“It’s such an honor [to be here] because not only did both of my kids graduate from Buffalo High School, but my son is a veteran too,” Rarick said.

Involved in assisting the program this year was the Buffalo Student Council, holding flags and handing out carnations were some of the duties given to the council members. This was Mrs. Schumacher’s first year being involved in the Veterans Day program as Buffalo Student Council advisor. “Any opportunity to involve the Student Council as leaders at different events is a great opportunity,” Schumacher said.

Many students plan to join the military after high school, one of those students being Josh Froberg, a senior at BHS who is planning to pursue the Marines after he graduates. This year, he was one of the Veterans Day student ambassadors. Froberg looked forward to the chance to honor those who have served in the military with his involvement in the program, “Even though it’s such a small thing to be helping out, it gives back to the veterans. As someone who will eventually be a veteran, it feels really good,” Froberg said.

Several standing ovations erupted from those in attendance, appreciating the amazing sacrifices these veterans (and their families) have made.

“I’ve wanted to be King ever since I saw Ovie Mayo win last year,” Gorton explained. “I thought it was cool how his friends basically got him there. Then I emailed Mischke about how to become Homecoming King, and he told me [about the process].” 

Gorton’s younger brother, Jenner Gorton ‘27 played a big part in his advertising campaign.

 “He was pestering a lot of people, like, a lot,” Gorton said. “I got people coming up to me yelling at me because of how annoying he was, but he said he got at least 40 people to vote for me.”

Another pillar of Gorton’s strategy was making posts on the BHS Snapchat story. His marketing campaign featured photos of himself with heavy filters and promotional captions reminding students of how much time was left to vote and that they should strongly consider voting for him.

A few days before voting closed, Gorton announced that he was going to get a tattoo if he won the vote. “I thought people were going to think it was funny if I won,” Gorton said, “but when I got the idea for the tattoo, things were a little more serious, I guess.”

Despite his consistent efforts, Gorton didn’t have very much confidence in his victory until the moment he stepped out on stage. 

“I thought Reese Hollins was going to win,” he said. “I heard so many people say that Reese was going to win. When that crown was hovering above my head, I was so nervous. I think I saw a video [of the moment] and I was tapping my shoes and whatever.”

When the crown landed on his head, a crowd of his friends and family lept from their seats to congratulate him. 

“My mom is really hyped for me,” Gorton said, “for the Homecoming King part. She thinks I’m a little silly for the tattoo, and when I told her I bought [the tattoo gun], she wasn’t upset, she was concerned.”

With the machine ordered, as well as several “practice skins” to perfect his technique on, Gorton hopes to carry out his promise this weekend. 

“It’s gonna say the year and then homecoming king and then above it a little doodle crown,” Gorton said.

What is fly fishing?

“Fly fishing is when you have a very lightweight hook that is decorated with feathers, line, twine, string, or hair, or whatever to try to imitate insects, flies, even fish sometimes. Because it’s so lightweight you can’t use normal tackle so you have to use a special line that essentially is just a braided line with a coating of plastic or wax to make it heavier so you can cast without having any weight on it. You use the line’s weight instead of the hook’s weight to cast.”

Why did you start fly fishing?

“I went to Colorado, and that’s the only good type of fishing there.”

How is pet hair a factor in fly fishing?

“Any hair is. I use my own, and I use feathers from my chickens. You gotta use different colors of hair to imitate naturally occurring colors to then imitate flies, larvae, beetles, and bugs that you find.”

Why should people give you their pet hair?

“I need pet hair, or any hair really, to get more of those colors because Cabela’s and other fly fishing stores, especially in Colorado, charge insane amounts of money for hair that isn’t even always that high quality of hair. When you’re paying $6.00 for a square inch of hair, it’s not really worth it.”

The Bison went into the game as the number 1 seed in 8AAAA and STMA was going in as the number 8 seed.

“Numbers really don’t matter, you just have to go into the game giving it all you got,” Junior Nate Dahl said. Dahl led the team with 17 points last night.

In the first few minutes of the game the Bison went on a 10-0 run, but STMA slowed down the Bison’s offense and from then the score was neck and neck. 

“Johnny Tennyson did his thing tonight and all we could do was try our best to stop him,” Dahl said.

The Knight’s Senior Johnny Tennyson finished the game with 30 points and was definitely the Bison’s biggest struggle defensively.

“Johnny Tennyson got hot and he was hitting some crazy shots. It was tough stopping him,” Senior Will Pool said. Pool finished with 13 points.

With the score going back and forth it was a battle keeping the lead for the Bison.

“We were hot and playing good defense and you’re not going to hold a team’s score list for a whole game, so they’re going to hit shots at some point and they did but we were able to respond,” Pool said.

In the last 30 seconds of the game the Knight’s had the opportunity to score and potentially win the game but as they were driving up to the basket, they charged and fouled Dahl.

“Having everyone’s back is important. All the Seniors on the team have my back and I’d do the same for them,” Dahl said.

The Bison will now face the number 5 seed, Brainerd Warriors, Saturday, March 12 at 4pm in the main gym.

“We played them [Brainerd] and they had a big lead on us at halftime,” Dahl said.

The Bison defeated the Warriors 75-58 in their last matchup.

“Our first game against them we had a comeback win, and I don’t think we should’ve been down in the first place. I think we should just play good from the start and we can get another win,” Pool said.