THE BEAR FACTS
December 3, 2022


Good morning! I’m Abbie Capesius!

I’m Avery Lichter!

And I’m Brendan Plathe! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

The Golden Bear danz squad has done it again! The team was down in Des Moines this week for the Iowa State Dance and Drill Team Association Championships. This year Bishop Garrigan took first place in Iowa for both the pom and kick divisions. On top of that junior Ella Schaaf finished second statewide, and the team won the Distinguished Academic Award.

The Golden Bear danz squad for 2022-23 includes Eva Snyder, Emma Bacha, Avery Berte, Zoey Von Bank, and Ava Kemna, plus Violet Bode, Ella Schaaf, Kyra Deike, Ellie Rosenmeyer, and Roseanne Curtis—Ricke. The coaches are Ashley Meyer, Ashley Frideres, and Katie Warrington. You can see the girls perform at home basketball games throughout the winter. Congratulations to our state champion dancers!



We had a pep rally on Monday to send the dance girls off to state and to introduce our winter sports teams. A special guest at the pep rally was KLGA sportscaster Tyler Lance. Last year when the Golden Bear girls were making their run toward the state championship, Tyler agreed not to cut his hair until after their season ended. He continued growing it through the spring and summer, and he let the girls cut it to start off their new season. We thank Tyler for all his support for the Bears.

This has been a big week for the Golden Bear quiz bowl team. Last Wednesday Ben Greteman, Brendan Plathe, Sam Greteman, Nick Laubenthal, Benjy Trainer, Sam Plathe, Nathaniel Darling, Spencer Doerning, and Alaina Bormann all competed in the semi—annual 3—2—1 contest. This is an online event with teams from all over America and even some schools in Europe and Asia.

The questions were hard this year, and the Bears’ score of 231 was a little lower than last year’s result. We still expect the team to do well, though—especially compared to other Iowa schools in the contest. The final results should be available in a week or two.

There’s more quiz bowl today. This morning five Garrigan sophomores are up in Spirit Lake for one of the oldest quiz bowl tournaments in Iowa. Sam Greteman, Molly Peterson, Thadd Kollasch, Alaina Bormann, and Spencer Doerning will be competing for the Bears. Good luck, quiz bowl!

Wrestling season began this week, and this year five Golden Bears are joining the Algona Bulldogs’ wrestling team. The wrestlers include names you’ll remember from Golden Bear football like Caden Roethler and Brody Ludwig, plus younger athletes Ethan Marso, Carter McGregor, and Wyatt Rosenmeyer. Good luck all season long, wrestlers!


Winter is here, so once again it’s time to remind you of how things work in bad weather. Because of transportation arrangements, on most occasions Garrigan and Seton follow the dismissal decisions of the Algona Community Schools. The only exceptions are on days when we have school, but Algona doesn’t. When there’s a late start or day off, students and parents receive texts from the school. You can also hear the announcements on KLGA, and they’re on the main page of bggoldenbears.org.

When there’s no school morning activities are cancelled. Decisions on evening activities will be made during the day, but they’re generally cancelled as well. On early dismissal days, everything after school is cancelled, and on late start days morning practices will either be cancelled or start late. The biggest concern is always safety.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Molly Joyce. Molly Joyce is looking forward to another trip to the state basketball tournament this winter—and hopefully another state championship. The Golden Bear point guard is known for outstanding ball handling, which led her to be named captain of the all-tournament team at state. Molly is also a two-time state champion in the long jump, and she’s also a sprinter on the track team. Next year she’ll be playing basketball at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. We wish Molly all the best in the future.

On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s quiz bowl today at Sprit Lake. The wrestlers have a tournament in Independence, and Garrigan is hosting a basketball tournament for boys in grades three through five.

Tomorrow is the second Sunday of Advent. We’ll have an Advent prayer service Monday morning. Tuesday the basketball teams travel to Lake Mills and there’s wrestling at Algona High.

There’s no school next Wednesday because of a teacher inservice. Thursday we’ll begin the day with mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. That night the boys basketball team will host Newell—Fonda.

Next Friday we’ll have a meal packaging event to help out the adopted missions in Mississippi. Friday night the Golden Bear basketball teams will be hosting Eagle Grove.

That’s our first “Bear Facts” for December. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to catch the show next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.