Tiger golfers take second, qualify for State

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

OSAWATOMIE -- All six of Fort Scott High School's golfers will be going to the Class 4A State Tournament. This comes after the Tigers finished second at the Class 4A Osawatomie Regional Tournament here Monday afternoon.

Only the top two teams qualify in Class 4A, so the Tigers had a narrow margin for error and they made it to State by two strokes. Paola was the team champion with a score of 325. Fort Scott was next at 338 with Spring Hill third with 340.

"We obviously are glad as a team to make it to the State Tournament, especially when we were not at our best," Fort Scott head coach Ken Klassen said.

Channing Nielson finished in third place, shooting 38 on the front nine and 40 on the back for a 78.

"Channing had a difficult time hitting the greens in regulation but saved par after par on route to a great round," Klassen said. "He's still recovering from his surgery, but is progressing rapidly to where I definitely think he can medal at State.

Tucker Horn placed ninth at 37-46--83, winning a playoff with Paola's Zach Martin (39-44).

"Tucker played better than he scored," Klassen said. "His opening-nine total of 46 was not up to his abilities, but he roared home with a one-over-par second nine. Tucker's second nine was excellent. He needs a pair of these nines at State.

Horn scored a birdie on the first playoff hole, followed by a par.

The five best scoring individuals on non-qualifying teams also advance to State and both Nielson and Horn would have been good enough to move on even if Fort Scott had not finished second. The individual medalist and runner-ip, Anderson County's Jack Rickbaugh and Pittsburg's Andrew Joy will be moving on as two of those five qualifiers. Rickbaugh shot even-par 34-37--71 while Joy finished six over at 36-41--77.

Conner Antonetti finished tied for 15th place at 43-43--86. Jonathan Allen (45-46) and Baker Weilert (42-49) both shot 91 and Dane Ramsey came in at 46-54--100.

"Conner, who has medaled consistently this year, had some difficulty," Klassen said. "But his 86 was a decent round on a difficult course. He hit some really excellent shots. I'd like to see him medal one more time this year.

"Jonathan struggled a bit, especially in putting, but he can put together a really good round next Monday. He'll have the length that Dub's Dread demands. This course will be the longest we've played on this year. Baker is improving and I'd like to see his senior year end with a memorable State round. Dane ended his round with a number of better holes. His short game is the area on which he needs to concentrate. He improve with time, and I hope he too can achieve success next Monday."

Also qualifying at-large were Spring Hill's Tyler Hartsock, who was sixth at 37-44--81, Louisburg's Alex Kohlenberg, seventh with a 40-42--82, and Anderson County's Spencer Walter, who tied for 11th at 41-43--84.

Paola's team is made up of Dylan Queen, fourth at 32-42--80, John Henry Kelley, fifth at 40-40--80, Laike Walters, eighth at 41-41--82, Zach Martin, the final medalist in 10th place at 39-44--83, Matt Bergman, 42-42--84, and Tyler Dent, 46-44--90.

Team scores

1. Paola (PA) 325 (SQ; Queen 80, Kelley 80, Walters 82, Martin 83), 2. Fort Scott (FS) 338 (SQ; Nielson 78, Horn 83, Antonetti 86, Allen 91), 3. Spring Hill (SH) 340 (T.Hartsock 81, Hall 86, Huffman 86, A.Hartsock 87),

4. Anderson County (AC) 344 (Rickbaugh 71, Walter 84, Weber 94, Eichman 95), 5. Pittsburg (PT) 354 (Joy 77, Randall 85, Wuerdeman 94, Russell 98), 6. Ottawa 368 (A.Blaue 91, Rich 91, Q.Blaue 93, Doollittle 93),

7. Louisburg (LO) 386 (Kohlenberg 82, Storey 94, Cook 94, Glenn 116), 8. Girard 404 (Boore 89, O'Brien 99, Westhoff 107, Rusher 109), 9. Osawatomie 434 (Waggoner 85, Hall 98, Bacon 123, Edwards 128).

Medalists

1. Jack Rickbaugh, AC, 34-37--71; 2. Andrew Joy, PT, 36-41--77; 3. Channing Nielson, FS, 38-40--78; 4. Dylan Queen, PA, 38-42--80; 5. John Henry Kelley, PA, 40-40--80;

6. Tyler Hartsock, SH, 37-44--81; 7. Alex Kohlenberg, LO, 40-42--82; 8. Laike Walters, PA, 41-41--82; 9. Tucker Horn, FS, 37-46--83; 10. Zach Martin, PA, 39-44--83.

Other individual qualifiers

11. Spencer Walter, AC, 41-43--84.