Boys golf: Conant's Ganas, Maine South reign at Hoffman Estates regional

It's been a great week for Conant's Nikko Ganas.

A week ago, the junior finished second in the Mid-Suburban League conference meet. He topped that Monday, when he became the regional medalist champion at the Class 3A Hoffman Estates boys golf regional at the Bridges of Poplar Creek.

"I have been hitting it pretty good," sad Ganas, who finished with a 76. "My iron shots have been all right but I just managed to get around and get some pars. I was good off the tee today and struggled around the greens."

Ganas topped Maine South's Brennan Dombro, who finished one shot back with a 77.

"I was just getting up and down a lot," Dombro said. "I was putting well on the back nine, which kept the round alive."

Rolling Meadows' Luke Duffer, who struggled at the MSL meet, bounced back quite nicely to finish third with a 78.

"This week everything just clicked," Duffer said. "Last week my putting was good and my swing was a little off. I got it fixed this past weekend, so all is good."

Maine South's Myles LaHart and Nicolas George tied Conant's Matt McColaugh for fourth with each shooting a 79.

Things were real good for Maine South, which won the regional title for a school-record fourth consecutive year. The Hawks, led by Dombro, LaHart, George and Michael Cwiertniak (82) along with Sean Gallery and Nicholas Dembro, who each shot 84s, won the team title with a 317.

"The guys are excited about making school history," Maine South coach Steve Scholl said. "They were a little disappointed in their scores today. It wasn't reflective of what they had been doing in the past, but they are excited with the win for sure."

Conant was second, just 3 shots back with a 320. The Cougars, who were led by Ganas and McColaugh, also got strong performances from Sunny Sivarathri (82) and Graham Knott (83). Rohan Patel (86) and Tyler Ryan (88) also finished well for the Cougars.

"We came in here knowing we had a shot at top three," Conant coach Scott Cieplik said. "We did what we needed to do today. We did struggle a bit putting today. It was a sight to behold. You never see that many lip outs."

Rolling Meadows qualified for the sectional for the second year in a row by finishing third with a 336. Duffer got help from Chris Cho (81), John Freiburger (88) and Matt Lennon (89).

"This is outstanding," Rolling Meadows coach Joseph Szabo said. "It doesn't happen too often. The kids played great."

Also qualifying as individuals were the Top 10 finishers that were not part of the top three teams.

Schaumburg sent four golfers through with Vassilios Davis (83), Justin Bany (91), Aiden Wise (93) and Matt Holbeck (94).

Elk Grove and Hoffman Estates each had a pair of qualifiers. Elk Grove will send Noah Morton (91) and Jason Gamez (95) to the sectional while Hoffman has Nathan Meister (84) and Jeremy Weidner (93)

Maine West and Maine East each had one qualifier. Maine West will send Riley Griffin (88) while Maine East has Tom Schaefer (96).

The three teams and individual qualifiers will compete next Monday at the Glenbrook North sectional at Sportsman's Golf Club in Northbrook.