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Boys golf: Waubonsie Valley wins third invitational this fall

Waubonsie Valley Class 3A boys golf state veteran Jacob Fritz spoke for many of the participants in Elgin on Tuesday afternoon.

"The elevation changes are crazy," Fritz said. "It makes your shot so much different. I definitely left a lot of shots out there."

But in their first appearance at the Elgin Country Club Invitational, the Warriors used consistency in their five-man lineup to upend St. Charles North and host Geneva for the championship of the 16-team field.

Will Troy, who tied for third in state last year for Waubonsie Valley, and Fritz, also a senior, were runner-up and seventh, respectively, with rounds of 75 and 77 to lead the Warriors to a 323-325 victory over St. Charles North.

Geneva, which had the medalist in underclassman Joey Adams' 74, was third with a 328 total.

Batavia (331) edged Jacobs by a stroke for fourth place.

Troy was not overly enamored with his second-place 75.

"I definitely gave some shots away on the par-5s," Troy said. "It was kind of an uneventful round. Overall, I struck the ball pretty well. But I only had one birdie in the round. You're not going to do too much with only one birdie on the day. I am very pleased with our team with where we're at for this part of the season. We are getting along real well."

It was the Warriors' third tournament title this year to augment runner-up finishes in two other tournaments as well.

"Any time you can play on a country club, it's real nice," Waubonsie Valley coach Eric Flodberg said of the layout and the Warriors' maiden experience in the tournament. "We saw a lot of teams we normally don't see."

Kenton Esch and Nolan Schweiger completed the Warriors' triumph with scores of 81 and 90.

St. Charles North had very similar scores to its former conference rival Waubonsie Valley in crafting its second-place result.

Alex Lilly and Evan Suyak, sectional returnees for the North Stars, were third and fifth after the former fired a 76 and the latter a 77.

"I definitely played for position (off the tee) today," Lilly said. "Putting was a little difficult on the course due to (recent maintenance). I managed to get two (birdies)."

Suyak was bettered by Batavia senior Ari Fragen on a scorecard playoff for fourth place overall, but the North Stars' senior also bested South Elgin senior Dilan Patel and Fritz when the quartet all finished with 77s.

"I hit the ball a lot straighter than usual, so it helped my game a lot," Suyak said. "I found the course interesting. It's a lot different than a lot of the courses around here."

John White and Cole Miller were the North Stars' other contributing athletes with rounds of 85 and 87.

"I think we're trending in the right direction," St. Charles North coach Justin Moriarty said.

Geneva returning Class 3A state veteran Nathan Dalton had a ninth-place 80 for the Vikings to complement the championship round authored by Adams, who was playing as the fifth man for his team.

"It was a great showing by our sophomore Joey Adams, earning medalist honors," Geneva coach Eric Hatczel said. "He really had the putter going."

Like Troy, the Bulldogs' Fragen left the course with ambivalent feelings.

"To be honest, today wasn't a great day for anything," said Fragen, who did manage a chip-in eagle to highlight his fourth-place effort. "Going back to the summer, I have had an issue closing out rounds when I had a good score going. I need to work on some things."

West Aurora reigning Class 3A regional champion Zac Uhm could certainly relate to Fragen, who closed with three straight bogeys.

Uhm was in contention for top honors, only to lose 5 shots on his last two holes in the shotgun start - Nos. 13 and 14.

"They were two of the three hardest holes on the course," West Aurora coach John Proczko said. "Obviously, (Uhm) wasn't very happy. (It was) definitely not the way you want to finish."

Uhm was the last of the competitors to break 80 with his solo eighth-place 79.

Andrew Rechtsteiner had the final top-10 berth with an 80 to fuel Jacobs' fifth-place showing.

  Geneva's Cal McKittrick chips onto the 8th green in a boys golf tournament at Elgin Country Club Tuesday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Larkin's Devin Arendt tees off on #9 at a boys golf tournament at Elgin Country Club Tuesday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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