St. Charles E., Waubonsie wins UEC titles
St. Charles East displayed its resilience with impeccable timing Thursday afternoon at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club in West Chicago.
One week after suffering six dual-meet losses, the Saints were a long shot to disrupt the Upstate Eight Conference River Division boys golf standings.
But with eight players firing 83 or better, the Saints were crowned the most unlikely of champions, storming past previously undefeated Geneva and once-defeated St. Charles North.
The Saints denied Batavia on a fifth-card tiebreaker when both schools finished deadlocked at 309, and the respective third- and fourth-place showings by Geneva and St. Charles North enabled St. Charles East to repeat as divisional champions.
There was far less drama in the Valley Division as Waubonsie Valley, behind its formidable depth, completed its undefeated league season with a winning team score of 309.
“Geneva and North have been better than us all year,” St. Charles East coach John Stock said. “Every stroke this time of the year helps. The rain came today, and it helped us. Geneva and North will be coming at us (Tuesday at the Class 3A Larkin regional at St. Andrews).”
The coaches’ decision to play eight players per team benefited the Saints handsomely in the challenging conditions.
Kyle Jacobs and Brian Danosky fired rounds of 76 and 78, respectively, from the seventh and eighth positions for St. Charles East; Brad Riva added a 77 from the sixth hole, with top-rated Sean Lenchner posting a 78.
Max Kelly had an 80 for the Saints’ fifth-card, which forced Batavia to concede the team title when the Bulldogs’ fifth-scorer Peter Karkos posted an 82.
“I just wanted to play well,” said Jacobs. “I just kept the ball in play and didn’t have any (penalty strokes). After the second hole when I had a birdie (to offset a first-hole bogey), I knew I was going to play well.
“We just carried over what we performed (at a Wednesday practice round),” said Lenchner. “We came in with the mindset to win.”
Batavia also had four players in the 70s: Nathan Podraza, Matt Milauskaus and Emilio Tenuta all posted rounds of 5-over 77; seventh-man Danny Richardson was one shot off the pace to frame the Bulldogs’ 309 finish.
“The odds were a 1 percent chance of winning (the overall championship),” Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said after the Bulldogs went 3-3 in league dual play. “Everything had to fall perfectly for us.”
Geneva junior Ted Cuscaden was the individual medalist in the River with a 75, one shot better than three other players.
“I kind of had the attitude of nothing to lose,” said Cuscaden, who secured a postseason lineup berth with his performance.
But the Vikings’ 315 total left them on the outside looking in.
“That’s why we set it up that way,” Geneva coach Bill Koehn said of the regular-season and tournament points system. “I’m a Viking and here I am rooting for Batavia today.”
St. Charles North was fourth at 322, but Raghav Cherala earned divisional MVP honors with his third-place 76.
“I didn’t even think about all-conference until the very end,” the North Stars’ third-ranked player said.
Waubonsie Valley enters the Naperville Central regional next week with plenty of momentum after the Warriors defended their Valley championship.
Untested juniors Jeremy Weiland and Eric Copeland fired the tournament rounds of their lives with matching 76s to lead the Waubonsie defense.
Alex Koulos, the Valley MVP, added a 77 for Waubonsie, which had Alex Meyer and Jason Marrs tie for the fourth card with 80s.
“You never know who is going to come in with the low score,” said sixth-man Weiland. “We’re just really deep with our lineup so that our seventh man can move up to the third spot.”
“There’s no pressure on me,” said seventh-man Copeland. “I just went out there, played my game and relaxed.”
“We were really happy our sixth and seventh guys pulled us through,” said Koulos.
The Warriors’ back-to-back titles produced a different sensation for coach Dave Owles.
“Last year felt like we only won a division,” Owles said. “This year it feels like we won the conference championship.”
Waubonsie Valley handily defeated River champion St. Charles East in the schools’ dual meet last week.
Neuqua Valley needed to win the tournament outright after dropping its dual match to Waubonsie Valley last week, but the Wildcats were never a factor against the Warriors’ superior depth.
Alex Sanderson and Justin Farmer were the only Neuqua Valley players to break 80, and the Wildcats were forced to accept runner-up in the tournament and overall with their 318 total.
Metea Valley was fourth at 324, but senior Adam Kreiner was the Mustangs’ true bright spot after being one of two players to fire a 75 to finish behind South Elgin champion Xavier Owens.
Lake Park senior Troy Butler was ruled the official runner-up via a scorecard playoff with Kreiner after he authored a dramatic closing stretch.
Butler had pars on his final six holes during the heavy drizzle to lead the Lancers’ fifth-place 329 showing.
“I kept searching for birdies, but it never happened,” Butler said.
Owens’ triumph, largely the product of his field-leading 5 birdies, was his fifth 18-hole tournament title this fall.
“I actually like playing in the rain,” Owens said of his 1-under performance, the low round for either division by four shots. “It’s another element you have to master. I made a couple of lengthy putts (for birdie).”
The Storm leader exorcised a series of previous disappointment at St. Andrews with his red-number afternoon.
“I don’t remember playing too well here in the past,” said Owens, who will seek his second career state berth with St. Andrews’ opening preliminary on Tuesday. “I kind of let everything happen today.”
South Elgin finished at 320 as a team as Andrew Dylo (81), Ryan Ford (82) and Victor Miras (86) were its other contributors.
Ryan Wolfe was at level par after nine holes for Bartlett, but the Hawks’ No. 1 player could not sustain his momentum in leading his squad with a 77.
Collin Wadelin, Mark Hyzy and Ryan Starks were all in the mid-80s for sixth-place Bartlett, which finished at 333.
“It was a tough year,” Bartlett coach Tommy Boyle said.
In the River Division, Larkin, missing four starters for disciplinary reasons, had the best area finish as Dylan Ganow and Lucas Hayes anchored the squad with respective rounds of 77 and 78.
“I just worked around (the missing players) and tried to do my best,” Ganow said. “I had a lot of rescue shots, a lot of recovery shots. My putting was good.”
With only four players in attendance, Jack Eckholm and Cody Benthusen completed the Royals’ 360 team score.
Eric Hamlin, the No. 1 player for Streamwood, finished the regular season second in MVP with his runner-up 76 for the Sabres.
Jeff Weaver added an 85 for Streamwood (368), which edged Elgin (370) for sixth place overall.
Sandro Moraca paced the Maroons with an 88.