Arrowhead golfers ready to defend title
HARTFORD – When you’re good enough to throw away a 5-over 77 at a sectional meet, things are going well. Really well.
That was the case for the Arrowhead boys golf team Wednesday at Washington County Golf Course. The defending Division 1 state champion emerged from the state’s toughest sectional with a four-man score of 287 that was fueled by subpar rounds from sophomore Piercen Hunt (70), the defending state champion, senior Alex Yost (71) and junior Matthew Rabb (71).
The Warhawks’ fourth score, a 3over-75 by freshman Nick Amtmann, tied him for 11th.
“It shows me they’re ready. We’re peaking at the right time," said Arrowhead coach Greg Budzien, whose team beat Marquette by 10 strokes. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence and when those guys are playing with the confidence they have right now, they’re a dynamic force.”
The state gets to see that next Monday and Tuesday at the state meet at University Ridge in Madison where Arrowhead will try to become the first Division 1 team to repeat since the school did the trick in 2009 and '10.
The schools who filled the sectional are traditionally part of what is arguably the state’s toughest grouping. The play Wednesday did nothing but strengthen that thinking.
The top two teams and top three individuals not part of a qualifying team advanced to state. Marquette, the topranked team in the final Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin state poll, shot under par on the back nine to erase a four-stroke deficit to Menomonee Falls at the turn and qualify for the third straight year.
On the outside looking in were Menomonee Falls, despite shooting what athletic director Ryan Anderson said was a school record 301, and Homestead, which fired a 304.
Falls just missed qualifying an individual for state as well. Twin brothers Steve and Danny Sanicki were part of a sudden-death playoff for the final spot with Homestead senior Ethan Padgett. Padgett won the playoff on the first hole.
That meant that despite having a school-record day as a team and two individuals in the top five that Falls qualified no one for the state meet.
“This is the biggest tournament in the state, this sectional,” Marquette coach Brad Niswonger said. “Menomonee Falls had a great team this year. Tosa had a great team this year. Homestead kept coming on stronger every week. That’s five great teams out of eight that could win any sectional in the state.
Marquette almost fell victim to the depth of that field but rallied in the final nine holes. The team’s four scorers were clutch: junior Jack Blair and senior Brady LeMonds were 1-under on the back nine, senior Ethan Graham shot even par and sophomore Jack Lutze was 1over.
“You figure out pretty fast that back nines are what it’s all about, especially with teams that haven’t been there that many times,” Niswonger said. “I just had to tell the guys you’ve been here before, you know what it takes, you don’t have to do anything heroic, just one shot at a time. Don’t force the issue.”