The Bear Facts
February 21, 2026



Good morning! I’m Harper Nelson!

I’m Cora Deardeuff!

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

Last Saturday Garrigan students Carter and C.J. McGregor competed for the Algona Bulldogs as they won the district wrestling championship. Both Garrigan athletes were district champions in their weight classes. C.J. took gold at 144 pounds, while Carter was the top district wrestler at 157. This is the second trip to state for both of the McGregor brothers. We had a pep rally for them and for all of Algona’s state-bound wrestlers last Wednesday to wish them well in Des Moines. Congratulations on making it to state!

The Golden Bear basketball teams have been rapidly advancing through playoffs. Both the boys and girls had the top seed in their divisions, and they both made fast work of their early playoff opponents. We’re crossing our fingers that will continue and earn both Golden Bear teams a trip to state.

It’s no surprise that the Bears were well represented when the Top of Iowa Conference announced their all-conference basketball teams. On the girls side, all the starters were all-conference honorees. Sacha Alesch and Graclyn Eastman earned first team honors, Emmi Bartolo and Madelyn Tigges were second team selections, and Carley Nielson was an honorable mention.

The Golden Bear boys’ coach Mark Meister was named Top of Iowa Conference Coach of the Year. Michael Joyce, Carter Schwab, and Amaury Thomas were all first team all-conference selections, and Tate Foertsch was an all-conference honorable mention. Both the Golden Bear boys and girls teams won the conference championship in 2026. Congratulations to the basketball teams!

Last weekend the Bishop Garrigan DECA team travelled to Des Moines to compete in the Iowa DECA state conference. Twenty-two Golden Bears were part of different business-oriented competitions. Senior Hailee Retuzel was named Most Outstanding Member from the Bishop Garrigan chapter, and advisor Alex Schwing was recognized for five years of service to DECA.

Freshman Hope Rooney earned 3rd place in Principles of Hospitality. Gabby Buscher and Gabbie Penton earned 5th place in their Law and Ethics team, Kayden Graves and Gabe Swift earned Honorable Mentions in Sports and Entertainment team, and Alec Deitering earned an Honorable Mention in Entrepreneurship. Congratulations, DECA honorees.

Two Garrigan quiz bowl players were back in action last weekend. This has been a very quiet quiz bowl season, partly because tournaments at both Spirit Lake and Algona High were cancelled. The Bears were a bit rusty after not competing live since November, but they managed to defeat a team from Ankeny Centennial. Juniors Marshall Bormann and Eva Kohlhaas competed for the Bears. The next quiz bowl contest will be the online spring Knowledge Master in a couple weeks.

Gala 2026 is just over a month away. The 37th annual fundraiser will be Saturday, March 28th. This year’s theme is “Gala Gone Tropical”, and as part of the decorations will be filling the schoolyard with flamingos. These are being sold right now, and they can be personalized to honor different people. More information is available on the Bishop Garrigan Facebook page.

The 2026 pops concert will be next Friday night. This year’s theme is “Through the Years”, and a wide range of music will be featured. Tickets are $5 each for either table or bleacher seating, and—as always—admission is free for patrons of the DARTS group. Tables are first come, first served and can be arranged by calling the school at 295-3521 during school hours. Bleacher seats are also available at the door. Showtime is 7pm Friday night. Be sure to be there for the Bishop Garrigan pops concert.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Aubrey Meyer. Aubrey is a Whittemore native who is in lots of different activities. She’s a cheerleader, and she’s been in danz squad, student council, and speech. You may have even heard her announcing here on the “Bear Facts”. Away from school she likes flying airplanes and hanging out with friends. You might also see her working at Cultivate. Aubrey wants to study to be a dermatologist in the future, and we wish her all the best.

On our Golden Bear calendar this week, the state wrestling tournament wraps up today at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines. Also today some girls will be heading up to Mankato with Fr. Zach for the Nun Run.

We’ll have conferences Tuesday and Thursday nights, and there’s a 2:15 dismissal both days. Tuesday night the boys basketball team should be hosting the district championship.

We’ll have mass Wednesday morning. The girls’ regional final will be Wednesday night at a neutral site. Then Friday is the pops concert.

Next Saturday will be the district individual speech contest in Newell. Finally that night, we’re hoping the Bears will be playing in the boys’ substate basketball game.

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.