Warrior Golf Team Deals With Increased Expectations
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Wawasee's boys golf team went 15-3 and finished 13th at last year's state finals.
Because they returned four starters from that team, they found themselves ranked No. 5 in the high school golf preseason poll.
A ranking, said coach Don Deck, that was probably not accurate.
The Warriors opened their season earlier than most local teams, competing two weeks ago in the Fuzzy Zoeller Invitational and then competing last week in the Hall of Fame Invitational.
"We got the crap kicked out of us by the southern schools," Deck said, "but they were three to four weeks ahead of us. We went from being way overrated to being unrated."
At the same time, Deck acknowleged, "We did not play anywhere near to our capabilities."
Where the Warriors should be ranked may be up for debate, but barring a catastrophe, they should be one of the best teams in the area.
They graduated last year's No. 1 golfer, Travis Coy, but they return four lettermen. They have Chad Wortinger at No. 1, Scott White at No. 2, Ryan Skaggs at No. 3 and Lucas White at No. 4. As of Tuesday, Deck called the fifth spot "wide open." Golfers vying for that spot in the lineup include Kyle Lundy, Carter Ploszek, Justin Rider and Eric Andrews.
The one thing Deck did not get to enjoy last year was the trip to the state finals. Deck battled health problems.
"I had an arrythmic heart condition," he said. "It was not a heart attack. They had to regulate it with extremely powerful medicine. They told me it would take three to six months to get used to it.
"It took all of six months."
The medicine caused Deck to have shortness of breath, dizziness, tiredness and light-headedness, among other things. Even to this day, he cannot drive his team to matches - an assistant coach does - as a precaution.
"I am a lot better now," Deck said.
He must be, because when asked what last year taught him, he joked, "It taught me the golf team can get along without me."
Then he got serious and said, "I missed state, and I really regretted it."
While the Warriors advanced to the state finals, they finished but fourth in the Northern Lakes Conference. The last time they won the NLC title was 1990.
"The favorites again have to be Warsaw and Goshen," Deck said. "I hope we're in there somewhere. We'd like to win the conference. That's our goal."
Will the Warriors and their four returning lettermen give Deck a trip to the state finals this year? Who knows. The preseason rankings suggested they should, but already, Deck waved them off.
"What happens is, coaches fill out a sheet and turn it in to one guy, who does all the rankings by himself," he said. "I think fifth was a little ambitious for us. I wouldn't be surprised if we are rated 15th through 20th, somewhere in that range."
1999 HS BOYS GOLF CAPSULES
MANCHESTER SQUIRES
Coach/years: Gary Goshert, second
1998 record/postseason results: 4-9, sixth in TRC; Manchester's season ended at sectional.
Key loss: No. 1 Ben Vineyard
Key players: No. 1 Ryan Burton, junior; No. 2 Derek Miller, junior; No. 3 Michael Good, junior; No. 4 Tony Ritenour, junior; No. 5 Evan Schenkel, freshman
Overheard: "We don't have any seniors, but we have boys back who played varsity golf last year. We would like to improve on our record, our finish in the conference and the invitations we play in. One of the goals of our team is to not take a score in the 50s in a varsity match. We had that happen a few times last year." - Goshert
Record: 0-2
TIPPECANOE VALLEY VIKINGS
Coach/years: Roger Moriarty, eighth
1998 record/postseason results: 13-5, 6-2 TRC; third at sectional, 10th at regional
Key losses: No. 1 Aaron Martin, No. 6 Eric Love
Key players: Sophomore Drew Shafer and sophomore Andy Martin will rotate between the No. 1 and No. 2 spots; No. 3 Brian Love, sophomore; No. 4 Anthony Domenico, sophomore; No. 5 Brandon Eaton, junior; Junior Dax Snyder, junior Derek Domenico, freshman Aaron Zolman and freshman Brandon Harmon vie for the No. 6 spot
Overheard: "We're looking forward to the season with these sophomores having a year of experience under their belt. We have been practicing below the 160 mark. With all the good teams out there, we will have to be on our game every time out. In the conference, Rochester has a good team, and Whitko, last year's conference champion, lost only one player. I think we have one of our better teams here, but because of the quality of teams, we are gonna have to fight like dogs to get out of the sectional." - Moriarty
First match: Tippecanoe Valley hosts Rochester and Culver Military Academy at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Rozella Ford Golf Course
TRITON TROJANS
Coach/years: Joe Bennett is serving as Triton's interim coach.
1998 record/postseason results: N/A
Key losses: Andy Westafer, Mark Feldman
Key players: No. 1 Scott Neal, No. 2 Eric Schneider, No. 3 Aaron Shafer, No. 4 Eric Disher, No. 5 Greg Christian, No. 6 Justin Vining
Overheard: "We hope to improve from beginning to end. That's all the expectations I have." - Bennett
Record: 0-3
WARSAW TIGERS
Coach/years: Bob Turner, 11th
1998 record/postseason results: 15-3, 5-1 NLC; won NLC; won Warsaw Sectional for third straight year
Key losses: No. 2 Kevin Powell, No. 4 Chris Osbeck, No. 5 Jeff Phillips
Key players: No. 1 Justin Howell, junior; No. 2 Jason Henthorn, junior; Five others are vying for the other three spots in the varsity lineup. They are senior David Grossnickle, junior Ryan Slone, freshman Aaron Turner, freshman Tyler Wallen and freshman Adam Johnson.
Overheard: "We're a year away. We will be better in one month. Wawasee is by far the top team in the area. We have to get some experience before we do any talking. Basically, we're starting all over. Today, we're probably in the middle of our conference." -ÊTurner
Opening match: 9:10 a.m. Saturday at the Michigan City Invitational
WHITKO WILDCATS
Coach/years: Steve Fiedeke, first
1998 record/postseason results: Whitko won the Three Rivers Conference.
Key loss: No. 1 Jon Nixon
Key players: No. 1 Rob Wright, No. 2 Levi Krider, No. 3 Shane Henderson, No. 4 Drew Dial, No. 5 Joe Grant
Overheard: "We had eight players within three strokes of each other when we qualified. There is absolutely no reason these kids can't go to state. But as Wawasee's coach (Don Deck) told me, the minute you think they will be good, the opposite happens." -ÊFiedeke
Record: 2-0 [[In-content Ad]]
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Wawasee's boys golf team went 15-3 and finished 13th at last year's state finals.
Because they returned four starters from that team, they found themselves ranked No. 5 in the high school golf preseason poll.
A ranking, said coach Don Deck, that was probably not accurate.
The Warriors opened their season earlier than most local teams, competing two weeks ago in the Fuzzy Zoeller Invitational and then competing last week in the Hall of Fame Invitational.
"We got the crap kicked out of us by the southern schools," Deck said, "but they were three to four weeks ahead of us. We went from being way overrated to being unrated."
At the same time, Deck acknowleged, "We did not play anywhere near to our capabilities."
Where the Warriors should be ranked may be up for debate, but barring a catastrophe, they should be one of the best teams in the area.
They graduated last year's No. 1 golfer, Travis Coy, but they return four lettermen. They have Chad Wortinger at No. 1, Scott White at No. 2, Ryan Skaggs at No. 3 and Lucas White at No. 4. As of Tuesday, Deck called the fifth spot "wide open." Golfers vying for that spot in the lineup include Kyle Lundy, Carter Ploszek, Justin Rider and Eric Andrews.
The one thing Deck did not get to enjoy last year was the trip to the state finals. Deck battled health problems.
"I had an arrythmic heart condition," he said. "It was not a heart attack. They had to regulate it with extremely powerful medicine. They told me it would take three to six months to get used to it.
"It took all of six months."
The medicine caused Deck to have shortness of breath, dizziness, tiredness and light-headedness, among other things. Even to this day, he cannot drive his team to matches - an assistant coach does - as a precaution.
"I am a lot better now," Deck said.
He must be, because when asked what last year taught him, he joked, "It taught me the golf team can get along without me."
Then he got serious and said, "I missed state, and I really regretted it."
While the Warriors advanced to the state finals, they finished but fourth in the Northern Lakes Conference. The last time they won the NLC title was 1990.
"The favorites again have to be Warsaw and Goshen," Deck said. "I hope we're in there somewhere. We'd like to win the conference. That's our goal."
Will the Warriors and their four returning lettermen give Deck a trip to the state finals this year? Who knows. The preseason rankings suggested they should, but already, Deck waved them off.
"What happens is, coaches fill out a sheet and turn it in to one guy, who does all the rankings by himself," he said. "I think fifth was a little ambitious for us. I wouldn't be surprised if we are rated 15th through 20th, somewhere in that range."
1999 HS BOYS GOLF CAPSULES
MANCHESTER SQUIRES
Coach/years: Gary Goshert, second
1998 record/postseason results: 4-9, sixth in TRC; Manchester's season ended at sectional.
Key loss: No. 1 Ben Vineyard
Key players: No. 1 Ryan Burton, junior; No. 2 Derek Miller, junior; No. 3 Michael Good, junior; No. 4 Tony Ritenour, junior; No. 5 Evan Schenkel, freshman
Overheard: "We don't have any seniors, but we have boys back who played varsity golf last year. We would like to improve on our record, our finish in the conference and the invitations we play in. One of the goals of our team is to not take a score in the 50s in a varsity match. We had that happen a few times last year." - Goshert
Record: 0-2
TIPPECANOE VALLEY VIKINGS
Coach/years: Roger Moriarty, eighth
1998 record/postseason results: 13-5, 6-2 TRC; third at sectional, 10th at regional
Key losses: No. 1 Aaron Martin, No. 6 Eric Love
Key players: Sophomore Drew Shafer and sophomore Andy Martin will rotate between the No. 1 and No. 2 spots; No. 3 Brian Love, sophomore; No. 4 Anthony Domenico, sophomore; No. 5 Brandon Eaton, junior; Junior Dax Snyder, junior Derek Domenico, freshman Aaron Zolman and freshman Brandon Harmon vie for the No. 6 spot
Overheard: "We're looking forward to the season with these sophomores having a year of experience under their belt. We have been practicing below the 160 mark. With all the good teams out there, we will have to be on our game every time out. In the conference, Rochester has a good team, and Whitko, last year's conference champion, lost only one player. I think we have one of our better teams here, but because of the quality of teams, we are gonna have to fight like dogs to get out of the sectional." - Moriarty
First match: Tippecanoe Valley hosts Rochester and Culver Military Academy at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Rozella Ford Golf Course
TRITON TROJANS
Coach/years: Joe Bennett is serving as Triton's interim coach.
1998 record/postseason results: N/A
Key losses: Andy Westafer, Mark Feldman
Key players: No. 1 Scott Neal, No. 2 Eric Schneider, No. 3 Aaron Shafer, No. 4 Eric Disher, No. 5 Greg Christian, No. 6 Justin Vining
Overheard: "We hope to improve from beginning to end. That's all the expectations I have." - Bennett
Record: 0-3
WARSAW TIGERS
Coach/years: Bob Turner, 11th
1998 record/postseason results: 15-3, 5-1 NLC; won NLC; won Warsaw Sectional for third straight year
Key losses: No. 2 Kevin Powell, No. 4 Chris Osbeck, No. 5 Jeff Phillips
Key players: No. 1 Justin Howell, junior; No. 2 Jason Henthorn, junior; Five others are vying for the other three spots in the varsity lineup. They are senior David Grossnickle, junior Ryan Slone, freshman Aaron Turner, freshman Tyler Wallen and freshman Adam Johnson.
Overheard: "We're a year away. We will be better in one month. Wawasee is by far the top team in the area. We have to get some experience before we do any talking. Basically, we're starting all over. Today, we're probably in the middle of our conference." -ÊTurner
Opening match: 9:10 a.m. Saturday at the Michigan City Invitational
WHITKO WILDCATS
Coach/years: Steve Fiedeke, first
1998 record/postseason results: Whitko won the Three Rivers Conference.
Key loss: No. 1 Jon Nixon
Key players: No. 1 Rob Wright, No. 2 Levi Krider, No. 3 Shane Henderson, No. 4 Drew Dial, No. 5 Joe Grant
Overheard: "We had eight players within three strokes of each other when we qualified. There is absolutely no reason these kids can't go to state. But as Wawasee's coach (Don Deck) told me, the minute you think they will be good, the opposite happens." -ÊFiedeke
Record: 2-0 [[In-content Ad]]