The Bear Facts
MARCH 13, 1999
Good morning! I'm Bob Brandenburg!
And I'm Jessica Richter! You're tuned in to the "Bear Facts," the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
California, here we come! That's the song the Golden Bear danz squad is humming these days. Fourteen girls are in San Diego this weekend as the state champion BGHS danz squad competes for the first time ever in the National Dance Competition. They perform their routine in the preliminaries today, and they're hoping to advance to tomorrow's finals, which will be televised later this month on USA Network.
Melanie McGuire and Natalie Salz choreographed the danz squad routine. Other seniors making the trip are Sarah Foth, Abby Monson, and Tracey Fickbohm. The juniors in danz squad include Abby Bartolo, Anna Erpelding, Amanda Hilbert, Corrie Stetzel, Jillian Trenary, and Katie Patterson. Sophomores Heather Johnson and Kelly Kunkel and freshmen Allison Courtney and Monica Studer are also in San Diego for nationals. Accompanying the group are Coach Colleen Conway-Schiltz, several danz squad parents, and supporters Scott McGuire, Steve Courtney, and Tyler Trenary. Good luck at nationals to the best drill team in Iowa, the BGHS danz squad!
The Golden Bear boys' basketball team held their annual awards banquet last week. Brad Nelson was a unanimous first team all-conference selection, and Jeremy Bartolo and John Mosbach also earned all-conference honors. Brad and John split the Offensive Player of the Year, while Matt Kunkel earned Defensive Player of the Year. Jeremy earned the Hustle Award. Seniors Andrew Brunsen, Jason Kohlhaas, and Ben Studer were all named Most Improved Players. The Bears finished the year with a winning season, ending up right in the middle of the pack in the tough North Central Conference.
Brad Nelson led the team in almost every statistical category, including setting the school record for most steals in a season. Brad, who is just a sophomore, is also on pace to break the career records for assists, 3-pointers, and total points scored. Josh Meyer tied Brad for best free throw percentage, while Andrew Brunsen tied him for top rebounder. Ben Richter had the best 2-point percentage, and Tyler Struck led the team in 3-point percentage. Jason Kohlhaas and Ben Studer both compiled outstanding defensive stats; and Justin Reding, Scott McGuire, and Hank Greer also helped out a lot off the bench. Brad was far and away the top scorer, followed distantly by Andrew, John Mosbach, and Matt Kunkel.
If this year's freshmen are any sign, the Golden Bears have a good future ahead of them. The freshmen boys finished the season with a 14-5 record, including big wins over Algona High, West Bend/Mallard, and Mason City Newman. At the core of the team are Mark Meister, who led in rebounds, Luke DeWaard, who was tops in free throws, and Scott Miller, who led in assists. Rounding out the starters were Jeff Vaske, who had the highest 3-point average, and Brian Welp, who led in 2-pointers.
Coaches Meister and Bartolo had a lot of other players backing up the starters and playing on the "B" squad. Joe Bartolo had an amazing 86% free throw average, followed by Nick Lane at 67%. Tyler Erpelding made an incredible 50% of his 3-point attempts. Tyler, Joe, and Steve Goede led the bench in steals; Ben and Andy Meyer were tops in field goals; and Andy Kardoes had the most rebounds overall. Congratulations to the freshmen on a great basketball season!
The regular season for intramurals finished with a few surprises. The biggest upset happened last Sunday, when the freshmen on Michael Loebach's team soared past the sophomores and juniors on the team headed up by Jake Kohlhaas and Duane McGregor. That moved the freshmen into sixth place overall for the season. It will be March Madness tomorrow, with the first round of the intramural play-offs. The first place Stus will face the last place Flock at 12:45 tomorrow afternoon. Jake and Duane's team will face the second place Fire Ants at 1:30. In the third game at 2:15, Michael Loebach's freshmen will take on the third place team, which is captained by Eric Becker. The quarter-finals will wrap-up at 3:00 with the fourth and fifth seeds: Josh Kohlhaas' and David Monson's teams.
With the National Dance Competition today, we're shining our Senior Spotlight on danz squad members Abby Monson and Sarah Foth. Here with the scoop on them is Abby Rahm.
Besides danz squad, Sarah Foth's biggest activities are band and choir. Over the years this honor roll stent has also been active in cheerleading and pep squad. Sarah plans to attend UNI next year, and we wish her the very best of luck.
Abby Monson is also looking at attending UNI next year. She's a choir and band member who has also been active in flag corps. Abby is an honor roll student who is known to be one of the school's top cross-country fans. Good luck in the future, Abby!
On this week's Golden Bear calendar, the danz squad is in San Diego today, performing in the preliminaries of the National Dance Competition. There's also quiz bowl at Blairsburg and indoor track at Iowa State University.
Tomorrow we start te play-offs for intramurals. The first quarter-final game begins at 12:45. Also tomorrow there's the finals for the National Dance Competition in California.
The danz squad returns on Monday. Tuesday afternoon we'll have a special Lenten pennance service. We'd also like to wish our friends at Algona High good luck in their state basketball game Tuesday night.
Then on Wednesday the health classes will go on a field trip to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Thursday we'll dismiss at 12:45 for a faculty in-service. That night we'll be honoring the school's best and brightest at the annual Academic Banquet.
Next Friday the third quarter ends. Finally on Saturday there's state speech contest at Storm Lake, followed by the annual drill team night.
One last thing this week--we invite everyone listening to join us tonight at the VFW Hall for a benefit dance for Garrigan senior Melissa McGuire. There will be music provided by Brent Bierstedt, with a possible appearance by "Everything Red". Social hour is from 7 to 8, and the dance runs from 8:00 to midnight. The cost is $3.00, and it's open to the public. So be sure to help Melissa on her way to recovery. Join us at the VFW tonight.
That's the "Bear Facts" for another week. Thanks for listening, and be sure to tune in next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
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