Triton's Music, Wawasee's Moore, Valley's Zimpleman advance as individuals
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
For quite some time, said Columbia City High School boys golf coach Andrew Thompson, the Warsaw Tigers have been the measuring stick in the area. The Tigers have won 26 sectional titles, third-most among any program in state history, and have advanced to the state finals as a team in eight of the past 11 seasons. In Friday’s 13-team sectional at Rozella Ford, however, it was Thompson’s Eagles everyone was chasing. Behind match medalist Tyler Green’s 1-under 69, the Eagles shot a season-low four-man score of 299 and won just their fourth sectional championship and first since 1985. The top three teams, as well as the top three individuals not on an advancing team, qualify for Thursday’s regional at Stonehenge. The host Tigers finished second with a 308, while Culver Military Academy claimed the last regional berth with a 310. “This has been a long time coming,” Thompson said of his team ending the program’s long sectional drought. “These guys have a great work ethic, and their preparation all week and leading up to this week has been great. “There’s some really good teams here,” added Thompson. “Warsaw has been the measuring stick for years. Fort Wayne Dwenger is in our area too, and they’re ranked fifth in the state right now, but we’ve always thought of Warsaw as the cream of the crop. Coach (Ben) Barkey does a great job at Warsaw, and for us to come over here and win the sectional is a great accomplishment.” Wawasee finished fourth Friday with a 315, followed by Triton (322), Plymouth (323), Tippecanoe Valley (328), Northfield (338), Huntington North (346), Whitko (365), Culver Community (380), Manchester (384) and Lakeland Christian Academy (435). Green, a sophomore who has already committed to play at Purdue University, won medalist honors by four strokes over Warsaw senior Will Petro. Warsaw junior Jonny Hollar shot a 74 and tied for third place overall with Triton’s Greg Music. Music, Wawasee’s Jeffrey Moore (75) and Valley’s Bryce Zimpleman (76) qualified for the regional as individuals. “It’s great,” Wawasee coach Steve Coverstone said of Moore advancing. “He’s made it out as a freshman and sophomore now, you can’t ask for more than that. The bad thing is the rest of the team doesn’t get to experience it.” Wawasee’s other four scores included Tristen Atwood’s 79, Cal Heinisch’s 80, Rasmus Rich’s 81 and Mason Germanprez’s 86. In earning his individual regional berth, Zimpleman shot 36 on the front and 40 on the back. His lone hiccup was an 8 on No. 14. “Bryce had a nice round today,” said Valley coach Roger Moriarty, who described the sectional being at Rozella Ford for the first time since 2002 as a nice homecoming. “He was solid all day. He had a hiccup on No. 14, but he stayed with it and had a nice round.” Columbia City claimed the team championship with three scores of 75 or better. To go with Green’s 69, Spencer Klimek and Cameron Slavich shot 75s, Trent Murphy carded an 80 and Max Dryer finished with an 81. “Columbia City is a great team,” said Warsaw coach Ben Barkey, whose team was looking for the program’s fifth sectional title in six years. “They’re No. 1 and No. 2 guys are fantastic. They got a great round out of their No. 5 guy today. That’s how you win championships, you get a great round by an unsung hero like that sometimes.” To go with Petro’s 73 and Hollar’s 74, Warsaw also got a 78 from Brandon Eckert and 83s from Ryan Cultice and Michael Jensen. While Barkey said his players certainly would have enjoyed hoisting another trophy, they have the big picture in mind. Suriving and advancing this time of the year can also be looked at as a win. The Tigers’ score Friday was its second-best round of the season. “The guys are a little frustrated with their round, but they have the big picture in mind,” said Barkey. “A lot of them have brothers that came through our program, and they know you have to survive and advance. We’re fortunate that we get to play again in the regional.” Along with Music’s 74, the Triton Trojans’ lineup included Tanner Shepherd’s 77, Lucas Shafer’s 84 and 87s from Braden Kreft and Jordan Anderson. Connor Eichenauer led Manchester with an 83, while Daniel Zawlocki led Whitko with an 87 and Jacob Strickland paced Lakeland Christian with a 91.
WARSAW SECTIONAL (Rozella Ford, par 70) Team Scores – Columbia City 299, Warsaw 308, Culver Military Academy 310, Wawasee 315, Triton 322, Plymouth 323, Tippecanoe Valley 328, Northfield 338, Huntington North 346, Whitko 365, Culver Community 380, Manchester 384, Lakeland Christian 435 Top 3 Individuals – Tyler Green (CC) 69, Will Petro (War) 73, Jonny Hollar (War) 74, Greg Music (Tri) 74 Advancing Individuals – Greg Music (Tri) 74, Jeffrey Moore (Wawa) 75, Bryce Zimpleman (TV) 76 (Local Teams) Warsaw – Will Petro 73, Jonny Hollar 74, Brandon Eckert 78, Ryan Cultice 83, Michael Jensen 83 Wawasee – Jeffrey Moore 75, Tristen Atwood 79, Cal Heinisch 80, Rasmus Rich 81, Mason Germanprez 86 Triton – Greg Music 74, Tanner Shepherd 77, Lucas Shafer 84, Braden Kreft 87, Jordan Anderson 87 T. Valley – Bryce Zimpleman 76, Tanner Neeley 78, Trevor Neeley 83, Cole Cumberland 91, Josh Tucker 92 Whitko – Daniel Zawlocki 87, Will Peters 88, Cole Bechtold 92, Matt Hathaway 98, Tim Gensch (98) DQ Manchester – Connor Eichenauer 83, Noah Cain 98, Xzavier Whitaker 99, Rainer Borgmann 104, Eli Shaum 116 LCA – Jacob Strickland 91, Evan Bremer 104, Drew Nieveen 116, Kyle Shuler 124, Conner Blum 131
