THE BEAR FACTS
SEPTEMBER 14, 2024

Good morning! I’m Tate Foertsch!

I’m Kayden Graves!

And I’m Spencer Doerning! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

This past week brought good news for all our Golden Bear sports teams. Last week we noted that freshman Julia Swift had broken the school 5-K cross-country record. Well Tuesday afternoon she broke her own record by nearly a minute. In her third-place finish up in Estherville, Julia finished in just 19 minutes, 54 seconds. She and her teammates are running again this morning at the CYO meet down in Holstein. Good luck, Julia!

Last Friday the football team began their district season. Most sportswriters predicted they’d have a close game against West Bend—Mallard, a team that had racked up 86 points in their first game of the season. The game wasn’t close, though. Even with the JV playing for a quarter and a half, the Bears ended up beating the Wolverines 41 – 6. Senior Trayton Cink scored three touchdowns in the game, and junior Tate Foertsch passed for 78 yards. Back-up quarterback C.J. McGregor even turned a fumble into a score near the end of the game.

After the win Bishop Garrigan is now ranked #1 in the eight-man class in multiple football rankings. They’ve been tops in the Radio Iowa poll ever since the start of the season, and they should maintain that ranking. The surprise is that even the B.C. Moore website, which has a bigger focus on scoring than on wins, has the Bears in first place at the moment. We’re all crossing our fingers that they’ll keep things up and have an undefeated regular season.

The JV football team is also off to a great start. The JV Bears began their season by playing last year’s Class A champions from Britt West Hancock. They played 8-man ball on offense and 11-man on defense. The Bears did well on both sides of the ball, beating West Hancock 42 – 24. This past Monday they got another big win over Newell—Fonda, so both the varsity and JV football teams are starting out the season with perfect records.

The Golden Bear volleyball team started off slow, but they got back on track this past Tuesday. It was Senior Night for the Bears, and the Bears got their first win of the season in a five game match over Eagle Grove. Sophomore Gracelyn Eastman racked up 19 kills in the match, while junior Allison Denker served 7 aces and had twelve kills and two blocks. Congratulations, volleyball!

Rehearsals are underway for the Bishop Garrigan fall musical, which will be November 8th and 9th. This year’s show is called The Drowsy Chaperone, and it’s a different kind of show. While Sacha Alesch plays the title role, the central character is called “Man in Chair” and will be played by Griffin Geving. As he listens to a recording, he imagines the play, and the characters appear before him.

Other actors in the show are Cora Deardeuff, Kayden Graves, Amaury Thomas, Tate Foertsch, and Matt Besch; as well as Shiloh Trainer, Spencer Doerning, Leo Snyder, Aidan Deitering, Izzy Waechter, Alice Casey, and Madelyn Tigges. The musical ensemble features Lily Wickman, Kylie Capesius, Stormi Larson, Addison Kuper, Henry Bode, Gabe Swift, Addison Laubenthal, and Rose Curtis. Mark your calendar for November 8th and 9th to see The Drowsy Chaperone.

After our mass last Wednesday we had a special group photograph taken at Garrigan. Everyone from kindergarten through twelfth grade gathered on the football field and formed a big cross shape. Senior Thadd Kollasch flew his drone overhead and took a picture of the whole Garrigan student body. That picture should be published on Facebook and on the school website.

We’re still doing our Walk and Pray fundraiser at Garrigan. Students in every grade are asking for donations, which go to help the transportation budget and curriculum needs. You’re also welcome to request prayer intentions, and donations can enter you in a raffle to win cash prizes. Be sure to find your favorite Golden Bear to contribute to Walk and Pray.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Benny Mathews. Here to tell you about him is Owen Murphy.

Benedict Matthews is the newest member of the BGHS senior class. He went through most of his school years in Dennison, but his family moved back to the West Bend area, and he joined the Bishop Garrigan Class of 2025. Benny is part of the Golden Bear football team, and he’s planning on playing basketball this winter and baseball next spring. We’re glad to welcome Benny Matthews to Garrigan, and we hope both this year and the future are great for him.

Thanks, Owen. On our Golden Bear calendar, the cross-country team is over in Holstein today for the CYO tournament. There’s a three-day weekend, with no school Monday because of teacher inservice.

Monday night Julia Swift will have her home cross-country meet, as the team runs over in Emmetsburg. Also that night the JV football team plays at West Bend—Mallard and the JV volleyball team has a tournament in Lake Mills.

Tuesday the volleyball team hosts North Union. Also that night there’s a girls swim meet in Perry. We’ll start the day with mass on Wednesday, and that afternoon midterm grade reports are due.

There’s a school board meeting Thursday afternoon, and Friday is the third turn-in day for our Walk and Pray fundraiser. Friday night the football team travels to Northwood—Kensett, and then next Saturday Garrigan will host the CYO volleyball tournament.

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