The Bear Facts

December 7, 2024

Good morning! I’m Brooke Ludwig!

I’m Hanna Merron!

And I’m Drew Muller! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”. Happy December from all of us here at Bishop Garrigan High School.

Various awards for fall sports were announced right around Thanksgiving. First of all, the Kossuth County Advance announced their all-area volleyball team, and we’re proud to say that four Golden Bears made the cut. Juniors Emmi Bartolo and Alyssa Haugland and sophomore Gracelyn Eastman were all first team selections, while freshman Brooklyn Berte won second-team all-area honors. Congratulations, volleyball!

The coaches in district two announced their all-district honorees. While it’s called eight-man football, the Bears had ten players that made first team all-district. Among them was defensive all-district MVP Ethan Marso, who made first team at linebacker. Other first-team selections were six seniors: running-back Trayton Cink, kicker Brady Galligan, defensive linemen Keaton Helleseth and Wyatt Rosenmeyer, defensive utility player Andrew Lichter, and punt return specialist Owen Murphy.

Other first team all-district players included juniors Tate Foertsch at quarterback and Carter Schwab on the offensive line, and also sophomore defensive back Mike Joyce. Junior linemen Kayden Graves earned second team all-district honors, and John Kesselring and Brian Patterson were the assistant coaches of the year in eight-man district 2.

Fifteen Golden Bear football players earned academic all-district awards. Kyle Bormann, Scott Bormann, Trayton Cink, Isaac DeLange, Kayden Graves, Keaton Helleseth, Thadd Kollasch, Ethan Marso, Owen Murphy, Amaury Thomas, and Nick Thul all made first team academic all-district, while Carter McGregor, Dan Meis, Drew Muller, and Carter Schwab were academic honorable mentions.

The football honors didn’t stop at the district level. The Iowa Football Coaches Association announced their all-state awards, and four Bears earned first team all-state honors: Trayton Cink, Carter Schwab, Ethan Marso, and Keaton Helleseth. Owen Murphy, Scott Bormann, and Trayton Cink were named to the academic all-state football team. Garrigan actually had the same number of all-state players as the state champions from Remsen St. Mary’s.

Finally, throughout late November Sports Illustrated’s si.com held an online poll to determine the player of the year for Iowa eight-man football. More than 30,000 votes were cast, and Golden Bear running back Trayton Cink ended up with 53% of all the votes—far ahead of all the other players. Congratulations to Trayton and to our entire Golden Bear football team!

Last week the Kossuth County Advance issued their annual “Progress” issue, and there were three different articles that featured Bishop Garrigan and people associated with our school. One named long-time math teacher David Burrow as Educator of the Year. Mr. Burrow is now in his forty-second year on the Bishop Garrigan staff. In addition to teaching, he also works with speech, quiz bowl, and the student website. He announces football and baseball games, helps out at lots of other events, and he’s also the sponsor of the “Bear Facts” radio show.

Sophomore Cora Deardeuff was named Youth of the Year in the same issue of the Kossuth County Advance. The article spoke of all the volunteer work Cora has done, particularly with the local swim teams. The final article featured the entire Bishop Garrigan school. It discussed the family-like atmosphere and what makes our school different from others. If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out all the Garrigan features in the “Progress” issue of the local paper.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Isabella Waechter. Here to tell you about her is Trayton Cink.

Isabella Waechter comes to Garrigan from the Livermore area. She keeps busy with choir, drama, speech, and student council. She’s also in band and was one of the drum majors for the marching band this fall, and in the past she was also part of the danz squad. Isabella plans to attend the University of Iowa next year, and we wish her all the best in the future.

Thanks, Trayton! On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s quiz bowl today at Spirit Lake. The Bears have both varsity and JV teams entered in the tournament. There’s also a wrestling tournament in Independence today.

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The freshman confirmation candidates will have a mass and retreat at St. John’s in Bancroft. There’s no school Monday because of a teacher inservice.

Monday night the JJV basketball team will be hosting Lake Mills. We’ll have an Advent prayer service Tuesday morning, and Tuesday night the boys swim team is in action at Spencer.

There’s a basketball quad Tuesday night at Lake Mills. We’ll have mass Wednesday morning, and that night there’s the 7 – 12 band concert. Thursday the wrestlers are at Humboldt, and also that night the basketball teams host Newell—Fonda.

Friday night the basketball teams host Eagle Grove. There’s also a home wrestling tournament on Friday at Algona High. Finally on Saturday the swimmers are in Cedar Falls, and the wrestlers are in Ogden.

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