The trial began at 9:00 on the morning of February 16. The competition lasted until 11:30 a.m., and the half-hour afterward was spent anxiously awaiting the judge’s decision. All three judges ruled that The Bison had beaten Sartell in the final round.

“It was a very stressful moment,” said Caleb Hultmann ‘23. “Some things [in the competition] weren’t working out the way they were supposed to. We had made a lot of recent changes. We felt [the competition] was a lot closer than it should have been. Sartell was a good competitor. [The spectators] thought Sartell may have won. It was so close that we weren’t sure who won.”

The state competition will be held online this year. The Varsity 1 team would like to find a quiet place off BHS campus to hold their part of State. They are hoping for an empty courtroom but will work with what they can get.
After a long day of excitement, stress, and exhaustion, the BHS Mock Trial team will be working non-stop until State arrives. The State Mock Trial Tournament will take place virtually on March 3 and March 4, 2022, two weeks from today.

The members of Buffalo’s Varsity 1 Prosecution include Amelia Anderson ‘22, Samuel Cotton ‘22, Annabelle Anderson ‘23, Brady Anderson ‘23, Alex Dewees ‘22, and Karlyn Simonette ‘22. The team’s Defense is made up of Victoria Viteri ‘23, Abby Bertsch ‘22, Sydney Rhodes ‘22, Kate Manninen ‘22, Megan Nowezki ‘22, and Daphne Grambart ‘22.

The virtual meet, held on Zoom, featured the Bison on defense and the Johnnies as the plaintiffs in a civil case. Each member of the Bison needed to compete as a team while separated into their own homes due to COIVD-19 precautions. A strong full-team performance, including the lawyers and witnesses, pushed the team to victory. Every member of the team scored at minimum a 7 out of 10 for their performances, with Sophomore Victoria Viteri, Junior Megan Nowezki, and Junior Amelia Anderson delivering especially strong performances. Anderson, competing as a witness as an alternate, received scores of 8 and 9 from all judges.

“We had been spending days preparing for this competition,” Junior Sam Cotton, who competed as an attorney on Thursday, said. “We had continuous run-throughs for both sides, making sure that each side was fully prepared by going against the other, knowing that, by the time we were ready to compete, we would be in the best shape we could possibly be in. In essence, it was iron sharpening iron.”

The strong performance at the Regional Rounds propelled the Bison to a first-place finish in the 19-team Super Region. The Bison will compete in the State Competition on March 3 and 4. The meet will also be virtual.

“It doesn’t feel like we’re going to State,” Junior Kate Manninen, competing as a witness on the defense, said. “It feels like I’m just continuing to sit at my computer. There’s no walking into a courtroom. There are no bus rides. There are no late-night practices. It’s just going into my room, shutting the door, and sitting in front of my computer. It doesn’t feel real. It’s not what I know. In the past, we’d have a big celebration, and now we’re just not. It’s not as exciting, but I’m not mad about it. My mom always takes pictures of me before every meet, and I always get text messages from her before meets saying, ‘I’m cheering you on from work’ because she can’t go to meets now. Now that I’m going to State, she calls me her ‘Little Champion’, and having that person who does remind me about how, even though it doesn’t feel normal, we’re still doing great and she’s still supporting me, it reminds me that it actually is a big deal and that we are going to State.”

Junior Sydney Rhodes, Sophomore Brady Zimmerman, Senior Maddie Christensen, Junior Daphnie Grambart, Junior Alexander Dewees, and Junior Abigail Bertsch will join Manninen, Cotton, Anderson, Nowezki, and Viteri at the State Competition. The varsity team is coached by Jason Swanson with assistance from lawyer Karen Wolff.

Photo by Sydney Rhodes

“When I shot the ball first, and it went in, I didn’t know what happened,” Maatz said, “until Aidan [Bouman] came up and hugged me and everyone piled on top of me.”

With four of the team’s regular starters on the bench – two with foul trouble and two with injuries – the team relied on a deep bench and a play they practiced on Monday.

“We ran that exact play [in practice] for five minutes,” Maatz said. “Mr. Ortmann drew it up. They were drawing up late-game scenarios.”

The Bison play at St. Michael-Albertville on Friday night at 7:15 p.m. The game could decide the conference championship.

Last night’s win against rival Monticello put the season series in favor of the Bison 2-1.  In their previous matchup, the boys lost by 11 points and were looking for a big win.

“The bench players stepped up and played well without all of the starters,” Junior Matthew Willert said, “It was a big momentum win over a team we really wanted to beat and we’ve got some confidence going forward now. We’ve got to keep it up.”

(The issue is dated for February 26, but due a quick turnaround, we received and are able to distribute the issue early.)

The questions below are pulled from a bank of actual Knowledge Bowl questions. You only have five minutes to get through 20 of them.

[WpProQuiz 1]

Junior Johnny Senger is a running back on the team.

“I think our team’s mission this season is to get better every day. If we do that, we will have a successful Homecoming,” said Senger.

Senger’s personal mission is to keep the guys pumped and ready to work their tails off in practice to get better as a team.

Freshman Taylor Thompson doesn’t have very high hopes for this year’s game.

“We probably will lose, because we always lose.”

Senior Kaylee Lingen has a more positive take on things.

“It’s always going to be a close game. One game they lost against Monti and another they won against Big Lake. […] The chances are fifty-fifty,” she said.

The majority of students go to the Homecoming game. It’s a major deal for each school. Although Buffalo doesn’t always win during homecoming week, people come for a good time.

“Fans go there to socialize, so their mission is to talk with their friends and take pictures of themselves,” said Lingen.

Freshman Becky Horak feels that she now has more ownership that she’s in the high school. When she was an eighth grader, she never went to the Homecoming football game.

“Now that you’re in high school, you’re like, ‘This is my team’,” said Horak.

After the game there is the “Fun night” at the high school in the cafeteria and in the PAC. Following the homecoming game on Friday, is the dance Saturday evening at 7 pm on October 12.

“I was in second grade at St. Francis, my friend said she was going to be doing the up and coming play,” said Freshman Katie Swartzer. “She was saying that I should do it too.”
That first play was seven years ago. Since then Swartzer has been in about twenty three plays total.
“When I was little it was a way to release all of my energy. I like that you get to tell a story that is different every single time,” said Swartzer.
Katie would like to grow as an actress this year. Getting better as a performer is one of her missions as well.
“I hope to learn from others, especially the older kids,” said Swartzer. “Establishing myself as a performer would be great,”
Swartzer has a chorus role in the upcoming Fall Musical, The Phantom of the Opera.

Hunter Brings

Competing in the State Meet in swimming is extremely rare for middle school athletes. Freshman Hunter Brings realized that goal as an eighth grader.
“I had talked about it at the beginning of the season,” said Brings. “I thought I could do it.”
During the end of February at Sections, Hunter placed fourth. He almost failed a dive during the meet, which would have not have let him qualify.
At State he did not make it to the second day. As an eighth grader he finished his season with 20th place at state.
This year Brings has high hopes for the upcoming season.
“For diving I want to make top sixteen at State at the least,” said Brings.

Kayla Owens

When freshmen come into high school, Algebra or Geometry is usually their first math course. Not for Freshman Kayla Owens.
In math class, Owens is surrounded by upper classmen. She said that being the youngest in her Calculus class can be a bit intimidating.
“It is difficult but I get through it,” said Owens. “I’m kind of struggling right now, but I’m doing okay.”
She has been in the Quest program since the start of middle school, completing advanced or acelerated courses in English, Social Students, math, and science.
“As a fourth grader I skipped two years of math and I’ve been ahead ever since,” said Owens.