The Bear Facts
February 15, 2025


Good morning! I’m Scott Bormann!

I’m Sacha Alesch!

And I’m Shiloh Trainer! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, your weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.

The Golden Bear boys basketball team are the conference champions. The Top of Iowa Conference wrapped up regular season play last Tuesday, and Bishop Garrigan finished on top. The Bears’ conference win/loss record is tied with Forest City, but Bishop Garrigan’s overall 18 – 3 record is three wins better than any other team in the conference.

Carter Schwab and Mike Joyce have been the Bears’ top scorers, both averaging more than 14 points per game through the season. Amaury Thomas and Nick Leerar lead in rebounds, with 10 and 8 per game. Fellow starter Tate Foertsch has 4 assists per game, and Drew Muller and Trayton Cink have added big talent off the bench.

The Bears drew a bye in the first round of playoffs. With the top seed in District 3, they’ll face the winner of West Hancock and Rockford Monday night. The game will be at 7pm at Garrigan. The road to state is also likely to include Riceville, Northwood—Kensett or Lake Mills, and Ft. Dodge St. Edmond. Good luck, boys basketball!

The Golden Bear girls finished the regular season with a 19 – 3 record and ended up second in the conference. Like the boys, they also had a bye in the first round of playoffs. The girls will host Tuesday night against either GTRA or North Iowa. Their path through regionals is likely to include Harris—Lake Park and St. Ansgar. Good luck all throughout playoffs to the Golden Bear basketball teams.

Last weekend Algona’s wrestling team won the state dual championship, and the three varsity wrestlers from Bishop Garrigan were a big part of that win. Both C.J. and Carter McGregor won their matches in the championship round Saturday, while Teague Alesch finished in second place. The wrestlers are at individual districts in Sioux Center today, and we wish them good luck.

The state DECA competition is this weekend at Southeast Polk High School near Des Moines, and Bishop Garrigan has twenty events entered at state. Brooke Ludwig and Molly Peterson completed a Buying and Merchandising Operations research project, which will be evaluated at state. We also have two teams entered in Sports and Entertainment Marketing. Thadd Kollasch will be competing with Sam Greteman, and Kayden Graves is with Gabe Swift.

Other team events include Gabby Buscher and Gabbie Penton in Business Law and Ethics, Max Buscher and Joey Lallier in Marketing Management, Aiden Lichter and Aidan Deitering in Hospitality Services, and Harper Nelson and Shiloh Trainer in Buying and Merchandising. There are three individual entries in Human Resource Management: Matt Besch, Kylie Capesius, and Reece Kemna.

Other individual entries are Alec Deitering in Principles of Entrepreneurship; Brooke Ludwig, Daniel Meis, and Cora Deardeuff in Hotel and Lodging Management; Noah Schafer and Henry Bode in Principles of Marketing; Gage Meyer and Bryden Morse in Hospitality and Tourism; Ava Snider in Apparel and Accessories Marketing; and Molly Peterson in Marketing Communications.

State DECA continues through Monday. Students will be judged both on their in-person presentations and on the scores of online tests they took ahead of time. While Bishop Garrigan is the smallest Iowa school that participates in DECA, we’ve had lots of success over the years. Good luck at state to all the students in DECA.

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

Drew Muller is a second-generation star on the Golden Bear basketball team. His dad was on the first Golden Bear team that ever went to state, and Drew is also hoping to compete down in Des Moines. Drew is a year-round athlete. Aside from basketball, he’s also done well in football, baseball, and golf. He’ll be off to college next fall, and we wish him all the best of luck in the future.

Thanks, Owen. On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s district wrestling today in Sioux Center. Then tomorrow state DECA begins at Southeast Polk. Tomorrow is also the second round of the KC free throw contest.

Students on the mission trip to Mississippi will start heading back tomorrow and should be home Monday night. There’s no school at Garrigan Monday due to a teacher inservice. That night the boys basketball team hosts their district opener.

Tuesday and Wednesday we’ll have parent—teacher conferences at Garrigan. Tuesday night it’s the girls’ turn for playoff basketball action. State wrestling begins Wednesday in Des Moines and continues through the weekend.

Basketball playoffs continue, with the boys hosting the district semifinals on Thursday and the girls hosting the regional semifinal on Friday. There’s no school at Garrigan or Seton next Friday.

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.