Burlington Central send 2 to state

The drought is over.

The Burlington Central boys golf team broke a 14-year drought of not sending a golfer to the state tournament Monday when seniors Sam Schmalz and Peter Cappas both shot 1-over-par 73s and qualified for the Class 2A state finals out of the Marian Central sectional at Crystal Woods in Woodstock.

Schmalz and Cappas, who tied for fourth overall in the tournament, are the second and third Central boys golfers to qualify for the state meet. Steve Padgett is the only other golfer in program history to make the state meet as an individual (1994), according to former Central boys coach and current girls coach Deb Twenhafel, who was on hand Monday at Crystal Woods.

For Schmalz, qualifying for the state meet was especially satisfying.

"It means a lot after last year," said Schmalz. "I shot 36 and 46 and missed the cut by two. It was good redemption for me. This is our senior year. It meant a lot to make it."

Schmalz recorded birdies on the fifth and eighth holes.

"I played consistently," said Schmalz. "I made a lot of pars. I was hitting a lot of greens. I hit 14 greens and would make 2-putts. I was getting consistent pars that way."

Cappas was even better in the birdie department. He finished with birdies on the, fifth, sixth, 17th and 18th holes.

"I was 2-over going into the fifth hole," said Cappas. "I wasn't playing bad, but I wasn't scoring well. The birdies definitely gave me confidence. The 2 birdies at the end, that's always a good thing."

Like Schmalz, Cappas felt he turned in a consistent effort.

"I struck the ball pretty well and made a few putts that I needed to," said Schmalz. "My drive was working really well. It put me in good spots to be able to work from."

Central shot a 305 to establish a new school record for an 18-hole team score. The Rockets finished fourth behind Wheaton Academy (300), Crystal Lake Central (300) and Marian Central (305). Luke Fleming added an 80 and Matt Allison shot an 81 for the Rockets.

"Sam and Peter, making it to state, we're so happy for them," said Central coach Brody Hamel. "They work hard in the summer and are focused and are well-deserving of this. Both of them set goals for themselves before this season to make it Downstate and they accomplished it. They were smiling ear-to-ear when they walked off the 18th hole."

"If there are any kids that are deserving of it, it's those guys," said Twenhafel. "They are both great kids. All the work they did paid off. I'm so happy for them."

Also at Crystal Woods, Hampshire junior Grant Yoder qualified for the state tournament after shooting a 77, which was the last qualifying score out of the top 8 individuals not on state-qualifying teams.

"I thought for the most part that I struck the ball solidly," said Yoder. "I had 5 real good looks at birdies but none of them dropped. I had a lot of pars and bogeys."

Yoder, an all-Big Northern Conference selection this season, established an 18-hole round low for this year with his 77 effort.

"I'm really excited," said Yoder. "I have the opportunity to go down and represent my school and my team. I couldn't be happier."

Yoder's freshman brother, Jeremy, shot an 84 at Crystal Woods and did not qualify.

Yoder, Schmalz and Cappas will compete in the Class 2A state finals Friday at Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University in Normal.

At Byron: St. Edward freshman Mike Holevas shot a 79 at par-72 Prairie View Golf Course in Byron to advance to Friday's Class 1A state finals.

Holevas' 79 score ended up being the cut-off for state qualifying.

"I'm pretty excited being a freshman and going down," said Holevas. "Unfortunately Eric (Winters) didn't make it. I'm bummed about that. If I stuck to my game, I thought I could make it. I didn't have my best game, but I kept it so I could make it."

Holevas felt his short game played a big role in his round.

"I putted pretty well," said Holevas. "My short game kept me in it pretty much. I didn't strike the ball that well."

Holevas recorded a birdie on the par-4 fifth hole.

"I hit a good drive and put the approach shot 30 feet from the pin and made the putt," said Holevas.

Holevas will compete in the Class 1A state finals Friday at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington.

Winter shot an 81 for St. Edward.

At Bartlett: Making the individual cut were Bartlett's Trace Pomplun and Larkin's Ryan Smith. Smith shot a 75 and Pomplun a 76 on his home Bartlett Hills course to just make the cut.

Larkin's Smith, who traveled to state last season as a spectator, will have a whole new role this season. Smith shot 37-38 to finish with a 75 and earn his first berth in the state tournament. Smith tied Lyons' Kyle Mulcahy and Apple for fifth place overall.

"I really played well today. I putted pretty well," said Smith, who putted only 28 times for the round. "I putted 10, 12, 15 feet."

Hinsdale Central won the team title with a 306 and Benet Academy secured the second state qualifying spot with a 310.

Kyle Kochevar of Glenbard West was the individual champ with a 72.

St. Charles East failed to make the state cut, finishing fourth with a 312.

The Fox Valley area's other qualifiers -Drew Buddle and Ryan Pondel of South Elgin and Scott Harm of Larkin -failed to make the cut.

At Barrington: Cary-Grove's Matt Efflandt posted a 75 and qualified to state as one of the eight individuals at the Class 3A Barrington sectional at Makray Memorial.

"It was a good score to get on this course,"Efflandt said. "It shows all the hard work over the summer. The conditions were good. It wasn't too cold and not too hot or windy. I had a good mindset all day. I just wanted to hit the simple shots."

The teams that proved to have the steadiest nerves - Lake Forest and Barrington - both shot 311 and advanced on to the state tournament this weekend in Bloomington.

The Scouts captured the sectional team title on tiebreaker criteria, edging the 80-81 on the fifth score.

Jack Watson of Carmel earned medalist honors, shooting a 2-over 73 on the par-71, 6,580-yard course.

DeKalb and Carmel ended in a tie for third place, 4 shots back (315). Rounding out the field were McHenry (317), Highland Park (318), Jacobs (323), Rockford Guilford (325) and Rockford Boylan (329).

Other players who advanced were Bennett Lavin (Deerfield) 73, Trace Royer (DeKalb) 75, Jim Van Fleet (McHenry) 75, Michael Grayson (Highland Park) 77, Corey Konieczki (Rockford Boylan) 77 and Kyle Rhymer (Rockford Guilford) 77.