Boys golf: St. Viator grabs second-place state finish
St. Viator "ran into a buzzsaw," according to Lions boys golf coach Jack Halpin.
That buzzsaw was the Charleston Trojans.
St. Viator had 4 scores in the 70's Friday to head in to Saturday's Class 2A state final in first place.
The Lions got 4 more scores in the 70's on Saturday as well at Weibring Golf Club on the Illinois State campus, but they couldn't hold off Charleston.
The Trojans shot an incredible 292 team score to win the team title by 9 strokes.
"They (Charleston) beat their best-ever existing score by 8 strokes," said Halpin. "That's the kind of day they had."
Despite the disappointing loss, the Lions were able to take home the second-place trophy from Weibring.
St. Viator tied for runner-up status with Normal University. Both teams finished at 608, but the Lions won second place on a tiebreaker.
Helping to lead the way for Viator were two seniors on the starting roster, Chase Metzger, and Ryan Flynn, who carded a 76.
"This means a lot," said Flynn. "It's incredible. We were relaxed and confident going in, and we played well.
"We're happy with the results. It's tough to compete with a team that shoots 292. I felt like we all came together today."
Metzger, who fired an 80, appreciated that he could close out his prep career with a trophy finish at state.
"It's been a blast," said Metzger. "What an experience. Charleston was just on fire today, but our team was very consistent."
Juniors Nolan Doherty (76), EJ Reisinger (76) and Timmy Crawford (79) all counted scores Saturday for Viator.
Doherty's 2-day total of 147 saw him tie for 10th place individually.
"We could have won," said Doherty. "Charleston just played a really good round."
"I struggled a little today," said Doherty, "but I kept it together and our team played really well."
In the Class 3A meet, Colin Robinson's first trip to the state finals proved to be an extremely successful one.
The Fremd junior was ultra-consistent and often spectacular through both rounds of the tournament at the Den at Fox Creek Golf Course in Bloomington.
Robinson shot 75 Saturday in tough conditions, and combined with his 1-over 73 Friday, emerged with a 2-day total of 148.
That was good for a tie for 12th place overall in a field of 107 of the top prep golfers in Illinois.
Jackson Bussell of Stevenson won the individual state title by shooting 141 over the two-day tourney, giving him a 1-stroke victory over Jack Vercautren of Neuqua Valley.
Hinsdale Central won its sixth state team crown.
"I'm proud of him," said Fremd coach Ryan Moreau of Robinson. "It's pretty incredible to go plus-four in a two-day tournament your first time at state."
Robinson carded a 37 on the front 9 Saturday, then birdied holes 10 and 11 to move within just a couple of strokes of the top spot.
A couple of double-bogeys on 2 of the next 3 holes hurt, but Robinson recovered to golf even-par over the final 4 holes.
"I feel pretty good," said Robinson of his finish, "but I left a couple strokes out there, which kind of gets on my nerves."
Robinson said that after the birdies on 10 and 11, thoughts of a title was on his mind.
"At that point I was thinking, 'Let's go win this thing'," said Robinson. "I wanted to win this, but my placement (12th) feels great."
Prospect's Charlie Busch, an individual competitor, had a solid round Saturday, shooting 80. His teammate John Cantieri excelled all wekeend, but especially on Friday when his 4 birdies led to an even-par 72 and a fourth-place Day 1 position.
Cantieri's second day of the tourney wasn't quite as successful, but he still performed well.
"It was a learning experience," said Cantieri, "going up against the best players in the state and seeing how I did against them.
"I was really confident going into it."
Knights coach Tom Martindale was extremely impressed by Cantieri's performance.
"John shot an outstanding round on Friday," said Prospect coach Tom Martindale. "Not a good round, not a great round - an outstanding round.
"Everything was just beautiful - John did a great job."