THE BEAR FACTS

February 11, 2023

Good morning! I’m Violet Bode!

I’m Ella Schaaf!

And I’m Abbie Capesius! You’re listening to the “Bear Facts”, Bishop Garrigan High School’s weekly radio show.

The Golden Bear girls basketball team wrapped up their regular season this past week, and definitely ended on a high note. Last Tuesday the Bears, who have been ranked #1 in Class 1-A most of the season, travelled to eastern Iowa to play the top team in Class 2-A, Dike—New Hartford. The Bears led the entire game and ended up with a decisive 62 — 46 victory. At that game Audi Crooks moved up to #5 among the all-time scoring leaders in all classes of Iowa girls basketball.

Audi passed another milestone a week ago when the Bears played West Hancock. She broke her own single game scoring record, racking up 50 points in a single game. The Bears wrapped up their third straight undefeated conference season on Monday with a win over North Iowa. They begin regional playoffs this week. After a bye in the first round, on Tuesday the Bears will face the winner of North Iowa and GTRA as they set their sights on a fourth straight trip to state. Good luck, Bears!

The Golden Bear boys also begin district play this week. They’ll be hosting West Bend—Mallard on Monday night, with the winner most likely facing Mason City Newman on Thursday. Remember tickets for all playoff games must be bought online in advance. You can find links to purchase your tickets at bggoldenbears.org .

Last Saturday Bishop Garrigan competed in the Iowa High School Speech Association state large group contest in LeMars. Three groups of Golden Bears competed, and they came home with two Division I (or “excellent”) ratings and one Division II (or “good”) rating. The improv group of Audi Crooks, Violet Bode, Benjy Trainer, Sam Plathe, and Brendan Plathe earned straight I’s for acting out a scene about being caught on the set of a western movie.

Savannah and Isabella Waechter also earned a Division I rating for their musical theatre presentation from Cinderella. The Bears’ other improv group—Scott Bormann, Thadd Kollasch, and Tate Foertsch—earned a Division II rating at state. Congratulations to all the performers and to directors David Burrow and Maureen Meis.

With group speech over, it’s time for individual speech to begin. Gavin Swift, Savannah Waechter, Benjy Trainer, Lauren Swift, Sam Plathe, Violet Bode, Brooke Ludwig, Molly Peterson, Thadd Kollasch, and Tate Foertsch are all preparing entries for individual speech. District contest is coming up on February 25 at Okoboji High School in Milford.

A big group of Garrigan students are busy right now getting ready for state DECA. They’ll be taking tests in various business-related fields on Tuesday, and then next weekend they’ll be headed to the state DECA conference. Molly Peterson is competing in Apparel and Accessories Management, Logan Nemmers is in Automotive Services Marketing, Brooke Ludwig will compete in Hotel and Lodging, and Violet Bode is in Human Resource Management.

Ella Schaaf is entered in Marketing Communications, Zoe Montag is in Principles of Marketing, Zach Warren is in Restaurant and Food Service Management, and Hailee Reutzel is in the Retail Merchandising competition. There are also several team DECA competitions. Two Garrigan duos are in Sports and Entertainment Marketing and Management. One features Ben Greteman and Sam Plathe, while the other has Thadd Kollasch and Sam Greteman.

Another DECA team is in Buying and Merchandising Management. It includes Reece Kemna and Ava Roethler. Avery Lichter and Brendan Plathe are on the Entrepreneurship team. The Hospitality Services Management team features Sacha Alesch and Emmi Bartolo. The final DECA entry is in Travel and Tourism Marketing, and it features Ava Hough and Daniel Meis. Good luck to everyone involved in DECA.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Matt Kollasch. Here to tell you about him is Avery Lichter.

Matt Kollasch was born in Emmetsburg and comes to Garrigan from the Whittemore area. This time of year he’s getting ready for trapshooting season. Matt is also active in football and track, he was in basketball in the past, and he enjoys working as a referee for junior high games. He’s also part of the group that maintains the student website. After high school Matt plans to serve in the Marines, and he’d like to be a state trooper in the future. Good luck, Matt!

Thanks, Avery! On our Golden Bear calendar, the big event tonight is the winter formal. Tomorrow is the second round of the K.C. free throw contest.

Monday boys district basketball starts. The Bears will take on West Bend—Mallard. We have mass Tuesday morning, and that night the girls will play their first regional game versus either GTRA or North Iowa.

Tuesday the DECA teams will be doing their state tests. There’s a Gala meeting on Wednesday, and then Thursday the school board meets.

Next Friday the Viva Voce jazz choir will be part of the Shake the Lakes jazz festival. On Friday night Garrigan will be hosting the third round of girls regional basketball. Finally next Saturday there’s quiz bowl at Ankeny.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for another week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.