Kansas high school boys golf regional results: Eisenhower qualifies with pack mentality
A championship pedigree was required to make it out of the Class 5A boys golf regional held at Rolling Hills Country Club on Tuesday, and sometimes that wasn’t even enough.
In what was easily the most stacked regional in Class 5A, the defending state champion (Kapaun Mt. Carmel), the AV-CTL Division II champion (Goddard Eisenhower) and the AV-CTL Division I champion (Maize South) snagged the three qualifying slots in the team race for next week’s state tournament at Quail Ridge Golf Course in Winfield.
That left the City League champion, Bishop Carroll, and another top team in Andover on the outside looking in, despite finishing with above-average team scores of 327 and 330, respectively.
There was controversy before the tournament even teed off, as the Wichita-area high school golf community was already criticizing the Kansas geography-based approach KSHSAA uses for regional assignments.
“It’s too bad we’re leaving teams out of the state tournament that certainly deserve to be there,” Eisenhower coach Cliff Hartzog said. “Coming into (Tuesday), we knew some really good teams were going to get left out and we could have easily been on the other end of it. I feel bad for those teams because they deserve to be there next week.”
In somewhat challenging conditions with wind, Kapaun still proved superior with a team score of 306 that edged Eisenhower’s 310 score for the team title. Kapaun sophomore Asher Whitaker was the class of the field, shooting a 3-under round of 69 to win individual honors by five strokes over teammate Conner Geist. The Crusaders were rounded out by junior Quaid Oliver (81), sophomore Noah Pirtle (82), junior Gabriel Grier (86) and freshman Jason Brokaw (89).
“(Whitaker) has been pretty darn consistent this year, but I knew he had a whole bunch more left in the tank,” Kapaun coach Corey Novascone said. “He’s turned in some pretty great scores, but I know they’re not his best. Today the golf course was set up probably harder than any high school tournament I’ve ever seen and he just torched that front nine and was fantastic on the back.”
Although Eisenhower came up four strokes short of Kapaun, the Tigers showed the potential of their pack mentality that has made them one of the more surprising contenders in the 5A field this season after missing the cut for Day 2 of the state meet last spring.
“This is something for years I’ve been trying to build towards,” Hartzog said. “We would always have three really good scores and be searching for that fourth score and now that fourth score can come from three different kids and that is definitely a luxury. That’s where we’ve been able to win some tournaments. We don’t have anyone going super low, shooting under-par every round, but we run as a pack and we’re competitive with that mentality.”
Four different golfers for Eisenhower have an average round score of under 80 strokes, while junior Carson Wright (78.1), senior Emery Kaylor (78.4), sophomore Brody Scafe (78.9) and Tyler Hardtafer (79) are barely separated. And the No. 5 and No. 6 golfers, senior Jack Elliott and sophomore Brent Henry, have both cracked 80 this season as well.
On Tuesday, Eisenhower once again used the pack mentality with Wright (75, third), Hardtafer (78, seventh), Kaylor (78, seventh) and Elliott (79, 10th) all in the top-10. And that was with Scafe, who won the AV-CTL Div. II meet, struggling by his standards with a round of 82.
“We have everyone back from last season, except for one, so we have a little state tournament feel and our goal right now is to make it to Day 2,” Hartzog said. “We just want to give ourselves a chance and see how high we can finish. If we can finish in that top three and drag home some hardware, that would be huge.”
With Kapaun and Eisenhower both going low, that left Maize South (324), Carroll (327) and Andover (330) battling for the third and final slot. All three of those team scores would have easily qualified in the other West regional, hosted by Maize on Monday, where the third team score was 354 strokes.
But Maize South edged out the competition with four in the top-20 with senior Kyle Kasitz (77, fifth), junior Grant Waggoner (80, 11th), freshman Colton Hoover (82, 14th) and senior Layton Love (85, 19th). Junior Maverick Guinn and senior Taben Armstrong also qualified with the Mavericks.
That left another competitive race for the five individual qualifying slots, which were taken by Carroll junior Noah Holtzman (76, fourth), Andover freshman Aidan Nguyen (77, fifth), Andover senior James Hill (78, seventh), Andover Central sophomore Cal Schultz (80, 11th) and Carroll junior Pearce Lashley (82, 14th).
Derby sophomore wins Class 6A regional
The breakout season of Derby sophomore Jaydon Carruthers continued on Monday when he won the Class 6A regional hosted by Wichita North and played at Terradyne Country Club.
Carruthers, who has been in contention for major tournaments all season, finished tied for the lead after 18 holes with his 3-under score of 68, then won a playoff against Garden City’s Maddix Shook to take individual honors.
Derby also punched its ticket to the state tournament with a second-place team finish with a score of 321 strokes. Sophomore Nathan Pierce finished sixth with a score of 78, while sophomore Cael Asman (87), junior Ty Johnson (88), junior Knowlyn Egan (90) and senior Kayden Egan (95) rounded out the team.
Among the five individual state qualifiers were three from Wichita East in freshman Logan Lam (87), senior Cameron Connolly (90) and freshman Anderson Tung (90), as well as Wichita North senior Jesus Arguello (84).
In the Junction City regional played at Rolling Meadows, Hutchinson junior Ty Adkins was the top area finisher in third place at a 5-over 77. He was among the five individual state qualifiers along with teammate Ben Patterson (93) and the Wichita Heights pair of sophomore Jackson Ellison (83) and senior Kaden Claassen (88).
At the Class 5A regional hosted by Maize at Reflection Ridge, the Eagles (354) barely edged out Salina South (355) and Hays (357) for the third and final team qualifying spot.
The Eagles were led by junior Grier Jones, who finished runner-up with a 4-over score of 74, and freshman Luke Aaron, who finished ninth with an 85. Other qualifiers for Maize included sophomore Arnoldo Cavazos, senior Dylan Sunderman, senior Colby Lampkin and freshman Andrew Stotler.
Valley Center finished in second place in the team race, powered by three top-15 finishes from junior Caden Bastian (77, third), junior Colby Byers (84, eighth) and senior Mason Hamm (86, 11th). Other qualifiers for the Hornets were sophomore Holden McDaniel, sophomore Josh Cox and senior Lejer McDaniel. The only area individual qualifier was Newton junior Grayson Ybarra (86, 11th).
Wellington cruises to Class 4A regional win
After winning the AV-CTL Division IV championship last week, Wellington added to its title collection on Monday with the Winfield Class 4A regional trophy at Quail Ridge.
The defending Class 4A state champions will enter the two-day state meet with plenty of momentum after winning the team title by 38 strokes with the Crusaders’ score of 328.
Wellington finished with the top two performers, as senior Deitrek Gill added another individual honor to his career with an even-par score of 72 and senior Brett Wyckoff finished runner-up with his score of 77. They were the only two golfers to break 84 strokes, as the Crusaders also will send senior Caden Lawrence (89, sixth), freshman Owen Farley (90, eighth), senior Laken Smith (91) and senior RJ Clift (97) to the state meet.
Augusta qualified its team with a second-place finish, led by top-10 finishes from senior Chadd Brown (87), senior Chance Kohls (89), senior Caden Pressnell (90) and junior Dylan Slusser (90). The Orioles were rounded out by senior Brock Hallmark and junior Bryce Jackson.
Circle (394) edged out Rose Hill (398) for the third and final team qualifying spot, led by freshman Logan Martin’s third-place finish with his score of 84. The Thunderbirds also will send senior Luke McGinnis, sophomore Conner Chadwell, sophomore Logan Nice, junior Everett Salmans and sophomore Logan Myers.
The five individual qualifiers were Rose Hill senior Jaime Gracia-Gil (85, fourth), Winfield freshman Drew Graham (93), Winfield sophomore Andrew Beeson (94), Rose Hill senior Lane Gardner (102) and Mulvane freshman Dylan Paul (102).
In the Buhler regional played at Hesston Golf Course, McPherson dominated the competition to win the team race by 25 strokes with its score of 319.
Senior Gus Ruddle won the individual honors with his 1-over score of 72, while senior Parker VanCampen tied for second place with his score of 74. The other state qualifiers for the Bullpups are sophomore Blaise Hoover (82), sophomore Cale Dahlstrom (91), senior Trey Buckbee (94) and junior Trakker French (96).
Among the individual state qualifiers were Buhler junior Logan Day (81, seventh) and Andale senior Braxton Camp (87, 11th).
Cheney senior takes home Class 3A regional win
Cheney senior Harrison Middleton has proved himself one of the top golfers in Class 3A this season and added to the claim on Monday with the Class 3A regional title shooting a 3-over score of 75 on his home course at Cherry Oaks.
Middleton helped power Cheney to a runner-up team finish to qualify its team for state, as senior Keegan O’Shea (79, third) gave the Cardinals two of the top three golfers. Senior Owen Ast, sophomore Aiden Lynch, junior Jacob Rohloff and freshman Sydney Schrant also qualified with Cheney.
It was Hesston (329) that edged Cheney (341) for the team title, as all six of the Swathers finished in the top-20 in sophomore Camden Waterson (80, second), senior Jace Regier (81, fifth), freshman Grant Waterson (81, fifth), sophomore Palmer Welsh (87), senior Ty Schroeder (94) and junior Eric Schmidt (96).
Two days after finishing an undefeated tennis season with a state championship, Collegiate senior Nick Grabon (83, eighth) locked up his spot at state golf as an individual qualifier. Others from the area that qualified individually were Halstead junior Spencer Johnson (77, second), Kingman freshman Kory Meireis (81, fifth), Trinity Academy senior Caleb Buhler (85, ninth) and Collegiate junior Conner Gagnon (85, ninth).
At the Class 2A Marion regional played at Marion Country Club, Hillsboro qualified as a team with a third-place finish led by top-10 performances by senior Frank Wichert (90, fifth) and senior Eli Dalke (95, eighth). Senior Rylie Daniels, freshman Lincoln Wichert, senior Duncan Duell and senior Garrett Helmer also qualified with Hillsboro.
Among the individual qualifiers were Inman sophomore Dawson McConnell (86, fourth), Sedgwick sophomore Alejandra Lobera (94, sixth), Garden Plain freshman Tate Nelson (96), Garden Plain freshman Max McGregor (97) and Berean Academy sophomore Mark Entz (99).
At the Class 1A regional played at Wedgewood Golf Course in Halstead, Hutchinson Central Christian won the team title with a score of 357 and had individual medalist honors with freshman Ryland Kooiman’s score of 74.
Hutchinson Central Christian will also send senior David Weis (92, fifth), senior Carson Hamby (94, sixth), freshman Nathan Reed (97, ninth), junior Andrew Yoder (100) and Gage Regehr (110) to state.
Pretty Prairie also qualified its team with a third place finish, led by senior Landon Weide (94, sixth), senior Brett McLeland (99), junior Jaiden McGinnis (110), senior Kai Smith (111), junior Gauge Stauffer (114) and junior Luke Dold (125).
Among the individual state qualifiers were Dexter junior Cale Shorter (79, second) and Burrton freshman Elijah Schmidt (121).
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