The Bear Facts
February 10, 2024


Good morning! I’m Thadd Kollasch!

I’m Abbie Capesius!

And I’m Tate Foertsch! This is “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Last weekend seven Garrigan students competed in three events at the Iowa High School Speech Association state large-group contest in Spencer. It ended up being a very good day for the Bears, with all three Garrigan entries earning Division I or “excellent” ratings. One group—Benjy Trainer, Sam Plathe, and Izzy Waechter in Musical Theatre—received straight I’s from all three judges and a comment from one judge that said it was the best performance she had seen all day.

Garrigan’s other entries also did very well. Tate Foertsch and Thadd Kollasch prepared a radio broadcasting entry featuring the latest sports at the pro, college, and high school level. They also earned a Division I for their entry. The third group, which was also judged excellent, was Brendan Plathe, Violet Bode, Sam Plathe, and Benjy Trainer who performed a group improvisation on car washing. Congratulations to all the speech groups on earning I’s at state!

With group speech over, individual speech is underway. The Bears have thirteen entries registered for district contest, which will be held two weeks from today in Sioux Rapids. Tate Foertsch, Thadd Kollasch, and Benjy Trainer are all entered in Radio News Announcing, and Benjy will also be competing in Improvisation.

Molly Peterson and Shiloh Trainer are preparing reviewing entries for contest. Ava Hough, Brendan Plathe, and Violet Bode will all be competing in Prose. Violet will also be entered in Solo Musical Theatre. Brooke Ludwig and Sam Plathe are in the category of Spontaneous Speaking, and Brooke is also preparing an Expository Address. Good luck to all the individual speech participants.

Last Monday Garrigan musicians performed at the state jazz choir festival in Clear Lake. Schools of all sizes compete in jazz choir. At the state festival the larger schools all got division I ratings, while the smaller schools all got II’s. Garrigan, however, was extremely close to being the only 1-A school to earn a division I. All three judges marked them just one point short of the cutoff.

The Bears’ II rating is still considered “excellent” in music. Congratulations to director Antonia Rupert and jazz choir members Sacha Alesch, Benjy Trainer, Kyle Bormann, Ava Hough, Amaury Thomas, Sam Plathe, Violet Bode, Shiloh Trainer, Tate Foertsch, Gabe Swift, Madelyn Bronk, Brendan Plathe, Logan Nemmers, Cora Deaerdueff, Lauren Swift, and Matt Besch.

Last Monday the Golden Bear girls wrapped up their fifth consecutive Top of Iowa Conference basketball championship with a big win over North Iowa. The Bears drew a bye in the first round of regionals. They’ll be hosting the second round next Tuesday, and they should also host the regional semifinals next Friday against either Newman or St. Ansgar.

Boys basketball playoffs have also begun, and the Bears ranked high enough to capture the #2 seed in their district and avoid the play-in round. They’ll host West Hancock in the district opener next Monday. A win there would mean they’ll also host the second round against either St. Ansgar or Northwood Kensett. Good luck in playoffs to the Golden Bear basketball teams!

Post-season wrestling is also underway, and we’re proud that Garrigan sophomore Ethan Marso was one of the athletes who helped the Algona Bulldogs make it to the dual team wrestling state finals last weekend. There’s district wrestling this week, and we wish good luck to Ethan and all his Bulldog teammates.

Recently a large number of Garrigan business students have been busy taking tests. They’re getting ready for the state DECA competition, which will be held next weekend. At the core of Garrigan’s DECA group are seniors Ella Schaaf, Violet Bode, Ava Hough, Sam Plathe, Ben Greteman, Brendan Plathe, Avery Lichter, Zach Warren, Benjy Trainer, and Logan Nemmers.

Younger students in DECA include Brooke Ludwig, Molly Peterson, Thadd Kollasch, Sam Greteman, Daniel Meis, and Reece Kemna; plus Hailee Reutzel, Matt Besch, Cora Deardeuff, Shiloh Trainer, Kylie Capesius, Jaelyn Antoine, and Harper Nelson. Good luck to Coach Alex Schwing and the whole DECA group.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Lauren Swift. Here to tell you about her is Ben Greteman.

Lauren Swift is an Emmetsburg native who is has been part of the cross-country and track teams, both as an athlete and a manager. She loves music, and she’s been part of both the band and choir all through school, as well as having roles in musicals. She’s also been in speech, and she’s on the student council. Next year Lauren plans to go to South Dakota State, and she’d like a career as an ultrasound technician. We wish Lauren all the best next year.

Thanks, Gret! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s state swimming and district wrestling today. Tomorrow the seniors who were on a service trip to Mississippi return home.

The second round of the K.C. free throw contest will also be tomorrow. Monday the boys will host the first round of district basketball, with the Bears taking on West Hancock. The girls host regional basketball Tuesday night.

Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The school board will meet on Thursday, and there’s more boys district basketball that night.

On Friday the jazz choir will perform at the Shake the Lake festival at Iowa Lakes. That night is the girls basketball regional semifinal, which we should be hosting at Garrigan. Finally next Saturday is the annual winter formal.

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