The Bear Facts
September 1 2021

 Good morning! I’m Mya Kemna!

 I’m Ella Muller!
 

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

 Fall sports are off to a good start at Garrigan. The biggest change in sports this year is that for the first time ever the Golden Bear football team is playing in the eight-man division. For several years now Bishop Garrigan has been the smallest school in Class A, and the shift puts us in a class with other schools our size. St. Edmond also moved to eight-man this year, and the new district features other teams we’ve played in the past like North Iowa and GTRA.

 The football team got off to a good start by beating Rockford last weekend 56 – 20. This year’s team has just three returning seniors—Collin Casey, Jacob Leerar, and Grant Haugland—but all three of them made big contributions in the win. Quarterback Garrett Heying is also returning for the Bears, as are fellow letterwinners Cal Birkey, Drew Casey, and Nate Bronk.

 Other returning juniors include Caleb Bormann, Connor Davis, Matt Kollasch, Aidan Hovey, and Jack Grandgenett. There are also twenty-three younger players backing up the Golden Bears. Coach Marty Wadle hopes to add more eight-man victories to his long list of wins, and we wish him and the whole football team good luck.

 The Golden Bear volleyball team opened their season last week with a win in three straight sets at Belmond—Klemme. The Bears should be one of the toughest teams in the conference this year. Returning letterwinners in volleyball include seniors Ella Muller, Emma Grandgenett, and Meredith Tigges; and juniors Molly Joyce, Ashlyn Hovey, Audi Crooks, and Maggie Vaske.

 Also featured on the volleyball team are seniors Maryanne Capesius, Isabel Casey, and Mya Kemna; and juniors Marissa Rahe and Eva Snyder. The team also includes sophomores Reagan Murphy, Morgan Antoine, Violet Bode, Avery Lichter, Kyra Dieke, Madelyn Bronk, Caelyn Capesius, and Alaina Casey. Rounding out the team are freshmen Blaire Becker, Ellie Vipond, Molly Peterson, Alaina Bormann, Hanna Merron, and Zoe Montag. Good luck to Coach Schnurr and the volleyball team!
 

 Cross-country is also off to a good start. The Bears have already run in the Spencer and Newman meets, and senior veteran Quinn Swift brought home medals from both of them. Other seniors in cross-country include Hollis Bode, Veronica Capesius, Lillee Deike, Xander Darling, and Saban Meraz. Gavin Swift is the lone junior on the team. Sophomores Abbie Capesius, Ethan Kuper, Lauren Swift, and C.J. Weydert are running hard for the Bears all season long. Good luck to Coach Brandon Rowley and to the whole cross-country team!

The student council recently announced their plans for Homecoming 2021. Homecoming will be the week of September 25 through October 2, with the theme “It’s a Celebration”. The dress-up days will be themed around different holidays people celebrate throughout the year. We’ll let you know more as Homecoming gets closer.




 The BGHS music and drama departments have already started work on the fall musical, The Pirates of Penzance. The cast includes Drew Casey as the Pirate King, Meredith Tigges as Mabel, Nate Bronk as Frederic, Benjy Trainer as Major General Stanley, Marguerite Fakler as Ruth, and Xander Darling as Samuel. Twenty-four other students will be featured in the show. Mark your calendar for November 6 and 7, when Garrigan will present The Pirates of Penzance.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Hollis Bode. Here to tell you about him is Maryanne Capesius.
 

 Over the years Hollis Bode has been in just about every activity there is at Garrigan. He’s a shortstop and pitcher in baseball, he plays basketball and runs both track and cross-country, and in the past he was also out for football. Hollis is also active in music, and he’s one of this year’s student body co-presidents. He’ll be a college man next year, and we wish Hollis all the best in the future.

 Thanks, Maryanne. On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s a JV volleyball tournament at Algona High this morning. Monday there’s no school for Labor Day, but the JV football team will play at Newell—Fonda that night.

 Tuesday is picture day at Garrigan and Seton. We’ll start the day with mass that morning. Tuesday night there’s volleyball at Eagle Grove and cross-country in Estherville.

 Thursday several Garrigan athletes will participate in the community public safety night in downtown Algona. The volleyball team will host Garner Hayfield Ventura Thursday night.

 Friday the football team plays at West Bend, and finally next Saturday there’s CYO cross-country at Holstein.

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