begin its season, with Sound System claiming two more captions than the last time they competed in Ohio and Debtones showing that they can run with the best of the Ohio single-gender groups. Marysville debuted Unlimited’s reptile-themed show and cleared the rest of the Ohio groups, a good place to be as they will face Hurricane this upcoming week and Solon on Feb. 28. Loveland snagged its second third-place finish of the season and has been battle-tested well against a wide variety of quality ensembles. By Request will not compete again until Feb. 21 at South Dearborn. Fairfield Choraliers saw their finals streak end at five competitions, although they still had a valuable first look at Marysville and Olentangy, who they will compete against on Feb. 14. Pure Elegance scored a solid second place in the womens finals above Swingers Select, another intriguing matchup to come at Loveland. Twinsburg’s illusion-themed production took the last spot in mixed finals, starting off Rebecca Sabree’s tenure as director on the right foot.

Sioux Falls Roosevelt Executive Showcase

Final Results

GC: Hastings “UNCAGED” (BV/BC)

1RU: Sioux Falls Washington “Classic Connection” (BB)

2RU: Sioux Center “Satisfaction”

3RU: Sioux Falls Jefferson “Legacy”

4RU: O’Gorman “Ovation!”

5RU: Aberdeen Central “Eagle Express”

A tangle of choirs who all had legitimate claims to the top spot ironically all sorted themselves out in prelims, as there were no changes from the preliminary results to the final results. Hastings showed that their win at Glenwood was not a fluke, backing it up with a vocals/choreo triumph here. Washington has carried its 2025 momentum into 2026 and is probably the best Sioux Falls show choir at this point in the season. Sioux Center was third in small mixed at this competition last year; Satisfaction has made an incredible year-over-year leap to be challenging for the win among several large mixed choirs. Jefferson was fourth in its first South Dakota contest appearance of the season, and they will see several of these same choirs for about the next month or so at competitions across Sioux Falls, Mitchell, and Vermillion. O’Gorman making finals is a good balance for the group, whose previous two results this season were missing finals and being overall grand champion of a competition. Eagle Express sported a unique show about Storybook Land, a local park in Aberdeen, and rounded out the finals field ahead of Fort Worth Southwest and Harrisburg.

Wildcard: Bloomington Kennedy Gold

Final Results

GC: Waconia “Power Company” (BC)

1RU: Hastings “Riverside Company” (BV)

2RU: Bloomington Jefferson “Jefferson Connection”

3RU: Sparta “Upstage Adrenaline”

4RU: Bemidji “Vocalmotive”

5RU: Sparta “Rise of Adrenaline”

After coming oh-so-close in its first two outings of 2026, Waconia played to its strengths at Gold and won the competition on the back of a Best Choreography caption. PoCo one-upped fellow Minnesota power Riverside Company for the first time since this contest two years ago, which featured Ankeny Visual Adrenaline in first with choreo, then Waconia, then Hastings in third with vocals. Riverside Company is still in a fine position at this point in the season. Bloomington Jefferson is quickly entering “surprise season” territory. After only notching one podium finish in 2025, Connection has notched two in 2026 and has a fighting chance to add two or maybe three more to that tally before the season comes to an end. Sparta ran through three tough competitions in the month of January and came out with three finals appearances on the other side; Upstage will return to Minnesota in two weeks to compete at Waconia. Additionally, Rise of Adrenaline dispatched Totino-Grace for a spot in finals, the second finals appearance in the group’s three-year history. Vocalmotive brought its new year’s show to stage for the first time and was fifth, a solid baseline before competing at North St. Paul, Hastings and Totino.

Editor’s Choice: Ankeny Centennial Mid-Iowa Show Choir Championships

Final Results

GC: Waukee Northwest “Eos” (BC/BB)

1RU: Ankeny “Visual Adrenaline” (BV)

2RU: Papillion-La Vista South “Titanium”

3RU: Southeast Polk “RAMification”

4RU: Blue Valley “Chamber Singers”

5RU: La Crosse “River City Revolution”

The Des Moines metro is really just that deep. Last week’s premier matchup brought a tight battle between Urbandale and Waukee, this week’s top duel was between Waukee Northwest and Ankeny, and that’s not even counting Johnston or Ankeny Centennial. Eos is now undefeated across three competitions this season, dispatching Onalaska, Urbandale, Iowa City, and now Ankeny and Papio South to do so. Eos will only compete once more this season, at Southeast Polk on Feb. 28, where their show will face Johnston in what will be a much-anticipated event. Visual Adrenaline remains a bona fide power, and their chops will be tested against Valley and Davenport Central at North Polk in two weeks. Titanium hit Des Moines for the first time since 2022 and put everyone on notice once again with a strong podium finish. Southeast Polk is also one to watch out of this competition, as they were the third Polk County ensemble in the top four. Blue Valley was fifth, which is somewhat shockingly their lowest placement since the group’s debut competition on Jan. 22, 2022. However, this is a very worthy fifth for the Chamber Singers. La Crosse, who is arguably the best show choir in Wisconsin right now, still gave the Badger State some representation in finals.

As the show choir circuit launches into February, its busiest month, even more great competitions and spectacular groups await. Comps of the Week will return later this week with all of the best storylines.