The Bear Facts

November 15, 2025


Good morning! I’m Tate Foertsch!

I’m Kayden Graves!

And I’m Hailee Reutzel! You’re listening to the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Ever since the start of football season, the Golden Bears’ goal has been to “take it back”. Their eye had been on the state championship trophy that they won in 2023 but missed out on last year. After an undefeated regular season and four big playoff wins, the Bears have earned their way back to the 8-man championship game. The top-rated Bears will be playing #2 Woodbine next Thursday at 9:30am in the UNI-Dome.

While the semi-final game was the closest of the season, the Bears still got a decisive win. Garrigan trailed early in the game, but they came back to beat Audubon by a final score of 60 – 36. Kwik Star convenience stores named Tate Foertsch the Star of the Game. Tate threw touchdown passes to Madden Miller, Mike Joyce, and Weston Rosenmeyer; and he ran for three touchdowns himself. On defense Tate added another interception to his state-leading total.

Ethan Marso added two touchdowns of his own, and he led the team in rushing with 112 yards. Ethan led the defense with 6 tackles, but C.J. McGregor, Madden Miller, Tate Foertsch, Carter McGregor, Mike Joyce, and Karson Kramer each had multiple tackles. Carter Schwab got a fumble recovery that led to the Bears’ first score. Carter also had some huge blocks, and he led the team in defensive assists. Kayden Graves snapped the ball flawlessly for the Bears, while bad snaps led to big losses for Audubon.

Weston Rosenmeyer stripped the ball from the opposing quarterback , which led to another Golden Bear score. Madden Miller intercepted a pass and returned the ball 36 yards. Matt Besch recovered after a bad Audon snap, which helped the Bears score once again. Titan Troyer, Dalton Klenz, Carter Cink, and Gage Meyer also had positive stats in the state semifinal game.

Tate Foertsch is now the first quarterback in Garrigan history to both pass and rush for over 1,000 yards in a season, and we know there will be lots of other records falling after this season. The Bears will now finish their season in the state championship game next Thursday morning. Tickets are available online, and you can hear the game coverage right here on KLGA.

Last Saturday Bishop Garrigan hosted the Top of Iowa Conference quiz bowl tournament. The Bears made playoffs and ended up in fourth place overall. The playoff team featured Tate Foertsch, Amaury Thomas, Aidan Deitering, and Marshall Bormann. The next quiz bowl contest will be December 6 in Spirit Lake. Congratulations, quiz bowl!

Today twenty-three Garrigan business students are down in Ames for the district DECA competition. Kayden Graves, Gabe Swift, Aiden Lichter, and Aidan Deitering will be competing in the Sports and Entertainment team category. Harper Nelson, Lucy Eisenbarth, and Hailee Reutzel will compete in Apparel and Accessories Marketing, and Gabbie Penton is entered in Marketing Communication.

Henry Bode, Bryden Morse, and Shiloh Trainer, will be competing in Hotel and Lodging Management, while Gabby Buscher and Rylee Garman are entered in Human Resources Management. Caiden Buckner, Abby Deardeuff, Emma Kollasch, and Hope Rooney will compete in Principles of Entrepreneurship; while Eli Casey and Gage Meyer are the Entrepreneurship team. The final entry is Hospitality team—which includes Sheila Reding, Kylie Capesius, Jaelyn Antoine, and Cora Deardeuff. Good luck at districts, DECA!

Our senior spotlight going into the state football championships is Carter McGregor. Here to tell you about him is Carley Nielson.

If you’ve watched Garrigan football this fall, you’ve definitely seen Carter McGregor’s #8. He plays on both sides of the ball, but his play has been especially important to the Golden Bear defense. Carter helped lead the Algona Bulldogs to the dual wrestling state championship last winter, and he’s hoping to lead his own Golden Bears to the football title next week. Carter has also run at state track, and he’s a percussionist in the band. We wish Carter good luck in the championship game and in the future.

Thanks, Carley! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s state DECA today at Iowa State in Ames. Monday boys basketball officially begins, but we’re pretty sure a lot of the team will be waiting a week for football to end first.

Tuesday is the Top of Iowa Conference honor band at Osage. We’ll have a student mass Wednesday morning, and then on Thursday there’s the state 8-man football championship in Cedar Falls.

Friday morning we’ll have a blood drive at Garrigan. We hope we’ll be celebrating a victory by donating the gift of life. Finally on Friday afternoon the school board meets.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for another week. Thanks for joining us for the broadcast, and we hope you’ll join us in wishing the Bears good luck in the state championship game!

EVERYBODY: GO BEARS!