WCA boys are headed for State Golf Tournament

BY KRAIG HUNTER
Coach

The West Central Area Boys Golf team is headed to the state tournament for the first time in school history. The Knights won the Section 6A championship by 15 strokes at the Perham Lakeside Golf Course on Monday and Tuesday, June 7 and 8. The Knights had a winning score of 709 followed by Hillcrest with 725. Breckenridge came in at 738, Pine River-Backus 740.  Other schools competing  that did not advance as teams to the second day were OTC, Underwood, Rothsay, Ashby, Pelican Rapids, Park Christian, Nevis, and Lake Park-Audubon.

Underwood’s Trevor Swonger was the individual champion. Second place was Joel Quam of Hillcrest, third place tie was Noah Kapenga from Pelican Rapids and Mitch Dewey of WCA, and fifth place was a tie between Bryce Grabinski of Hillcrest and Joseph Zackowski of Pine River-Backus.

I am so happy for these boys to get a state tourney experience.  They are all really good kids and are so deserving.  It was a sweltering two-day grind in 94 degree heat.  Our boys did what they’ve done all year and that is to show their team depth. We only had one player in the top five, but we usually have five out of the top 15 overall which shows they’re the deepest team and if one of them has an off day, the others are always there to pick them up.

It is quite an accomplishment for Mitch Dewey to tie for third overall. He’s got as good of an all-around game as anyone out there and is just steady and solid.  I’m also proud that our kids take pride in their short games. We work on it a lot at different spots all around our course at practice and I see our boys getting some saves that most high school players don’t.  All of those strokes make a difference and I love their heart and grit they play with on every stroke.

The State Tournament will be held this Tuesday and Wednesday, at Pebble Creek in Becker.

       Hunter takes 11th place 

WCA’s Lexi Hunter placed 11th individually in the girls Section tournament.  The top team and the next five individuals advance to state.  Park Christian won the girls team title and had three of the top five places so Hunter was 8th of the remaining individual girls, missing state by three places. The WCA coaches noted that Lexi was a solid golfer all year and really came on in the conferen.