The Bear Facts

February 28, 2026

Good morning! I’m Harper Nelson!

I’m Graclyn Eastman!

And I’m Henry Bode! Welcome to a special episode of the “Bear Facts”, where we’re doing some celebrating here at Bishop Garrigan High School.

On to state! While we’ve said that a lot at Bishop Garrigan, it still a very special thing whenever our Golden Bears qualify for state. Last Wednesday the Golden Bear girls made history when they won the regional final and made it on to state for the seventh year in a row. The Bears’ streak started right before the COVID pandemic back in 2020.

Back in 2000 the team was led by Audi Crooks and Molly Joyce, both of whom would go on to become dominating college players. A lot of people thought that when they graduated, the Bears’ dominance would be done. The team has reinvented itself again and again, though, and the 2026 Golden Bears are back to being the top-rated team in Class 1-A. They started slow in the regional final, but they ended up beating Lake Mills 55 – 33 to win the right to play at Casey’s Center.

The Bears go into state with a 23 – 2 overall record. Their only losses were to Class 5-A state qualifier West Des Moines Valley and to Class 3-A Forest City. Their wins include setting the school’s single game scoring record, racking up 102 points against Class 3-A Eagle Grove.

Junior Graclyn Eastman has been the Bears’ top scorer this year, averaging more than 17 points per game. Senior Sacha Alesch has also consistently scored in double digits. Four Golden Bear seniors—Sacha Alesch, Emmi Bartolo, Carley Nielsen, and Alyssa Haugland—have all averaged more than 35% on three-point shots, and Emmi Bartolo leads the entire state in free throw percentage, at over 90%.

Senior Ava Roethler has been a key contributor on defense, and sophomores Madelyn Tigges and Addy Faris have gotten lots of playing time on both sides of the ball. Rounding out the state-bound team are Bree Ludwig, Lilly Erpelding—Wickman, Rikiya Nielson, Jenna Peterson, Brooklyn Berte, and Shiloh Trainer. The Bears will play their opening game at state Wednesday at 1:30pm against Kee High School from Lansing. The semifinals are Friday at 1:30, and the 1-A state championship will be next Saturday night. Good luck at state to the Golden Bear girls!

The girls aren’t the only team with a chance to go to state. Tonight the district champion Bishop Garrigan boys will be playing their substate game over in Mason City, the same gym where the girls won their regional final. The 22 – 2 Golden Bears will take on 21 – 3 South Winneshiek High School from Calmar. Game time is 7:00 tonight. We encourage you to be there in person, but you can also catch the livestream from KLGA’s own Tyler Lance. We’re crossing our fingers that the boys will also head down to Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

At every Golden Bear game you’ll see the Bishop Garrigan basketball spirit squad. Senior Addison Kuper is the winter cheer captain, and she’s been a cheerleader all through high school. Joining her are Stormi Larson, Adrienne Kuper, Anaya Thomas, Abbi Deardeuff, Addy Laubenthal, and Riley Doerning. You’ll also see Gary the Bear—or perhaps his alter-ego Kayden Graves—cheering on his fellow Bears at every game. Thanks to the cheerleaders for the hard work they do all season long.

At the state DECA conference two weeks ago Garrigan freshman Hope Rooney competed in the Principles of Entrepreneurship category. She was one of the top competitors at state, and she ended up qualifying for the International DECA Career Development Competition. That will be held April 25 through 28 in Atlanta. Congratulations, Hope!

Today the district individual speech contest is being held over in Newell. While several of Garrigan’s entries had to cancel, mostly because of the substate basketball game, there will still be three Golden Bears competing in five events. Eva Kohlhaas, Lucy Eisenbarth, and Alice Casey are all competing in Storytelling. Eva is also entered in Musical Theatre, and Lucy is also entered in Improvisation. Best wishes to all the individual speech entrants.

Several people from Garrigan are being honored today at the Iowa Football Coaches Association conference in Altoona. Mick Elbert is receiving an award as Assistant Coach of the Year, and longtime announcer David Burrow is being honored with the Ken Winkler Distinguished Service Award, and head coach Marty Wadle will be honored as a regional coach of the year. Three Golden Bear players—Tate Foertsch, Kyle Bormann, and Kayden Graves—are also academic all-state honorees. Congratulations.

Because of all the basketball news, we’re skipping our Senior Spotlight this week. On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s the district speech contest today in Newell. Then tonight the Golden Bear boys will play in the substate final against South Winneshiek at Mason City High School.

Monday night we’ll have our annual academic banquet. This year that will be combined with the honor society induction. We’ll let you know who the honorees are on next week’s show.

Tuesday the Golden Bear dance team will perform at the state basketball tournament. We’ll have a pep rally for the Garrigan girls at around 2:15 Tuesday afternoon.

There’s no school at Garrigan or Seton next Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. This is our official spring break. The Golden Bear girls have their first game at state Wednesday at 1:30, when they’ll face Kee Lansing.

The quiz bowl team will compete in the online Knowledge Master next Thursday. The girls’ state semifinals is Friday at 1:30, and the state championship is Saturday at 7pm.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for February. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to join us at state and then next Saturday for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

EVERYONE: Go Bears!