COLUMBUS NEWS
As the winter sports season has now closed, we take a look back at the accomplishments of our student-athletes that made us proud to be Dons. As you may already know, the Columbus Dons Varsity Boys Basketball Team has won the State Championship! After a record of 22-2 in the regular season, they continued to play undefeated in the Cloverbelt Eastern Conference. Student-athletes earning All-Conference recognition: Lucas Kreklau and Mac Konieczny earned honorable mention. Cy Becker was named second team; the Dons had three first team All-Conference players: Emmitt Konieczny, Blake Jakobi, and Charlie Moore, with all three being named conference players of the year. “It was pretty cool,especially to be with my good friends. It’s something that can never be taken away from us,” said guard Charlie Moore. With all these playmakers, the Dons earned themselves a #1 seed in the playoffs. With this, the Dons rattled off seven playoff wins, beating Cashton 80-77 to advance to state. “I was very thankful for the opportunity we were given and that our hard work finally showed,” said Alex Edwards.
The Dons would then knock off Solon Springs 78-65 to earn the chance to play Abundant Life Christian in the Division 5 State Championship on March 16. The Dons closed out their 2023-24 season with the Gold Ball by defeating Abundant Life Christian 81-75. Following the game, Dons Assistant Coach Jarred Mandel (Class of 2019) said, “It was incredible. I was grateful to be there. Thanks for the ride boys.” Following the season, Emmitt and Blake were named First-Team All-State by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA); and were also named WBCA All-Stars along with Charlie. Along with two wins at the State Tournament, Coach Konieczny reached 401 career wins.
Meanwhile, in Girls Basketball, the 2023-2024 season was memorable and one the girls will not forget! New head coach Eric Wilson led the team to a 12-15 record. Ultimately, the team lost in a regional semi match up against Greenwood.
With the help of our school programs, our upcoming stars will be able to continue this streak. Our talented middle school teams are making their marks with the 6th grade girls basketball placing second in State Finals plus first in the League Championship Tournament (LCT). 7th grade girls basketball placed second in LCT. The boys basketball teams did well also, with the 5th grade team placing sixth at State, and the 6th grade team placing ninth at State.
All players know they couldn’t have gotten this far without the Columbus Summer Basketball Camp and School. This camp is held every summer at CCHS, to help kids improve and learn new skills. If you want your children be trained by State Champions - and possibly BECOME State Champions themselves - visit our website for more information: Columbus catholicschools.org
Congratulations to Seth Roewe who has been selected as a 2024 Herb Kohl Student Excellence Scholarship recipient. Seth was chosen to receive this $10,000 award because of his exceptional scholarship, leadership, citizenship, and school and community involvement.
On December 13, 2023, we were able to announce to the community our plans to build a $10.5 million “Educational and Athletic” Fieldhouse that will connect our Columbus building and Our Lady of Peace Intermediate School. The facility will be built on the location of the former convent that was razed in October 2022. Since then, our signage and fencing has gone up and Marawood Construction has been busy prepping the site by clearing away trees. Our Tech Ed students and Fieldhouse Campaign committee members will begin to take down the OLP playground, which will be reassembled in a new location at a later date.
As of the time of print, we were at 87% with just over $1 million left to raise! Scan the QR code and be directed to our Fieldhouse Campaign webpage and learn more about:
- What the facility will include, future uses, FAQs and weekly progress updates
- Making a donation and the different ways to give
- Our Alumni Challenge and Leaderboard
- How to sign up for our weekly e-newsletter
- Our Fieldhouse Campaign Facebook Page
- Ways to contact us (giving@columbusdons.org or 715-387-1177)
ALUMNI NEWS
In the past few years, we have been fortunate to have 1994 CCHS graduate Brian Zirngible share his musical talents with us! In 2021 “j. bell & the Lazy Susan Band Acoustic Trio” was one of our musical performers at Alpine Holiday; and in July 2023 another CCHS alum, Vicki (Schultz ’89) Tracy, invited Brian and the trio to perform at her Marshfield business Uptown Coffee Company. The trio has been performing at Uptown Coffee since 2020 and also performed at the Wenzel Family Plaza two times for the Hub City Concert Series.
Brian attended St. John the Baptist School and graduated Columbus Catholic High School in 1994. He went on to attend Saint Mary’s University (SMU) in Winona, MN and graduated with a Social Science major in 1998. While at SMU, he signed up for an extracurricular activity to play jazz band on the side. They even traveled to Mexico, where he called upon his Columbus experiences with Mr. Zimmerman (Band Director) and Mr. Rybicki (Spanish teacher).
“I had to translate the sound equipment from Spanish to English,” said Brian. “That skill has been phenomenal in every aspect of my life.”
Through the SMU Jazz Band, Brian met Justin Bell. “We would hang out and jam,” said Brian. “We started a funny, goofy music project called ‘Doc’s Kids’ named after Doctor John Paulson our music teacher at SMU. We wrote our own songs and it was a fun side-project to do outside of academics.”
When Brian went to Mexico to study abroad for a semester, Justin started a new band called Urban Rust. Upon returning from Mexico, Brian continued to perform with the SMU Jazz Band and Doc’s Kids. Urban Rust then eventually changed its name to j. bell & the Lazy Susan Band 12 years ago, through graduation and beyond! Though not officially part of the band, Brian was asked to join a couple years later after he was told “you’re at every show anyway… you might as well be in the band!”
j. bell & the Lazy Susan Band is a five-piece rock and roll band that specializes in 3-part harmony. They also have a part time horn section in which Brian plays trombone.
Today, Brian lives in Minneapolis with his wife of 20 years and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a solo private practice in St. Paul, MN. He also specializes in working with Highly Sensitive Persons (HSP’s) – especially artistic, creative men. “I like to provide resources and help HSP men find joy, turn pain into possibility and to improve relationships with their partners and their families” said Brian.
He likes to make his way back to Marshfield often, to visit his parents (who still reside here) and to see all the new and vibrant changes in his hometown. “Marshfield now has Uptown Coffee, Good Day Sunshine Record Shop and Dave’s Guitar Shop, which are all amazing and beautiful. Wenzel Family Plaza has the Hub City Summer Concert Series, which our full band has also played at. It’s great to have those establishments downtown and to see that resurgence of the arts.”
Brian also has advice for our graduating Class of 2024: “Try to have fun and learn as much as you can! I've realized that the purpose of the more difficult and challenging classes I've taken was to learn how to handle adversity and how to ask for help. Life goes by fast and it doesn't seem like it does, but it's true. Soak up as much positivity from your family, friends, the arts and athletics as you can. Try not to be so hard on yourself and remember to practice kindness to everyone, especially yourself. You never know what someone else is going through. Compassion and connection are the true keys to ‘success’ and finding more joy. When you are able to honor who you are, practice healthy boundaries, stay safe and connected to a strong network of good people… you will be fine!”
Brian has another goal on his bucket list to check off: “I’d like to perform in the Columbia Park Band Shell someday!” Keep reaching for your dreams, Brian! We’re sure you’ll get there soon!