Boys golf: Bielecki's 68 leads Prospect to sectional crown
Prospect's Cole Bielecki had his best day when everyone else struggled.
Bielecki was the only golfer to break par Monday at the Class 3A sectional at Mt. Prospect Golf Club in Mt. Prospect. Bielecki had five birdies and shot a 2-under 68 to win medalist honors by three strokes over Vernon Hills' Kartik Vasudeva.
Bielecki, who is a junior, shot a 72 at last week's regional in Arlington Heights. That came on the heels of a 78, 11 days ago at the MSL championship, which was also at Mt. Prospect Golf Club.
Bielecki said he was hoping for a good day on Monday.
"The pins were difficult and on slopes and I have not seen them before," Bielecki said. "But I was putting well and that helped a lot."
With Bielcki leading the charge, Prospect won the sectional crown with a score of 296. Luke Kruger (72), Patrick Raupp (77) and Jack Krueger (79) also scored well for the Knights, who will head to Fox Den in Bloomington for the Class 3A state tournament this weekend.
"This has been our goal the entire season and off-season to get down there," said Prospect coach James Hamann, whose team qualified for state two years ago and finished eighth.
"We are very comfortable playing there and have a real good game plan for it. It is like our second home course besides here (Mt. Prospect CC). We played there a lot this summer and played two tournaments there this season."
Barrington had a slow start but rallied to finish second with a 304. The Broncos were led by William Lange, who had a 74, Isaiah Thomas and Sam Uutala, who each shot a 76, and Alek Lechuga, who had a 78.
"Early on, you can't really tell where the scores will end up," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker, whose Broncos are making their 10th consecutive appearance at state.
"I think the course played pretty tough for everyone. It was a true test out here and the kids kept battling."
Vernon Hills was third with a 308 and qualified. The Cougars were led by Vasudeva's 71, along with Jake Levitan's 78, Lundaa Hayanhirvaa's 79 and Henrik Lundberg's 80.
The three teams finished ahead of Palatine and Hampshire, which each scored a 310. Lake Forest was next with a 312, followed by Libertyville's 314.
Area at-large golfers that qualified for state from the sectional were Hampshire's Seth Gillie (72), Charlie Polash (73) from Crystal Lake Central, Joseph Boldt (73) from Cary-Grove, Braeden Newby (73) from Fremd, Palatine's Pablo Casto (74), Hersey's Danny Zolna (75), Jack Bice (75) from Crystal Lake Central, and Libertyville's Joey Kistler (76) who won the tiebreaker with Buffalo Grove's Connor Woodin and Palatine's Darrin Dick.
At Lyons:
Conant qualified for the state finals as a team for the first time since 1978. The Cougars shot a 291 to finish behind New Trier, which shot an 8-under 280.
Maine South was eighth with a 310.
Nicolas Simon, who will be competing for Michigan next year, was the medalist with a 3-under 69 for Conant. Antonio Gutierrez was tied for third with a 70. Conant also got help from Peyton Kittivat (73) and Daniyal Syed (79).
Maine South's Adam Drabek (73) was the only other area qualifier.
At Lemont:
In Class 2A, St. Viator came on strong, but finished fourth with a 308, to miss qualifying as a team by two strokes.
Ryan Kalaway shot a 1-under 70 to finish tied for second and qualify to go to the finals as an individual. Teammate Max Maiorano also qualified with a 76.
At Freeport:
In Class 2A, Carmel shot a 312 to edge Byron by three strokes. It was the Corsairs' second sectional championship, the other coming in 2011. It is also the third time in school history that the team is heading to state.
Carmel was led by Kevin Crow, who shot a 71. Ryan Mcnett (79), Peter Kosobuck (80) and Nathan Stuart (82) also played well for Carmel.
Grayslake Central's Dominic Lucchesi, who won the regional title in Mundelein last week, followed up this week with a sectional title. He shot a 71 and was able to beat Crow on tiebreakers.
Brady Cross, who is a freshman from Lakes, also qualified for state by finishing third with a 74.