Boys golf: York eclipses Hersey for third place in Class 3A

Area teams are bringing home some hardware at the boys’ state golf championships, which concluded Saturday in Bloomington and Normal.

York finished third in Class 3A, Wheaton Academy finished third in Class 2A, while Hersey finished fourth in Class 3A and Harvest Christian of Elgin finished fourth in Class 1A.

Class 3A:

York made a surge in the final nine holes at the Den at Fox Creek in Bloomington to overtake Hersey for third place for the highest finish for a Dukes team. York finished with a 607 to finish four shots better than Hersey’s 611.

New Trier and Evanston tied at 589 with New Trier winning the state title on the tiebreaker. Geneva was fifth with a 617, Hinsdale Central was sixth with a 619 and Barrington was eighth with a 624 and Stevenson failed to qualify for Saturday’s round.

Sal Purpora led York with a 7-over 148 to finish 13th. Grant Hickman shot a 151 to finish 20th. Brian Huber shot 154 and Collin Adelsbach 158.

Hersey’s fourth-place finish was the highest for the Huskies since they finished third in 1978. Hersey was led by Owen Spokas, who finished fifth with an even-par 144. Colin Lockwood was tied for 23rd with 152. Kyle Carlson and Tucker Hemminger each shot 159 to close the scoring for the Huskies.

“They have a stretch of holes there called the Fox trap,” Hersey coach Dan Caporusso said. “Day 1, we got past. But today it ate us up a bit. And that was the story. It kept us from holding one of those cool state trophies.”

Evanston’s Lester Low won the title with an impressive 7-under 137. Hinsdale Central’s Michael Jorski and Benet’s Caden Petersen tied Spokas for fifth with each shooting a 144. Hampshire’s Nolan Adamczyk was eighth with a 145.

Libertyville’s Finn Sullivan shot 147 to finish 12th while Burlington Central’s Tyler Samaan and Fremd’s Rayden Tee were 13th with a 148.

Class 2A:

Wheaton Academy will be bringing a third-place trophy back to West Chicago. The Warriors, who led by three strokes after Friday’s opening round at Weibring Colf Club in Normal, couldn’t quite hang on and dropped to third with a 604.

Normal U-High and Washington tied with each shooting a 596. But Normal U-High won the title based on fifth-man tiebreaker.

Wheaton Academy could be poised for big things again next season, with all four of its top golfers scheduled to return.

The Warriors were led by Owen Coniaris, who shot an even-par 142, to finish fifth. Coniaris, who is a junior, was five strokes behind 2A champion Nolan Eccles of Dunlap, who shot a 5-under 137.

Wheaton Academy’s Nick Ratini, a freshman, finished tied for seventh with 147. Sophomore Ben Patel shot 156 and Clayton Barnett, a sophomore, shot 159.

St. Viator tied for fourth with Lake Forest with each team shooting a 609. Lake Forest won the fifth-man tiebreaker and was awarded the fourth-place trophy.

The Lions were led by Zak Roesch and Oscar Marzec, who both finished 23rd with 152. Mac Dean shot 153 and Cullen Hughes a 161.

“We will take it, especially with so many underclassmen on the team,” St. Viator coach Jon Dean said. “Obviously we were hoping for a little better, but to make it downstate and then make it to the second day, those were two goals of ours.”

Other notable area finishers were Lakes’ Brady Cross, sixth with a 144, Vernon Hills’ Jake Levitan, who tied for 17th with Sycamore’s Gavin Sedevie at 150.

Class 1A:

Harvest Christian was second at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington after the first day on Friday. But the Lions had a tough day Saturday and fell to fourth with a two-day total of 641. They were four strokes back of third place Port Byron, which finished 637.

Teutopolis won the 1A title, shooting a 623. Fulton was second, 11 strokes back with a 634.

Harvest Christian’s Liam Lodding finished fourth overall in the individual standings. The senior shot a 4-over 148 to finish four strokes behind Bureau Valley’s Wyatt Novotny’s, who shot an even-par 144 to win the state title.

Other top scores for Harvest Christian came from Joshua Smerek, 14th overall with a 153. Ryan Foster shot 170 and Jayden Zwemke posted 171.

“We have always been on the cusp of getting downstate,” Harvest Christian coach Jeff Boldog said. “We just needed a couple of kids to get us some scores and this year we did that. It has been a ride.”

Timothy Christian’s Miles Van Prooyen was tied for sixth with a 149. He helped the Trojans finish fifth overall with a 646. Peter Huizenga shot 162, Mitchell Keith 164 and Will Vogelzang finished with 173 to round out the scoring.