The Bear Facts
October 14, 2023


Good morning! I’m Violet Bode!

I’m Ella Schaaf!
 

And I’m Brendan Plathe! You’re listening to the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Did you know that Hawaii was originally named the Sandwich Islands after the Earl of Sandwich?
… Or that President Andrew Jackson killed a man in a duel? … Or that all ten of the most common days for birthdays are in September? If trivia like that is rolling around in your brain, then you should be in quiz bowl. Today Bishop Garrigan will be hosting our 33rd annual quiz bowl tournament, with eleven schools on hand for the competition.

Students competing today will be coming from as far away as Ankeny, Spirit Lake, and Storm Lake, and there will also be nearby schools like Algona High, North Union, West Hancock, and Forest City. Three teams will be playing at a time in four preliminary rounds, and the top eight teams overall will advance to playoffs.



Twenty Golden Bears will be competing in today’s tournament. Among them are senior veterans Brendan Plathe, Ben Greteman, Abbie Capesius, Benjy Trainer, Violet Bode, Nick Laubenthal, and Sam Plathe. Senior Zach Warren is new to the team this year. Juniors in quiz bowl include Thadd Kollasch, Sam Greteman, Brooke Ludwig, Griffin Geving, Hannah Merron, and Scott Bormann.

Sophomores Tate Foertsch, Amaury Thomas, and Gabe Swift are also trivia masters; and the youngest members of the quiz bowl team are Corbin Darling, Marshall Bormann, and Shiloh Trainer. Good luck today to Coach David Burrow and all the Golden Bear quiz bowl players!

After a single loss in their first game of the year, the Golden Bear football team has rolled through their regular season. Last week’s game at Graettinger was one of their toughest this year, but the Bears still more than doubled up the opponents with a 48 – 20 victory. Football playoffs begin next Friday, and the district champion Bears should be playing at home. This will be Garrigan’s first appearance in playoffs since moving to the eight-man division, and they’ll be trying to make the most of it. Good luck, Bears!

Next week is playoff time for all the fall sports. The volleyball team will start regional action Monday night. Their first playoff match is at North Iowa in Buffalo Center. Then on Thursday the cross-country team has their state-qualifying meet at Spencer. Best wishes to all our athletes as they work to extend their fall sports seasons.

Next weekend eight Garrigan students will be auditioning to be part of the Iowa All-State Choir. Students from all over the state try out for All-State, but only 400 are accepted. Garrigan students who are auditioning include Benjy Trainer, Nathaniel Darling, Lauren Swift, Izzy Waechter, Amaury Thomas, Tate Foertsch, Cora Daerdruff, and Shiloh Trainer. Good luck to all the all-state auditioners!

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Brendan Plathe. Here to tell you about him is Abbie Capesius.

You’ve probably heard Brendan Plathe announcing here on the “Bear Facts”. Brendan is an Algona native who is active in lots of different school activities. Brendan has made multiple trips to state in speech, he’s been in plays and musicals all through school, he’s competed at state in DECA, and he’s active in quiz bowl. While he’s not in sports, Brendan is a huge Golden Bear fan, and you’ll see him at pretty much every game. Brendan is an honor society member, and we know he’ll do great in college after he leaves Garrigan.

Thanks, Abbie. On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s the big home quiz bowl tournament today. Monday we’ll have a flu shot clinic at Garrigan, and that night the girls start regional volleyball at North Iowa.
 

We’ll have mass Tuesday morning. Wednesday there’s no school because of staff development. That night is the second round of regional volleyball.
 

Thursday is the state qualifying meet for cross-country. Garrigan will be running over in Spencer. There’s also a swim meet in Decorah Thursday night.

Next Friday football playoffs start, and the Bears should be hosting round 1 at Conway Field. Then next Saturday there’s all-state music auditions.

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