Engagements

by Sarah Everett

Nicole Beck and Taylor Possail are both Minnesotans; they met at Minnesota State University–Mankato at an on-campus job. Beck studied accounting, and Possail studied business education. Flash forward two years and Possail’s job is still on a campus — this time at Columbia College.

Possail is the assistant women’s basketball coach there; he moved to Columbia just two years ago, and Beck joined him over the summer.

“There’s a lot more to do here,” Beck says. “I love the college scene.”

The two enjoy spending time downtown near campus, visiting a variety of local restaurants.

“I like to think we both enjoy watching collegiate sports,” Possail says slyly; the two watch lots of basketball and football together. They also enjoy spending time with family and friends, and spending time outdoors, though Missouri summers are much warmer than Minnesota’s.

“We really like to go hiking a lot,” says Possail. “We’ve gone down and hiked Rock Bridge State Park.”

In fact, Possail proposed to Beck at a state park in Minnesota. They hope to someday have a house on a lake and expand their family. They also hope to continue enjoying the outdoors and advance in their careers. Nicole is looking for a job in Columbia similar to the CPA job she had in Mankato.

Possail and Beck are getting married on July 15, 2017, at Beck’s church. Their reception will be at the Courtyard Marriott, in Mankato. They are going for a theme of rustic elegance.

Mitch Gosney and Lauren Berkbuegler are fans of travel, the Columbia College Cougars, and baseball. It’s their goal to visit every baseball stadium in the United States, and they’ve made quite a dent, visiting stadiums in California, Colorado, Georgia, and along the East Coast. Berkbuegler is a fan of the Cardinals, and Gosney is a Boston Red Sox fan.

Their wedding, on July 7, 2017, will also have a baseball theme and will take place in Wentzville, Missouri, a halfway point for both of their families. Gosney, who is originally from Columbia, works out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as the assistant director of athletics marketing for Middle Tennessee State University, and Berkbuegler, originally from O’Fallon, is a telemetry nurse at Barnes-Jewish Saint Peters hospital in St. Louis. The two are both Columbia College alumni: Berkbuegler played softball for the cougars, and Gosney was a men’s basketball student assistant. They met at an All American Rejects concert at The Blue Note and found they had the athletics program in common.

When Gosney proposed in June, he told Berkbuegler they were going to dinner and to look at a brick that they purchased together for the new campus quad. There, he surprised her with a ring. The ring has CC engraved on it and also has blue sapphires, the color of Columbia College.

In the future, they are looking forward to “sharing the same zip code.” Berkbuegler is interested in getting a nurse practitioner’s degree and possibly teaching nursing classes down the line. They hope to continue traveling and spending time outdoors, kayaking and golfing and watching sports. Most importantly, they’re looking forward to spending time with each other.