The Bear Facts

January 17, 2026

Good morning! I’m Tate Foertsch!

I’m Kayden Graves!

And I’m Emmi Bartolo! Welcome once again to the “Bear Facts”, the radio show where each week we keep you in touch with all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

After winning the state football championship last fall, both the Golden Bear boys and girls basketball teams have had a great season. The boys were ranked #4 in the state in the latest Iowa High School Athletic Association top ten list. They have a big match-up next Monday with #1-ranked Ft. Dodge St. Edmond.

Amaury Thomas has been averaging a double—double, with 16 points and 12 rebounds per game this season. Mike Joyce is also averaging over 16 points per game, and Carter Schwab is at 13. Tate Foertsch and Carter Schwab are second and third on the rebounds list; Schwab, Joyce, and Foertsch lead the team in assists; and Joyce, Schwab, and Foertsch have all racked up lots of steals. Fellow starter Madden Miller has also done well, particularly on defense, and Brad Meister and Jack Muller have gotten lots of playing time off the bench.

The Golden Bear girls are now ranked #2 by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, behind only Newell—Fonda. The girls only losses were to Class 3-A Forest City and to West Des Moines Valley, which is the largest school in the state. The girls played close in both their losses. In fact they played Valley closer than most 5-A teams have, losing by a score of just 59 – 50.

Graclyn Eastman has averaged 19 points per game for the Bears, with Sacha Alesch and Emmi Bartolo right behind her on the scoring list. Brooklyn Berte, Addyson Faris, and Alyssa Haugland lead the team in three-point percentage; Graclyn Eastman, Carley Nielson, Madelyn Tigges, and Ava Roethler have been the team’s top rebounders; and Bartolo, Alesch, and Tigges lead the team in assists. Good luck in the rest of the season to both the girls and boys basketball teams!

In recent years Bishop Garrigan has made a big commitment to include real-world career education. The school has made arrangements with nearly a hundred area businesses, many of which are operated by our alumni. The career education begins with special speakers who show freshmen what different jobs are like. It continues for sophomores and juniors with mock interviews and job shadowing opportunities.

The biggest part of career education is called E.C.E. During the second semester of their senior year, many students—particularly those who aren’t looking at traditional four-year colleges—earn school credit for the work they do through internships and apprenticeships at area businesses. Counselor Erin Miller and English teacher Ashley Meyer have been the main organizers of this program, but many Garrigan teachers and lots of business people are involved as well.

This past week Garrigan teacher David Burrow learned that he will be receiving the Ken Winkler Distinguished Service Award from the Iowa Football Coaches Association. Garrigan coach Marty Wadle nominated Mr. Burrow for the award, which mostly recognizes the work he’s done as the P.A. announcer at Golden Bear games. He’s been the “voice of the Bears” for football games since 1992, and he’s also announced many baseball games and even a few basketball games. Congratulations, Mr. Burrow!

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Noah Berte. Here to tell you about him is Ava Snider.

Noah Berte is a Bancroft native who is one of the students involved in the E.C.E. career program, where he works at Fiber Body. He’s part of the Golden Bear trapshooting team, and away from school he likes to work and hang out with his friends. Next year he plans to major in agribusiness at Hawkeye Tech. We wish Noah good luck in the future.

Thanks, Ava! On our Golden Bear calendar, girls’ wrestling has their conference tournament today at Algona High. There’s also a boys’ wrestling tournament in Creston this weekend.

Tomorrow is the K.C. free throw contest. Monday there’s no school at Garrigan because of professional development. The boys’ basketball team hosts St. Ed’s Monday night, and there’s a JV wrestling tournament in Emmetsburg.

Tuesday the basketball teams play at Lake Mills. The swim team is in Boone that night. Wednesday is the Diocesan Band Festival at Bishop Heelan in Sioux City. Then on Thursday many seniors will lead the 8th grade retreat in Bancroft.

There’s wrestling in Iowa Falls Thursday night and J.V. wrestling at Humboldt on Friday. Finally on Friday the basketball teams host Eagle Grove for senior night.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to catch the show next week, when we’ll be looking at Catholic Schools Week here at Bishop Garrigan High School.