With six local teams competing at the IHSAA Boys Golf Sectional at Eagle Glen Golf Course in Columbia City Monday morning and afternoon, the day was filled with local athletes staking their claim to advance further into the state tournament. When the dust settled, it was host school Warsaw that won the meet with a team score of 311 to advance to the regionals, the only school in the area to send a team one step closer to state. Wawasee finished sixth (343), Tippecanoe Valley seventh (356), Manchester eighth (370), Triton ninth (385) and Whitko tenth (433). Plymouth (324) and Huntington North (333) were the two other teams to advance with second and third place finishes.
Warsaw was led by Robbie Finlinson, who finished tied with Northfield’s Easton Shaw for medalist honors with a 75. Austin Craig just barely missed out on finishing in the top three, taking fourth place with a 77. Right behind him in fifth place was Breckin Christner to give the Tigers three finishers in the top five. Rounding out the scoring was Quinton Fifer with an 81 and Finn Bailey with an 83.

    Warsaw senior Austin Craig putts on the first hole during Monday morning's sectional...Nieter

Wawasee’s Everingham twins, Maddux and Myles, finished tied for the highest score for the Warriors, each shooting an 83. Weston DeLong added an 84, while Preston Scherer and Mason Shoemaker shot a 93 and 97.
Tippecanoe Valley was led by Wes Parker and his 18-hole score of 84. Close behind was Eli Love with an 86. Nash Bouse shot a 90, while Ethan Young and Thad Shambaugh rounded things out with a 96 and 121.
While Manchester’s team season came to an end, Connor Trump was able to shoot the eleventh best score on the day with an 81, which was good enough for him to have the third best score of individuals without a team advancing, punching him a ticket to regionals. Luke Gish shot a 93 for the Squires, followed by Logan Eastgate’s 96. Caleb Sautter shot a 100 while Preston Duffy finished with a 111.
Triton’s Tucker Worsham paced the Trojans with a final score of 92. Benjamin Waymouth finished with a 94 and not far behind was Landon Patrick with a 97. Conner Olesen and Gavin Riffle finished things off with a 102 and 108.

    Tippecanoe Valley sophomore Wes Parker follows the flight of his chip shot on the second hole...Nieter

The final area team on the leaderboard was Whitko, led by a 97 from Keaton Cornell. Noah Burnworth shot a 102, Kazuhiro Oh a 112, Isaac Long a 122 and Kyler Krull a 124.
The regional tournament will be held Thursday morning at 8 a.m. at Warsaw’s Stonehenge Golf Course. As the case with sectionals, the top three teams will advance to the state championships, beginning June 11 at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.