Joel Karnick
WIAA STATE BOYS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS TEE OFF IN KOHLER
THE MEET: The 98th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Golf Championships will be held Monday and Tuesday, June 3-4 on the Meadows Course at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis. Competition will begin for Division 1 at 7 a.m. Monday and at noon for Divisions 2. and 3. Play resumes Tuesday at 7 a.m. for Divisions 2 and 3 and at noon for Division 1. Tee time assignments for Sunday practice and for Monday’s play are posted on the boys golf page of the WIAA website.
TICKET INFORMATION: Ticket prices for the State Boys Golf Championships are $9 per day plus online fees, and they are available to be purchased on-line on the WIAA website through GoFan, the WIAA ticketing partner, at: https://gofan.co/app/school/WIAAWI?activity=Golf.
THE FORMAT: The competition features 16 teams and 24 individual qualifiers in Division 1, and eight teams and 12 individuals in Divisions 2 and 3. Weather permitting, all competitors will play 36 holes, including 18 holes on each day. The lowest scores from the first day will have the later tee times Tuesday.
STATE MEET STREAMED LIVE: The ninth and 18th holes of the WIAA State Boys Golf Championships will be streamed live without subscription on the NFHS Network at www.nfhsnetwork.com/associations/wiaa-wi or WIAA.tv.
THE FIELD: In Division 1, the field consists of the top two teams from each of the eight sectionals. In Divisions 2 and 3, the top two teams from each of the four sectionals qualify. The top three individuals, who are not members of a qualifying team in each sectional, also qualify for the meet.
LAST YEAR: Sheboygan North won the Division 1 team championship by shooting a four-player, 36-hole score of 614, which was eight strokes better than Eau Claire Memorial at 622. Parker Etzel of Eau Claire Memorial earned individual medalist honors with a 36-hole score of 147, which was 3-over-par. Edgewood won the Division 2 title for the sixth straight season, not including the 2020 season that was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Crusaders finished with a four-player score of 615. Winneconne placed second at 638. Winston Knobloch of Winneconne earned medalist honors for the second straight season by firing a 147, which was 3-over-par. Cambridge won the Division 3 title by scoring a 657, and Mineral Point was a distant second with a team total of 686. Kian Bystol Flores of Cambridge won the individual title with a score of 153, which is 9-over-par.
CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES: Madison West holds the record for the most team golf titles with 15. Osseo-Fairchild is next in line with nine, followed by Arrowhead and Edgewood with eight, and then Racine Park with seven. Madison West has also produced the most individual champions with nine. Edgewood (2017-19, 2021-23) is the only program to win six straight team titles. Arrowhead (2007-2010) and St. Mary’s Springs (2015-18) are the only other programs to have won four straight team titles. Five other schools have won three straight championships. Racine did it in 1923-25; Madison West won three straight titles twice, in 1934-36 and 1960-62; Osseo-Fairchild accomplished the feat in 1994-96; and Middleton did it from 1997-99. Bill Heim of Green Bay Preble and Jeremy Lyons of Glenwood City are the only individuals to win medalist honors three times. Heim won from 1986-88 and Lyons from 1997-99.
TEAMS COMPETING: The schools qualifying for the State Meet, with the number of appearances as a team in the State Boys Golf Championships in parentheses, in Division 1 are Bay Port (8), Brookfield Central (16), Eau Claire Memorial (35), Fort Atkinson (12), Franklin (6), Hartford (13), Hudson (5), Janesville Craig (23), Kettle Moraine (12), Marquette (15), Menomonee Falls (11), Middleton (24), Notre Dame (16), Sheboygan North (26), Waukesha North (6) and Waunakee (3). Teams qualifying in Division 2 are Amery (8), Big Foot (1), Catholic Memorial (14), Edgerton (25), Lakeland (8). Seymour (3), University School of Milwaukee (10) and Winneconne (6). Qualifying teams in Division 3 are Bonduel (1), Cambridge (11), Chetek-Weyerhaeuser (1), Cochrane-Fountain City (5), Lena (2), Mineral Point (8), Prentice (1) and St. Mary’s Springs (8).
DIVISION 1 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The individual qualifiers in Division 1 are senior Collin Evers of Appleton West, senior Tyler Poker of Baraboo, senior David Spahr of Brookfield East, junior Lincoln Hottmann of DeForest, junior Evan Ahler of Elkhorn, junior Will Mauthe of Fond du Lac, senior Cody Schmidt of Germantown, senior Chance Rill of Kimberly, senior Ben Arnett and junior Nolan Wirtz of Madison Memorial, freshman Adam Jochims of Muskego, senior Cole Langeness of New Richmond, junior Evan Piontek of Oak Creek, junior JP Flannery of Oconomowoc, junior Jonas Fechner of Port Washington, sophomore Logan Doerflinger of Racine Case, junior Connor O’Malley of River Falls, senior Zach Greenhill of Slinger, senior Colin Quam of Stoughton, junior Robbie Meyers of Waterford, junior Ted Schlindwein of Wausau East, senior Mason Haupt of West De Pere, sophomore Matthew Martin of Westosha Central and junior Mario Stanescu of Whitefish Bay.
DIVISION 1 SECTIONAL MEDALISTS: The sectional champions in Division 1 were junior Sam Swavely of Hudson, who won the Hudson Sectional; senior Mason Haupt of West De Pere, who won the Notre Dame Sectional; senior Dain Johnson of Middleton, who won the Madison Memorial Sectional; junior Owen Kuepper of Hartford, who won the Homestead Sectional; senior Easton Haworth of Janesville Craig, who won the Janesville Craig Sectional; senior Jackson Piacsek of Waukesha North, who won the Waukesha South Sectional, sophomore Matthew Martin of Westosha Central, who won the Brookfield Central Sectional; and sophomore Logan Doerflinger of Racine Case, who won the Franklin Sectional.
DIVISION 2 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The individual qualifiers in Division 2 are junior Chase Van Ranst of Baldwin-Woodville, senior Alex Johnson of Berlin, sophomore Drew Bindl of Edgewood, junior Miles Jaeger of Grafton, senior Kogen Baron of Lodi, senior Cooper McLaughlin of Lourdes Academy/Valley Christian, senior Joshua Potter of Monticello/ Belleville, junior Tyler Reiter of Prescott, freshman Ben Vande Voort of Rice Lake, senior Justin Kaczynski of St. Thomas More, senior Matthew Van Den Heuvel of Wrightstown and senior Jon Bertram of Xavier.
DIVISION 2 SECTIONAL MEDALISTS: The sectional champions in Division 2 were junior Tyler Reiter of Prescott, who won the Rice Lake Sectional; senior Alex Johnson of Berlin, who won the Luxemburg-Casco Sectional; junior Caleb Kern of Edgerton who won the River Valley Sectional; and senior Charlie Darrow of University School, who won the Grafton Sectional.
DIVISION 3 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The Division 3 individual qualifiers are freshman Jack Vogel of Aquinas, junior Logan Weissinger and freshman Dane Schauls of Durand-Arkansaw, senior Carson Mersberger of Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah, senior Ben Wittmer of Glenwood City, sophomore Simon Cole of Ladysmith, sophomore Karson Kowalski of Mishicot, junior Tucker Johnson of Neillsville, senior Konnor Mehlberg of Northland Lutheran and senior Kaiden Bailey of St. Thomas Aquinas, senior Elliott Leibham of Sheboygan Lutheran and senior Dylan Bramstedt of Valders.
DIVISION 3 SECTIONAL MEDALISTS: The sectional champions in Division 3 were sophomore Simon Cole of Ladysmith, who won the Unity Sectional; senior Braden McVane of Lena, who won the Wabeno Sectional, junior Cameron Lipinski of Cochrane-Fountain City, who won the Markesan Sectional; and junior Kian Bystol Flores of Cambridge, who won the St. Mary’s Springs Sectional.
TOP RETURNERS: In Division 1, senior KC Nickel of Waunakee has the distinction of being the top finisher from last season returning to this year’s championships. He was the runner-up a year ago. Senior Charlie Darrow of University School is the top returning player in Division 2. He finished fifth last year after placing 28th in 2022 and tied for 12th in 2021. In Division 3, Kian Bystol Flores of Cambridge is the returning champion after tying for 13th his freshman season in 2022.
STATE TOURNAMENT APPAREL: Officially licensed apparel for the 2024 State Boys Golf Championships is available online on the WIAA website. Access the link located on the Boys Golf Tournament homepage. The deadline for ordering apparel from the online store is prior to midnight Sunday, June 9. Licensed apparel will also be available at Blackwolf Run during the championships.
NEED THE QUALIFIERS/TEE TIMES?: Qualifiers and tee times are available on the boys golf page on the WIAA website at: www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Spring/Boys-Golf/Tournament.
NEED RESULTS?: The quickest way to get the boys golf results of the regional, sectional and State Tournament would be to access the boys golf results page on the WIAA website at: www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Spring/Boys-Golf/Tournament. A link to the live State Tournament scoring and results will be available using Golfstat.com.
NEED CREDENTIALS?: Media Credential requests for the 2024 WIAA Boys Golf Championships must be requested by submitting the online request form on the media restricted area of the WIAA website by noon Friday, May 31. Verification of approved credentials is also available in the media restricted area. Please verify credential requests have been approved. Credentials will be available for pick-up upon arrival at the course.
FOLLOW THE TOURNEY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive the updates of the Boys State Golf Tournament on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaagolf. Also like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at wiaawi.
