THE BEAR FACTS
February 15, 2020

 Good morning! I’m Joseph Trainer!

I’m Noah Bronk!

And I’m Jack Snyder! You’re listening to the “Bear Facts”, the radio show where each week we keep you in touch with all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Last Monday was a historic night for the Golden Bear basketball teams. The Bears played North Iowa up in Buffalo Center, and when the night ended both the boys and girls teams came home as Top of Iowa Conference champions. This is the first time in school history that both the boys and girls basketball teams have won a conference championship in the same year.

The victory over North Iowa was especially memorable for the Golden Bear boys. With 30 seconds left on the clock, Cameron Baade sunk a three-pointer to put the Bears into triple digits. They ended up beating the Bison by a final score of 102 – 64. Angelo Winkel, Cade Winkel, John Joyce, and Marcus Plathe all scored in double digits in the game.

The Golden Bear girls will start regional play next Tuesday. They had a bye in round 1, and they’ll take on Newman Catholic (or Northwood—Kensett) in the regional quarterfinals. The Bears will also host the regional semi-final is next Friday, and if they win there they’d play Wednesday the 26th at Webster City for the right to go to state.


The bracket is also out for boys basketball districts. Bishop Garrigan has a bye in Round 1, and they’ll host either Storm Lake St. Mary’s or West Bend Mallard in the second round next Thursday. The district semi-finals will be at Garrigan on Tuesday the 25th, versus either St. Edmond or Graettinger—Terril—Ruthven—Ayrshire. The district championship will be Thursday the 27th at Pocahontas, and the substate final is Saturday the 29th in Spencer. Good luck in playoffs to both the boys and girls basketball teams!

Last Saturday the Golden Bear speech team made the long trip over to LeMars for state large group contest. The most successful of Garrigan’s entries was the acting ensemble of Reese Rosenmeyer, Anna Berke, Gracie Elsbecker, Bailey Meister, and Riley Rosenmeyer. Their selection “The Committee Meeting” earned straight Division I or “excellent” ratings from the three judges. The school’s other four entries received “good” ratings.

Monday Garrigan competed for the first time in recent memory at the state jazz choir contest. Sixteen students went over to Spencer for the event, and their performance was judged “good”. Students in jazz choir include Bailey Kollasch, Amanda Miller, Aric Laubenthal, Jack Snyder, Noah Bronk, Ava Bartolo, Kelle Bormann, and Joey Trainer; as well as Austin VonBank, Derrick Kirsch, Marguerite Fakler, Meredith Tigges, Isabel Casey, Xander Darling, Ella Muller, and Drew Casey.

After a fairly long period off, the quiz bowl team is scheduled to be back in action today. They’re competing in the Iowa Quiz Bowl League winter open in Ankeny. Playing for the Bears today are senior Grant Bormann, junior Aric Laubenthal, and freshmen Gavin Swift and Jacob Ward.




While the date could change if the Bears make it to state in basketball, the quiz bowl team is planning to host their annual community quiz bowl tournament on Friday, March 6. Teams of all ages can compete, and the cost to register is just $20 per team. You can contact Abbi Heying at 712-260-9805 to reserve a place, or registration forms are available on the Garrigan website and Facebook page. Be sure to mark your calendar for community quiz bowl on March 6.

The quiz bowl team is also finalizing their plans to head to nationals next summer. 2020 will be Garrigan’s twenty-first trip to the National Academic Championships. Most likely the team will be headed to Atlanta June 11 – 13. We’ll give your more information as the trip gets closer.

With playoffs approaching, our Senior Spotlight this week shines on John Joyce. John is one of the more recent additions to the Class of 2020. He came to Bishop Garrigan in high school, having started school in Emmetsburg. His ball-handling skills have made him a huge addition to the Golden Bear basketball team. He also plays baseball, he’s in publications, and he helps maintain the student website. We’re glad John chose to come to Garrigan, and we wish him all the best after he graduates.

On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s quiz bowl today in Ankeny. Monday is group picture day, and we’ll also have speakers on religious vocations that day.

Tuesday the Bears will be hosting regional basketball. We have mass on Wednesday, and Thursday the school board meets. That night we’ll be hosting boys district basketball here at Garrigan.

Next Friday afternoon the Bishop will be in Algona for the dedication of the new Garrigan chapel. That night we’ll be hosting the girls regional semi-final.

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