St. Edward's Mattas shines at Larkin invite

St. Edward senior Michael Mattas enjoyed a good day at Wednesday's Larkin boys golf invitational but he thought he could have performed better.

Mattas carded a 73 to lead the Green Wave to a third-place finish with a team score of 332 at Golf Club of Illinois in Algonquin.

"The wind was tough but I still missed some putts I should have made," said Mattas. "I felt I could have shot 70 or maybe in the 60s."

Other scores for St. Edward included an 81 by Aaron Worf an 85 from Jason Allen and a 93 by Steve Poremba.

DeKalb, led by medalist Austin Freeman with a 71, was the team champion with a score of 313.

Lake Park finished second with a score of 317. Jake Dianovsky led the Lancers with a 78.

"The wind was prevalent today, but the kids battled through it and played well," said Lake Park coach Dan Batka. "It was a good first match."

Batavia, led by a 79 from Nick Robinson, was fourth with a score of 335.

Hampshire, with a 77 by Myles Miller, placed fifth with a team score of 338. Mark Spitzer followed Miller with a 82.

Burlington Central, paced by a 76 from Joe Sherman, was sixth with a team score of 343.

After going 5-over on the first two holes, Sherman shot even par for the last 16 holes.

"I had to keep my poise after the first two holes," said Sherman. "I got going and played well the rest of the way."

Other Rocket scores came from Ryan Lomas (87), while Jordan Souvigny and Anthony Divito each carded 90s.

"This was a good litmus test to start the season," said Burlington Central coach Tom Davies. "We play in a lot of tough invites and we should be ready for the postseason."

Palatine, with an 83 from Chris Fortunato, was seventh with a score of 345.

South Elgin, paced by a 79 from Dan Smith, was eighth with a score 350. Bartlett finished ninth with a 356. The Hawks were led by Alex Salatino with

Dundee-Crown, paced by an 82 from JP Anderson, was 11th with a score of 357.

"JP made some mental mistakes but he played under some very tough conditions," said D-C coach Bob Sweeney. "This was a good experience for JP and the team."