EHS, St. A Claim Boys Golf Regional Titles

Effingham and Effingham St. Anthony captured boys golf regional championships Tuesday.

Effingham claimed the team championship of the Class 2A Mattoon Regional. The Hearts tallied 312 followed by Mattoon 326, Mount Zion 330, Chatham Glenwood 334, Taylorville 345, Rochester 366, Charleston 366, Auburn 380 and Paris 400.

Efifngham's Jackson Wendling, a senior, took medalist honors by shooting a 75 at the Mattoon Golf & Country Club. Teammate Callaway Smith, a sophomore, was runnerup just a stroke behind with a 76. Also scoring were Jake Linders, a senior, with an 80 and senior Sean Sandifer with an 81. Non-counting were junior Reed Schafer 82 and freshman Ryan Sandifer 89.

Wendling, who will be playing golf next year at Nebraska, had eight pars and a birdie on the par-5 No. 15 on the back nine.

The victory came four days after Mattoon had won the Apollo Conference championship by 19 strokes over the Hearts.

"What started out as an awful, miserable day ended on a very positive note," said EHS Coach Jeff Schafer. "The kids battled through the tough conditions anad played great today. Mattoon had beaten us very soundly in each tournament we played in. It was great to see both of our teams advance as we have played a lot of golf wiith hem and have all the respect in the world for them.

"It was also good to see a third Apollo team advance in  Mount Zion as we will have four of our six Apollo teams in the sectional together. Salem also advanced.  Jackson and Callaway were awesome today finishing one and two. We can't put up a 312 without two of our top three playing well. Sean had his best round in two months giving us an 81 while Jake overcame a poor start to finish with an 80 and Reed had an 81.

"I can't tell you how happy I am for our playeres. We can enjoy this for tonight and we have to try to prepare to play in Waterloo. It will be our three seniors record fourth straight trip to the sectionals. It would be great if this is the one where we can make some magic happen."

Also advancing as teams were Mattoon and Mount Zion. Individuals advancing were Garrett Brennan (Chatham Glenwood) 80, Ben Dorchinecz (Taylorville) 81, Clayton Oiler (Rochester) 82, Carter Wilkey (Chatham Glenwood) 83, Eli Day (Chatham Glenwood) 84, Tanner Bailey (Auburn) 85, Connor Black (Taylorville) 85, Kendall Elliott (Charleston) 86, Ben Trask (Chatham Glenwood) 87 and Brenden Barnhart (Chatham Glenwood) 88.

The three teams and top 10 individuals advance to the Waterloo Sectional Monday at Acorns Golf Links.

St. Anthony team members are, left to right, Coach Phil Zaccari, Jeff Niebrugge, Garrett Hixenbaugh, Connor Greene, Jarod Hutchinson, Nate Schmidt and Sam Wortman.

At Effingham

The Bulldogs won their own Class 1A regional title with a 322 score followed by Robinson 350, Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran 374, Pana 376, Shelbyville 379, Vandalia 383, Ramsey 384, Teutopolis 385, Altamont 390, Flora 405, Sandoval 426 and Oblong 432.

St. Anthony's Connor Greene, a senior, was medalist for the regional with a 73. Greene birdied the first playoff hole to claim medalist honors over Tom Goodman of Robinson. Also scoring for the Bulldogs were Garrett Hixenbaugh, a senior, with a 75, Jared Hutchison, a junior, 85 and Jeff Niebrugge, a junior, with 89.

The top three teams and top 10 individuals, not members of qualifying teams, advance. Also advancing with teams were Robinson and Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran.

Altamont's Adam Mayhaus, a junior, advanced as an individual with an 83 score. Teutopolis' Christian Deters, a sophomore, also advanced with an 87. Others advancing were Logan Hosick (Cisne) 86, Nick Trotter (Flora) 88, Jim LaMarche (Pana) 90, Kody Bland (Pana) 90, Carter Hunt (Ramsey) 91, Wyatt Shuler (Sandoval) 91, Michael Lay (Ramsey) 92 and Wil Bolinger (Shelbyville) 93.

The three teams and top 10 individuals advance to the Trenton Wesclin Sectional Monday at Governor's Run Golf Course in Carlyle.

At Toledo

Two area players advanced from the Class 1A Cumberland Regional. Neoga's Luke Baker, a junior, was medalist with a 73 while Windsor's Tristan Warner, a junior, shot a 76.

Baker and Hunter York of LSA both shot a 73 and Baker won in a playoff. Also advancing as individuals were Cole Burdick (Decatur St. Teresa), Cayden Brilley (Decatur St. Teresa), Paolo Kinsella (Bement), Hayden Kile (Oakland), Zach Pendelton (Casery-Westfield), Lake Genenebacher (Decatur St. Teresa), Gabe Scott (Macon Meridian) and Peyton Allen (Marshall).

Winning the team championship was Decatur Lutheran with a 319 total followed by Arcola 353, Sullivan 361, Decatur St. Teresa 364, Bethany Okaw Valley 381, Casey-Westfield 384, Oakland 390, Marshall 402, Macon Meridian 404, Cumberland 422 and Windsor 423.

Decatur Lutheran, Arcola and Sullivan advance, along with the individuals, to the Normal Sectional Monday at Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University.