"The Bear Facts"

And I’m John Mosbach! You’re listening to the “Bear Facts”. Welcome to the Year 2000 here at Bishop Garrigan High School!

On our last “Bear Facts” before the Christmas break, we made a few references to outbreak of pertusis that came to Garrigan in December. While the whooping cough turned out to be a lot more of a bug than Y2K, we’re pleased to say that it seems to be pretty much a thing of the past. Over a third of the school went in for testing before Christmas, and a lot of us spent the holidays taking antibiotics. Most people seem to be starting the New Year out healthy, though. Last week we has our Christmas concert, which was re-scheduled because of the outbreak, and gradually we’re making up all the basketball games that were postponed by the bug. What sickness there is around school now is mostly colds and flu. No one really liked the whooping cough, but it certainly made an interesting diversion in the year.

New Year’s means another season for the sport with the most cutthroat competition in the school—intramural basketball. The Garrigan student council sponsors intramurals. Student Council moderator David Burrow organizes the games, while varsity stand-out Brad Nelson lines up his fellow Golden Bears to work as referees. Intramural games run with a continuous clock. They tend to be fast-paced and full of action, combining the action of a hockey game with the passion of the football play-offs. Three intramural games are played every Sunday afternoon in the Garrigan gym. At the end of the season the top teams will advance to the play-offs, and one team will eventually win the coveted intramural championship.

A record ten teams are out for intramurals this year, including the first all-girl team in several years. Their captain is Kelly Kunkel, and the other girls on the team are Nicole Erpelding, Mandy Roethler, Lisa Arndorfer, Corrie Stetzel, and Kristin Studer. By their own choice, they’ll be competing head-to-head with the other intramural teams. Their first game is this Sunday, against David Monson’s teams. His teammates are Justin Froehlich, John Steier, Chris Thilges, Greg Besch, Matt Elbert, and Tony Schmitt.

Sunday’s second game pits Adam Rahm’s team against Andrew Hellman’s team. Adam’s team includes Tony Detrick, Jake Rahm, Michael Loebach, Greg Fowler, and Charles Bormann; as well as Kyle Wieland, Tyler Rahm, Mark McGregor, and Bob Brandenburg. Andrew’s teammates include Dan Bormann, Dan Besch, Chris Missal, and Paul Loebach; plus Josh Harp, Pat Thilges, Dean Boever, and Josh Dittrich. In the Sunday’s nightcap, Chad Mescher, Andy Pierson, Chase Johnson, Scott Black, Steven Courtney, and Nick Even will take on Ben Meyer, Steve Goede, Tyler Erpelding, Tyler Trenary, Nick Lane, Mark Steier, and Cody Youngwrith. Good luck this week and all season long to all the intramural teams!

The Golden Bear quiz bowl team is back in action this weekend. They’re down in Eagle Grove this morning, for their first tournament of the new millennium. The Bears have four teams entered in the Eagle Grove tournament, and while conflicting events have cut into their ranks a bit, they should still have a solid chance of doing well. The Bear’s most veteran team includes seniors Tyler Struck, Jennifer Reinhart, and Nathan Frideres, as well as junior Lynn Kohlhaas. At the other extreme is freshman Mike Blocker, who is making his first appearance in a quiz bowl tournament today. Good luck to these players, and to all the Golden Bear quiz bowl team.

This week’s Senior Spotlight shines on Pat Thilges and Maria Bormann. Here to tell you about them is Jake Kohlhaas.

Pat Thilges comes to Garrigan from rural Algona. All through high school he’s been active in intramural basketball. This year he will be part of Andrew Hellman’s team. Pat is also involved in FFA, and when he’s not at school, he works on a farm. We wish Pat the very best of luck in the future.

Maria Bormann is a Livermore native. Over the years her activities at Garrigan have included band and choir. She is also active in 4-H, and you may have seen her working around town. Maria would like to go to college next year, and we wish her all the best.

Thanks, Mongo! On our Golden Bear calendar today there is the North Central Iowa Bandmasters Association Honor Band. Also today the quiz bowl team is at Eagle Grove.

Tomorrow a group of students leave for the Dorian Music Festival at Luther College in Decorah. Also tomorrow afternoon intramurals begin.

Monday night the freshman basketball teams travel to Algona High, and then on Tuesday the varsity teams play at Hampton/Dumont.

Semester tests begin next Wednesday. We’ll have a special schedule, with open campus whenever we don’t have tests. Wednesday noon the junior class will be dining on Godfather’s Pizza as their prize for finishing first in the magazine drive last fall.

Wednesday night the freshman boys play host Emmetsburg. Semester tests continue on Thursday, and that noon, the sophomores will be treated to Subway party subs as their reward from the magazine drive.

Finals finish up on Friday. That night there’s JV and varsity basketball at Humboldt. Finally next Saturday there will be a taekwondo event in the Garrigan gym.

That’s our first “Bear Facts” for Y2K. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to set your dial here again next week to hear more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Return to . . .

"Bear Facts" Home Page