FORT WAYNE - Two area high school boys golf teams will compete in the state finals at Legends of Indiana in Franklin next week.
For the Warsaw Tigers, it will be their fifth trip to state in the eight-year tenure of coach Ben Barkey.Jack Carpenter's Triton Trojans, on the other hand, will play in the state finals for the first time in the program's history.
"It's tremendous," said Carpenter, whose team finished the regular season with a 16-0 record. "It's so exciting. The golf window at Triton is kind of slim, we don't have the kids year in and year out like a Warsaw. Warsaw is a great program, and that's what we're trying to model our program after."
Eighth-ranked Warsaw turned in a four-man score of 305 Thursday, winning the regional championship at Orchard Ridge Country Club in Fort Wayne.
Bishop Dwenger finished second with a 309, while Triton, Prairie Heights and host Homestead all carded a 313.
With the top three teams, as well as the top three individuals not on an advancing team, qualifying for the state finals, the Trojans advanced based on a better fifth-man score.
Triton's Griffyn Carpenter shot a 79, while Homestead's Eric Myers finished with an 81 and Prarie Heights' Brennen North shot a 92.
"Last year was the first time we've ever got out of the sectional, so going to state is pretty awesome," said Carpenter. "The kids were resilient today."
For the Tigers, it was their sixth regional championship in school history and first since 2004.
"Our goal every year is to get out of the regional and play well at the state finals," said Barkey, whose team finished the regular season with a 15-0 record, the third unblemished record in WCHS boys golf history. "Things fell into place today. We're very pleased."
Fort Wayne Canterbury and Concord turned in 321s, followed in the 12-team regional field by Culver Military (324), Northridge (328), Carroll (330), DeKalb (341) and Northrop (353).
Advancing to state as individuals are Homestead's John Finley (72), Fairfield's Brian Ulrich (73) and Zach Hostetler (74), Concord's Matt Lower (74) and Canterbury's Matt Wiersma (74).
Tippecanoe Valley's Caleb Rovenstine competed as an individual and shot a 90.
Finley garnered medalist honors after beating Warsaw's Tyler Ostrom in a playoff.
"He was the medalist at the sectional, and then he shoots 1-over at the regional and is almost medalist, that's pretty good," Barkey said of Ostrom. "He played very well. Every one on this team had a part in us winning the conference, sectional and regional. We're playing very well as a team."
Tim Ahlersmyer carded a 76 for Warsaw, while Jon Schram shot a 78 and Eric Tandy turned in a 79. Kal Denlinger rounded out the Tigers' lineup with an 87.
For Triton, consistency from top to bottom led the Trojans to their first state finals berth, as Ryan Rapp led the way with a 77, Taran Kennedy turned in a 78 and Quentyn Carpenter, Chandler Slone and Griffyn Carpenter all shot 79s.
"That's been the story of this team all year," Jack Carpenter said of his team's consistency. "That's been our theme this year, we've been sold one through five all year. This is the first time they've all been under 80, and it was good time to do that."
