Tigers win Chanute tournament, successfully defend league title

CHANUTE -- Fort Scott High's golf team successfully defended its Southeast Kansas League crown as the Tigers won the final SEK designated tournament here Monday by 17 strokes over host Chanute.

Fort Scott shot 321 in the tournament while Chanute scored a 338 and Marmaton Valley, a non-league team invited to the tourney, and Parsons tied for third at 347. Marmaton Valley won the tie-breaker by having the better fifth score.

Cole Murrin won the individual title in the tournament, a first for the Tiger, who has been a top-10 player in every meet except one this season. He shot 34 on the front nine and 39 on the back for a total of 73.

Outside of the Labette County meet, where he did not medal, Murrin has finished fourth or higher in every other tournament he's played in this season.

"Cole (beat) Chanute's Jeremy Gant on his home course," Fort Scott head coach Ken Klassen said. "He started off very strong and played better-than-par golf most of the round. He struggled a bit at the end of the day, but held on for a victory, a remarkable accomplishment for a sophomore."

Gant shot 37-39--76 in finishing second. Fort Scott senior Chris Brown, who has won medals at every meet, was third at 37-41--78.

"Chris really has proven to be a team leader," Klassen said. "Both Cole and Chris have encouraged teammates while establishing a high level of play as the standard for this squad as a whole."

Dylan Renfro, another sophomore, earned his fifth medal and fourth top-10 finish (Iola's tournament gave out 20 medals) by scoring 42-43--85. He was placed ninth after scorecard playoffs had to be used to break a six-way tie for eighth.

The fourth score for the Tigers was that of Luke Geneva (44-41), one of those also in the tie for eighth. When scorecard playoffs were applied, Geneva just missed on a medal as he was placed 11th.

Paul Norris scored 44-44--88 for the Tigers while Tanner Beckham finished at 48-51--99.

Fort Scott held a 13-stroke lead over Chanute going into the final of the four SEK designated tournaments. That increased to 30 strokes as a result of Monday's action. The Tigers finished with a total of 1,336 strokes while Chanute had 1,366 strokes. Pittsburg was third with 1,403.

Independence's Andy Taylor held an eight-stroke lead over Gant coming into the tournament. Taylor shot 42-41--83 in finishing eighth in the tournament and managed to win the individual SEK crown by one stroke, finishing at 312 to Gant's 313.

Brown, 13 strokes behind Taylor when the day began, closed to within eight and finished third in the league with 320. Murrin was right behind in fourth (323), moving over Pittsburg's Landon Williams (334) after the latter finished tied for 16th with a 44-43--87.

Renfro moved up two spots and finished seventh in the SEK with a total score of 342.

The top 10 scorers in the four league tournaments receive all-league honors while the next 10 are honorable mention golfers. Geneva is one as he finished 11th with a score of 351.

With league over, the last two regular-season tournaments will serve as tune ups for Regionals, which will be held at Paola this year. The Tigers go to Prairie View a week from today and host a varsity meet the next day.

"The team chemistry has been great," Klassen says. "We now need to focus on the Regionals, in which we expect to encounter stiff competition."

NOTES -- Fort Scott's team score was the highest for an SEK champion in four years but some of that can be attributed to the conditions teams had to endure at the first tournament at Independence on April 5. It was cold and windy and snow began to fall during play....

Team scores

1. Fort Scott (FS) 321 (Murrin 73, Brown 78, Renfro 85, Geneva 85)

2. Chanute (CH) 338 (Gant 76, Brazil 82, Coronado 89, Crabtree 91)

3. Marmaton Valley 347 (Tynon 85, Nelson 86, Stinnett 88, Bruner 88, Cole 89),

4. Parsons (PA) 347 (Thomas 85, Heenan 85, Walters 86, Hoisington 91, Chandler 91)

5. Pittsburg (PT) 350 (Casey 85, Letner 87, Williams 87, Carlson 91)

6. Labette County 352 (Sparks 87, Carter 88, Arb 88, Myers 89),

7. Columbus (CL) 356 (Kitch 82, Schoech 87, Chancellor 91, Lucian 96)

8. Iola 361 (Burris 88, C.Ellis 91, Manbeck 91, Starks 91)

9. Coffeyville (CF) 374 (Segundo 84, Watts 89, Yeubanks 93, Mason 108),

10. Independence (IN) 385 (Taylor 83, Hugo 90, Berberick 105, Walters 107).

Medalists

1. Cole Murrin, FS, 34-39--73

2. Jeremy Gant, CH, 37-39--76

3. Chris Brown, FS, 37-41--78

4. Payton Kitch, CL, 39-43--82

5. Will Brazil, CH, 40-42--82

6. Adam Taylor, IN, 41-41--83

7. Devon Segundo, CF, 42-42--84

8. Travis Casey, PT, 43-42--85

9. Dylan Renfro, FS, 42-43--85

10. Ike Thomas, PA, 43-42--85

SEK GOLF

Final after four tournaments

1 -- Independence Tournament, April 5.

2 -- Pittsburg Tournament, April 10.

3 -- Labette County Tournament, April 12.

4 -- Chanute Tournament, April 30.

TEAM STANDINGS

INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS