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Learning Empowers Individuals to Great Heights
The Leigh speech team competed at the East Husker Conference Speech (West Division) meet last Wednesday, February 21st. The meet was hosted in Clarkson.
Six teams participated in the competition, including Clarkson, Twin River, Howells-Dodge, Humphrey, and North Bend Central.
The Leigh team saw several successes on the day. Brianne Kuhr finished with third place in Extemporaneous and fifth place in Humorous. Luke Eisenmann placed fifth in Extemporaneous.
Leigh placed fifth overall as a team, and Twin River won the meet.
Speech coach Mrs. Gall said, “I am very proud of how everyone competed! I am looking forward to these next couple weeks of practice before we head to districts!”
“I'm really proud of how our speech team is doing this year! I feel like we have a really good mix of people on our team, and we work well together. I'm excited to see how we'll do at District Speech, and I'm hoping that we'll have some members go to State,” said senior Aubrie Hanna.
The speech team competes at districts in Wausa on March 12th!
The Patriot Wrestling season came to an end for a few, and was prolonged for others on February 9th and 10th. The wrestling team traveled to Battle Creek for the Class C District 3 Tournament.
The tough district featured the likes of Fillmore Central, David City, Falls City, Logan View, Tekamah-Herman, Doniphan-Trumbull, Madison, Wood River, West Point-Beemer, North Bend Central, Lincoln Lutheran, Lutheran High Northeast, Winnebago, Grand Island Central Catholic, and the host Battle Creek.
. A long tournament full of fun and exciting matches, led to Senior 285-pounder Andrew Rivera and Sophomore 215-pounder Levi Gall qualifying for state.
Andrew Rivera started out the day going 2-0, beating a Wood River wrestler and the #2 seeded Battle Creek heavyweight. After falling to the district runner-up in the semifinal, Andrew wrestled back, beating the North Bend wrestler 1-0 in the heartbreak round to punch his ticket to state for the second year in a row. In the 3rd-4th place match, he beat the Battle Creek wrestler for the second time of the tournament, placing 3rd.
Levi Gall was looking to continue his incredible season after falling in the heartbreak round at districts the previous year as a freshman. Levi also started out the tournament 2-0, pinning both the Wood River and Falls City 215-pounders. After falling in the semifinals to the eventual district champion, Levi beat the Wood River kid for the second time of the day, making it to state for the first time in his young career. The Falls-City wrestler got the better of him at the end of the day, allowing Levi to finish 4th.
Freshman Wyatt Langhorst battled all season as a first-year wrestler. Showing improvement, he came into districts looking to work what he learned throughout the year. Wyatt battled hard against tough competitors, including the district runner-up, and wasn’t upset with the outcome. He is already ready for next season.
Senior Morgan Bunner came into districts looking to make it to state for the third time. Morgan lost to the eventual district champion in his first match before wrestling back to the heartbreak round, taking down the GICC and Wood River wrestlers. A tough heartbreak round match ended Morgan’s senior year.
Head Coach Tyler Reeves said, “It was a long tough day of wrestling. Going in we knew we weren’t the biggest team, but our guys knew how to compete and we showed that with two qualifiers this year. Andrew and Levi wrestled hard all day to qualify for state. Morgan unfortunately lost in the heartbreak round, missing state by a single match.”
Senior Andrew Rivera said, “A lot of us knew miracles needed to happen, but we all just had to go in and wrestle to try and earn another week of wrestling.”
State Wrestling
The NSAA State Wrestling Tournament is always full of tough competition, but Andrew Rivera and Levi Gall were up to the challenge.
Levi wrestled the 39-8 Boone Central 215-pounder in the first round. After falling behind early, Levi pulled a stunning move to pin the kid and complete an upset. Levi would lose the eventual 3rd place wrestler in the second round. But Levi wrestled back to the heartbreak round before losing to the Logan View wrestler.
Andrew made it to state for the second time in his career. Andrew wrestled the 27-21 heavyweight from Crofton-Bloomfield. Unfortunately, Andrew was unable to pull out the win, before he also lost in his next match to the 36-13 Milford wrestler, ending his successful high school career.
The top three teams at state by team scores were: Battle Creek with 127, Broken Bow with 98, and O’Neill with 86.5.
Even though the Patriots didn’t end the season with any state medalists, it was a successful year of wrestling.
Patriot Wrestler Season Records
126 - Morgan Bunner - 32-12
175 - Wyatt Langhorst - 5-22
215 - Levi Gall - 33-7
285 - Andrew Rivera - 12-6
285 - Brett Wemhoff - 1-20
On November 11, 2005, in Columbus, Nebraska, Debbie and Jake Brabec were so lucky to be blessed with their oldest son, Jack Lambert Brabec.
Jack has three siblings, Kaylee, age 14; Easton, age 13; and Kash, age 9. Jack's grandparents are Jim and Joyce Kuchar, who live in Norfolk, and Charmayne Brabec and the late Gary Brabec, of Leigh.
Jack also has a dog named Bolt and a cat named Max.
Jack says three words that describe him best are wild, sleepy, and semi-athletic.
Throughout his years in high school, Jack has participated in One-Act play and FFA for 4 years, football and basketball for 3 years, and golf and track for 2 years, and journalism for 1 year. He is also a member of the Leigh Youth Advisory Committee.
Jack is very proud of getting a pick-6 in a football game and being part of last year’s state championship football team.
He says his most embarrassing moment is when he wore a dress and heels to emcee the Homecoming pep rally.
He has had various jobs throughout high school, and currently works part time at Pizza Hut. After high school, his future plans are to join the Air Force.
If he won a fortune Jack says he would put it in the bank. If he could travel anywhere, he would go to Australia to see kangaroos, so he would maybe spend some of his fortune on that.
In 10-15 years, Jack sees himself owning an aerial spraying business. 3 goals he would like to achieve in the future are be a part of the 1000-pound club in weights, live to see 30, and go on a submarine tour.
A person Jack admires in life is Danny Devito because he is funny and successful because of it. A pet peeve of Jack’s is when drivers drive side by side and slow up traffic.
Jack has many favorite things. His favorite activity is golf. His favorite class in school is weights, and his favorite movie is “Real Steel.” His favorite song is “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. His favorite sports team is the 49ers, and his favorite food is chicken tacos.
Before he leaves Leigh High School, Jack’s advice to underclassmen is this: “Try to get more sleep than I did.”
We wish Jack the best of luck in his future!
On Monday, February 19th, the Patriot boys traveled to Norfolk Catholic to begin post-season play in their sub-district tournament.
The Patriots played Stanton in the first round, and won with a score of 64-32. They had played Stanton in the previous week, so they knew what to expect going into the game.
Kyle McMullin dropped 29 points against Stanton, including a whopping 9 three pointers. This broke a Patriot record for most 3 pointers in a game.
Trey Steffensmeier also scored eight points, along with having eight assists and six steals. They led the Patriots to their victory over the Mustangs.
The next day, February 20th, the Patriots traveled back up to Norfolk to play Norfolk Catholic. The Patriots were led by junior Korbin Lemburg and sophomore Kyle McMullin. Lemburg almost dropped a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds, and McMullin was one of the top scorers as well with 8 points.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough for the Patriots against the top-seeded Knights, and this game ended their season. The Patriots end the season with a record of 3-18.
Senior, Jordan Noonan gave his thoughts on how the game went, “We came out looking very strong against Stanton and were able to move and shoot the ball very well. It was a great team win overall. While against Norfolk Catholic we came out very strong and kept the game close until the end of 3rd quarter. I think the back to back games really wore us down and it showed in the late 3rd and 4th quarter. Despite few wins, it was a good season, and I was glad to play with this group of guys!”
Head Coach, Jeff Bachman, gave his thoughts on the final games of the season. He said, “I was very proud of how we showed up and played in Subs. We put together a great defensive and offensive game against Stanton and were able to get an easy win. Against Norfolk Catholic we battled and played well for a long stretch. Unfortunately, we ran out of gas and they were able to pull away. The final score was not reflective of the effort we gave that night.”
Clarkson-Leigh vs. Stanton
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Patriots: 18 17 16 13 64
Mustangs: 8 11 5 8 32
(points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks)
Kyle McMullin: 29, 7, 1, 1, 0; Jordan Noonan: 0, 1, 2, 1, 0; Luke Eisenmann: 0, 0, 0, 1, 0; Wyatt Crosley: 6, 1, 0, 0, 0; Blake Loeske: 0, 2, 0, 0, 0; Ryan Brichacek: 7, 7, 2, 1, 0; Tucker Matthies: 2, 3, 2, 0, 0; Trey Steffensmeier: 10, 5, 8, 6, 1; Conner Jurgensen: 4, 1, 0, 0, 0; Korbin Lemburg: 4, 5, 1, 1, 0; Christian Hamernik: 2, 3, 3, 0, 0
Clarkson-Leigh vs. Norfolk Catholic
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Patriots: 8 10 7 2 27
Norfolk Catholic: 12 17 11 24 64
(points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks)
Kyle McMullin: 8, 5, 2, 1, 0; Wyatt Crosley: 3, 1, 1, 1, 0; Ryan Brichacek: 2, 2, 1, 1, 0; Tucker Matthies: 0, 1, 0, 1, 0; Trey Steffensmeier: 3, 0, 2, 2, 1; Conner Jurgensen: 0, 2, 0, 0, 0; Korbin Lemburg: 10, 9, 2, 1, 0; Christian Hamernik: 3, 1, 0, 0, 1.
On Friday, February 16th, the Patriot Dance team headed to Grand Island to compete at the Nebraska State Cheer and Dance competition. This was the Patriots’ first time at state dance in many years and the first time with Mrs. Dostal being head coach.
The Patriots performed two dances. They had a pom routine and a hip hop dance. They performed hip hop first, and followed hip hop with their pom dance.
The Patriots competed in class C2 for both categories. They competed against 10 different teams in pom, and 13 different teams in hip hop. The team did not end up placing, but enjoyed the new experience!
Senior Cassi Rayback said, “It was a fun experience for our team to take part in. We competed well, and I’m glad we were given the opportunity to go!”
This year’s Leigh Quiz Bowl team really proved their academic prowess as they ended up placing 4th out of 48 teams in the 2024 KTCH radio quiz bowl tournament!
On February 20th, the Leigh Quiz Bowl team competed against St. Francis in the elite 8 round of the competition. They beat the Flyers 4-3 in overtime.
Brianne Kuhr said, “We knew the match against St. Francis was going to be tough because it was the quarter final match. We were so excited as a team after we beat St. Francis because we knew that we clenched a spot in the final four. I am so proud of this quiz bowl team because out of 48 teams, we are one of the last four teams remaining.”
In the final four, the Patriots played Wayne in an extremely close match. After that they played West-Point Beemer in the consolation game for 3rd. Unfortunately, Leigh lost this game in a nail-biter finish as well to finish 4th overall.
Throughout the tournament, the Leigh team consisted of seniors Aubrie Hannah and Morgan Bunner; junior Brianne Kuhr; and sophomores Luke Eisenmann and Brayden Loseke. Aubrie Hanna was team captain.
Quiz Bowl sponsor Mrs. Gall said, “I am so proud of this team for making it to the final 4 out of 48 teams, and they should be so proud of themselves!”
On February 16, the Clarkson Leigh boys’ basketball team traveled to David City to take on the Scouts in their final game of the regular season.
The JV team started out the night. It was a close game going into the final quarter but the Scouts went and outscored the Patriots 18-6. The final score of the JV game was 20-38 with the Scouts coming out victorious.
This was the final game of the season for the JV team. They concluded their season with a record of 3-12.
Next up it was time for the varsity to take the court. The Scouts came out strong in the first half, allowing them to get a steady lead on the Patriots. Going into halftime the Scouts were up 41-20.
Coming out for the second half the Patriots continued to get looks at the hoop but shots just weren’t falling. The Scouts came out on top of the Patriots 33-65. The Patriots ended their regular season 2-17.
Head coach Jeff Bachman said, “We came out and they jumped on us early. I was happy how we fought, but we were unable to dig ourselves out of the hole. They were a good team and you can't give a good team like that an early advantage.”
“We definitely could all tell we didn't come out with a lot of energy, but we were able to tie the game up 5 to 5 early, but some sloppy turnovers let them really take hold of the game. After we cleaned that up we were able to hang with them the rest of the game and battle hard against them,” said senior Jordan Noonan.
Game Stats vs. David City
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Clarkson/Leigh 8 12 7 6 33
David City 27 14 17 7 65
Individual Stats: (points, rebounds, assists, steals)
Kyle McMullin: 5, 3, 0, 0; Wyatt Crosley: 2, 3, 0, 1; Ryan Brichacek: 4, 2, 1, 1; Tucker Mattheis: 3, 4, 2, 1; Trey Steffensmeier: 8, 2, 0, 0; Conner Jurgenson: 6, 6, 1, 0; Korbin Lemburg: 5, 3, 2, 0; Christian Hamernik: 0, 1, 0, 0
On October 2nd, 2005, Mark and Mary Grotelueshen welcomed their first son into the world, James Mark Grotelueshen.
James has one older sister Riana, 20 who graduated from LHS in the class of ‘21. James also has a border collie named Ace.
James has participated in many activities over the last four years, including football, One-Act play and FFA for 4 years and wrestling, golf, and National Honor Society for 3 years. James is also involved in Leigh Youth Advisory Committee and 4-H.
Outside of school, James enjoys his summer job working in the shop at Platte Valley, the Clarkson location. His future plans are to attend Southeast Community College for diesel mechanics and then continue to work at Platte Valley.
If he were to win the lottery, James would buy a new truck and a nice house on an acreage. Then whatever is left over, he would split it with half to go in savings and the rest into the stock market. He would maybe spend some on a trip to Jamaica because he has always wanted to go there.
The biggest pet peeve James has is whenever someone is smacking or chewing loudly on their food because it just annoys him super fast.
In 10-15 years, James hopes to be earning a nice salary and have started a family with a nice house with a nice barn for some cows and a big shed.
If having to give the underclassmen advice, James would give these great words of wisdom: “Why spend five hours on a project when you can spend an hour right before it is due?”
We wish James good luck on his future!
On June 15, 2006, John and Sarah Bunner welcomed their son Morgan Douglas Bunner into this world along with his twin sister, Lily. Morgan also has an older brother, Drew Kozik, 29, and a younger sister, Vivian, 14.
Morgan’s grandparents are Carolyn Bunner and the late Doug Bunner of Wentzville, Missouri and Robyn and Tony Dalsanto of Rogers, Arkansas. Their family also wouldn’t be complete without their 2 cats, D.C. and Greg, and their 4 dogs, Boomer, Stewart, Lucy, and Chessie.
Throughout high school Morgan has been active in One-Act, Wrestling, Golf, and Choir for 4 years, Journalism for 2 years, and Football for 1 year. Morgan is also involved in 4-H, St. John’s Luther League, and Cornhusker Boys’ State.
Morgan has been a part of the Conference Honor Choir three times and qualified for State Wrestling. He has also won the prestigious award of Conference Best Supporting Actor.
Outside of school and sports, you can find Morgan working downtown at Just Another Mini Mart. Morgan also enjoys going golfing, watching sports, bowling, and going to the movies in his free time.
Morgan says his proudest high school accomplishment is getting 100 wins in wrestling, and his favorite high school memory is when he scored a touchdown during a football game.
Morgan’s future plans include attending a junior college to earn an Associate’s Degree. He is currently undecided on what he exactly wants to go into. In 10-15 years, Morgan sees himself with a family and a steady career.
If Morgan were to win the lottery, he would build a nice house for him and his family.
Three goals on Morgan’s bucket list are to go and visit a country internationally, graduate college, and go skydiving.
Of all countries in the world, he would choose Finland to visit if he ever got the chance to travel anywhere in the world because they have a great culture and it is a beautiful country.
Morgan’s favorite class is Lifetime Skills, his favorite movie is Hacksaw Ridge, his favorite song is “Bleed American” by Jimmy Eat World, and his favorite sports team is the St. Louis Blues, and his favorite place to eat is El Mezcal.
Morgan says one person he admires in his life is his dad because he is always there to give him advice or just to talk to at any time.
Three words that would best describe Morgan are short, happy, and hardworking.
His advice to underclassmen is “Take in everything you do, whether that be in the classroom or in after school activities. Everything goes fast and if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
We wish Morgan the best of luck, and we hope he is successful in his future endeavors!
On Monday, February 5, nine students from LHS attended the Boone-Central Honor Choir Clinic in Albion including seniors Jack Brabec, Lillian Bunner, Morgan Bunner, and Gabriel Pinkston; juniors Paige Kurpgeweit, Keeley Campbell, Amaiya Ross, and Alisyn Lich; and sophomore Sydney Messerlie.
Over 200 kids attended this event from 12 different schools. The Choir Clinic started at 10:30 am and held a concert later that evening at 5:30 pm after a day filled with singing and fun activities. There were four sessions held throughout the day and five songs were sung in the concert.
Choir teacher Sydney Wemhoff stated, “The choir had a fun day at the Boone-Central honor choir! They learned and performed a variety of songs in different styles and did a fantastic job!”
Senior Gabriel Pinkston said, “The Boone Central Choir Clinic is always a great experience for everyone involved. It allows students from anywhere to participate in a day of community and music, regardless of their experience. I believe that it is a beneficial event for anyone who wants to pursue their musical careers.”