The weekend of February 19th and 20th, Castle wrestler John Purdy headed to Indianapolis for the state championships. Here as he got ready to wrestle he said his nerves were very under control and he did not seem nervous at all. He was the only guy at Castle that qualified for state and he is in the 170 lbs weight class. After wrestling four people, winning three rounds and losing the second he placed fifth. Although he didn't win, he says that going up to state gives him a goal to work toward throughout the season. Going up to state also gives him new competitors to go against giving him another challenge. Throughout this whole season the boys have been working very hard. Their scores each match kept improving as the season went on and as they improved. The boys wrestling coaches: Coach Harmon, Coach Deters, and Coach Oberst are also always pushing them in practice and in the weight room to improve them and make them better. The wrestlers season only lasts about four months but many train all year to get ready for their season. Although many of the boys will admit it is a very tough sport for them mentally and physically, they feel very proud of themselves seeing all their hard work pay off and watch themselves improve. Some of Castle's hardest schools to go against are Mater Dei and Franklin Central, but when the boys go they try their best and put their all into their matches. A junior at Castle describes his season this year as “The season didn't end how I wanted but it was a fun year. Not being able to have fans definitely made it different, but i'm glad we got to wrestle,” says Evan Reff. This shows how with Covid, like many other sports, there was a limited amount of spectators. This may have been discouraging for the matches because the wrestlers were used to being cheered on from the stands and this year a lot changed. Although they did not have fans, the boys still had a good season with many accomplishments and are excited to have another season next year, with hopes that fans will be able to watch from the stands. Ashley Hudson
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Castle’s boys swimming and diving team finishes their season off with a sectional title and multiple state qualifying times. After a long and hard season of training, the boy's hard work finally paid off. Swimming and diving has conquered many tough challenges this year regarding COVID-19 restrictions. Not only were spectators not allowed, but the swimmer’s meets were limited as well. Varsity swimmers were able to swim about three quarters of the usual number of meets while junior varsity swam in only two. Junior varsity member and team captain of the boys swim team, Colton Tang, says despite the challenges they “definitely put in the work no matter what.” Training up to eight times a week, the boys made sure to see results when championship season came. Their first large meet following conference was sectionals. Tensions were extremely high leading up to this meet. Bryce Eckert, a senior varsity member, highlights how “since [they] lost this meet last year, our goal all season was to make a comeback this time.” And of course, they did just that. Starting off the meet was the 400 medley relay which consists of a fifty yard swim of each stroke. Castle placed second in this event, leading us off with a large sum of points, just behind Boonville. After that it was mostly up to individual swims and having the energy of champions. After a long day two days of swimming, the Castle boys won sectionals. Additionally, they qualified four individual boys for the IHSAA state championship the following weekend. Seth Cannon (freshman) qualified in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke, Saaketh Reddy (sophomore) in the 200 individual medley, Owen Metzger (sophomore) in the 500 freestyle, and Caleb Beaven (junior) in the 100 breaststroke. Caleb Beaven, junior varsity swimmer and team captain, is excited to lead many of the boys to their first state championship and get them excited for the seasons to come. Additionally, Beaven is “looking forward to hopefully returning to normal for his senior season.” All in all, the boys swimming and diving team had a fantastic season with many first place finishes, personal best times, and great memories along the way. Although their season ended on a high note, the boys are more than ready to work even harder next year. Lauren Matuscak Trippie Redd released the deluxe version of his October 2020 album, Pegasus in February and it is titled Pegasus: Pegasus vs Neon Shark Presented By Travis Baker. The title is often shortened to just “Neon Shark” and I will be using the shortened version for this review. The album consists of 14 new rock and roll inspired songs with 26 songs being on Pegasus already bringing the song count to a whopping 40. As stated the new songs are rock songs as Trippie Redd wanted to experiment with the genre. He is a rapper and heavily associated with the emo rap subgenre. Machine Gun Kelly is another rapper who has been experimenting with rock and roll and he has two features on the album. Trippie Redd isn’t going into the rock genre permanently, these songs were just him experimenting as an artist. Neon Shark has been teased as a project for a long time however he didn’t start teasing it more until late 2020 around the time he announced the sequel to his 2018 album Life’s a Trip. The one and only single released for the deluxe album was “Dreamer” and it’s a song that I really enjoy. My favorite song on the deluxe is “Pillbreaker” though. The new songs are all really good, however they don’t really transition well with the somber mood of the Pegasus songs compared to the very upbeat and excitement of the new songs. Overall I really enjoyed the project. I am a little biased because Trippie Redd is my favorite artist of all time. Despite him being a rapper he created some fantastic rock songs and you could really tell he was excited and had so much fun with the music. This album is definitely one of his best. While it’s not better than his 2018 projects Life’s a Trip and A Love Letter to You 3, it is better than his last two projects (not counting Pegasus), A Love Letter to You 4 and !. Overall I rate this project an 8/10 as not every song from the main album was great but the rock songs were amazing. Elliott Kieffer Earlier this February, a new true crime documentary premiered on Netflix, chronicling the 2013 disappearance of Canadian college student Elisa Lam in Los Angeles. The series, titled Crime Scene: Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel follows the days leading up to Lam’s disappearance, the police search for the truth, and the internet frenzy that followed. Back in 2013, a video released showed the last known footage of Lam alive at the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, and sparked a number of web sleuths to start searching for the truth about her disappearance. I remember this story happening, and was very interested in seeing all of it being told now that the case has been closed. The documentary series presents all of the story and what happened, giving a good picture of this wild time. From the moment the video of Lam was released until much after her body was found in a water tank at the hotel, people online went crazy with outlandish conspiracy theories and ideas as to what may have caused Lam’s death. This series presents a number of these theories, as well as the ideas of the police department involved in the case. While many of the internet theories seem outrageous and too complicated to be true, it is still highly enjoyable to see the crazed fanatics of this story. The series also dives into the shady and dark past of the Cecil Hotel and Los Angeles as a whole. The hotel has an infamous past filled with murders, drugs, and more. The documentary does not shy away from this, but incorporates the hotel’s past into the search for the truth. This and the history of Los Angeles’ infamous Skid Row district are both shown vividly. True crime stories have always been interesting to me, and this is now one of the most wild ones. The mass craze on the internet over Lam’s disappearance and the difficulty in solving it make for a great story, and this series handles it well. They give more than enough information on the background of the hotel and Lam’s own personal struggles for you to understand what happened. Overall, I would highly recommend this series for people to watch. Gavin Wood It’s that time of the year again, winter homecoming. An exciting time of snow and fun filled memories awaits our Castle students. As we’ve turned the corner from the past year, many new things have also arrived. Due to the unprecedented events taken place with COVID-19, all events at Castle High School have been affected.
Winter homecoming took some hits with the overall planning and organization of the event. The event was originally planned to take place in the auditorium with only two people allowed to attend per person. These precautions were set in place due to Warrick County’s red zone. Thankfully, Warrick County moved into the orange zone and we were able to have some sort of normalcy. The members on court were allowed four people to attend and the event was allowed to take place in the gym. One member, Grace Gray, sophomore on court said, “ I'm sure it'll still be exciting since it's varsity, but tickets aren't open to the pubic which is kind of a bummer.” This was so true for each member as they had to experience the reality of precautions needed to be taken. Many friends and family members were excited to go, but unable to. However, Castle High School put on a great show for half time. The members of the court all held onto hope and many had a great time. Freshman Caden Gordon spoke with happiness saying, “I’m glad I got the opportunity to be on it!” Even senior, Laynee Harding said, “I have always wanted to be on homecoming, and to think that I finally get to do it on the last one, it seems ironic.” Other members that represented Castle High School include, Chloe Bobe, Maya Vanpolen, Airn Bennett, and Caden Gordon from the freshman class, Grace Gray, Kalyn Marrs, Brendan Daines, and Hayden Mercer representing the sophomore class, Sophia Martin, Lainey Browning, Daviontae Hughes, and Shawn Broshears, and lastly the senior class was represented by Ella Bassett, Emma Gilles, Madison Paladino, Laynee Harding, Allie Hazelrigg, Hayden Carter, Jack Blue, Jackson Welp, Kenny Butler, and Caden Porter. At the end of the ceremony, members Ella Bassett and Hayden Carter were announced homecoming queen and king. This event was one for the books and will be remembered by all. Although 2020 has finally come to an end, the days of being alone have not. Valentine’s Day has finally arrived and staying Covid-19 friendly is still a number one priority. If anyone asks who you are spending the day of love with, remind them that being by yourself is safer. Luckily for you, we have put together yummy recipes, funny jokes, and activities to make you feel a little less alone on February 14th...
Jokes: On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, just like every other 4-8 years, power was peacefully transferred from one man to the next. Joseph R. Biden Jr. was inaugurated as the 46th President. He is the successor to President Donald J. Trump. The Biden administration has the first woman and woman of color serving as Vice President. The country’s first ever youth poet laureate, Amanda Gorman, read her poem “The Hill We Climb” during the inauguration. Many celebrities like Tom Hanks and Lady Gaga performed for it as well.
This inauguration was a historical event just like any other inauguration, however, this one had a bunch of little things to it that made it extra special. - Joe Biden is the 2nd Catholic ever elected president, the first being John F. Kennedy. - Last time a president didn’t win reelection was in 1992 where George H. W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton. - It happened during a global pandemic. - The out-going president wasn’t there to welcome the new president - Kamala Harris is the first woman and woman of color to serve as vice president. - Vice President Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is the first Second Gentleman of the United States. - Joe Biden is the oldest man ever elected president, he is 78 years old. Second place is Donald Trump and third place is Ronald Reagan. - There’s now another dog in the White House, Donald Trump and his family did not have a pet in the White House. Last president to have a pet was Barack Obama. The country’s first ever youth poet laureate, Amanda Gorman, read her poem “The Hill We Climb” during the inauguration. Many celebrities like Tom Hanks and Lady Gaga performed for it as well. This year, Castle High School’s Business Professionals of America Club sends 58 students to the state competition. All of these competitors had to place top 3 in a team event or top 10 in an individual competition to qualify. Due to Covid 19, the regional competition which qualifies these students for state had to be done virtually. In years past it has been taken at IVY Tech and the students are excused from an entire day of school. Instead students had to come to Castle to take the test or some had to take it virtually during school time. This did not stop the students from performing their best, however. This year had the highest number of students qualifying for the state competition. “Congratulations to all of you! It was a very challenging year to compete virtually but you did it! I'm proud of you for competing whether you advanced or not” says Alicia Gilkey, teacher and leader of the BPA club.
Information about the State Leadership Conference is soon to come. There is a good possibility that CHS will have to compete virtually even though they are doing a hybrid SLC. This means that Castle students will most likely have to compete virtually at the state competition as well. At the present time the National Leadership Conference will still be held in Orlando, Florida at Disney World in early May. Hadley Beard, a sophomore at Castle High School, qualified in Business Law and Ethics. She said, “Even though it's not ideal that we don't get to compete at in person competitions this year, we are still really lucky to get to compete at all.” Seeing the bright side even though the situations caused by Covid 19 aren’t perfect is ideal for a successful school year. Only twenty minutes away, a new restaurant has opened in Downtown Evansville: 2nd Language. This patisserie is owned and operated by the same head of Pangea Kitchen (another restaurant in Evansville). Pangea Kitchen works to bring fresh and different food to a city primarily known for its preserved and unhealthy fast food options. After speaking with owner, Randy Hobson, it is clear that 2nd Language shares the ideals of fresh and original food. Hobson remarks that “[their] products are made from scratch 100%”. This means when you dine at either of their locations, you will be free from preservatives and only be eating what was made fresh for that day. Wondering what to get when you stop in? While they pride themselves on their French Donut, feel free to take a look at their menu for other delicious options! Be sure to stop in the shop within their morning hours (Tuesday - Saturday, 7 - 11 a.m.). On a scale from one to ten, this restaurant takes an eleven. Be sure to stop in and support the local businesses surrounding our town! Layla Leigh Wandel The movie ¨Clouds¨ was released on Disney Plus for streaming on October 16, 2020. It was directed by Justin Baldoni. Some of the people starring in it are Sabrina Carpenter, Fin Argus, and Neve Campbell.
The movie is based around the main character, Zach, and his life long best- friend, Sammy. They posted a song Zach wrote on YouTube and went viral. It is a true and touching story about a boy who was diagnosed with cancer. The movie follows as his dreams come true, but not without many obstacles. The movie is inspiring to viewers that no matter the circumstances, if you put your mind to something, you can accomplish anything. The true story is based on a boy named Zach Sobiech who died on May 20, 2013 at age 18. Zach was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer, at age 14 and was told by doctors in June 2012 that he had months to maybe a year to live. Zach went on to pass this time which was so inspiring to so many because while he knew his time was up, he continued to be positive and uplight to anyone he met. The movie so far has a 7.5 out of 10 star rating according to IMDB. The song Zach made was released on December 12, 2012. All the proceeds went to fund research for osteoporosis. 156,000 copies of the song have been sold so far and it has 17 million views on YouTube. Throughout the whole movie Zach is faced with many challenges with himself, his medical issues, friendships, and relationships but through it all he pushes through and is a light to all. This movie is a very good movie to watch with any age because it has something everyone can enjoy. It touches the hearts of people while it also makes them laugh from Zach´s sense of humor. Throughout the movie the audience comes to love every character's personalities and how they look at life. All the characters go through something that changes their look on life and shows viewers a positive look on a very difficult situation they all went through. |