St. A Headed to State Golf Tourney, EHS' Wilson Advances

The Effingham St. Anthony High School boys golf team qualified for its 14th visit to the Illinois High School Association Class 1A State Finals in the past 16 years. This will also be the Bulldogs ninth straight year to qualify.

"This was a hard fought sectional," said Coach Phil Zaccari. "It took two days to complete due to the weather and our hats are off to the staff at Governor's Run G.C. to get the course playable.

"The course was very soggy and when the misty rain set in with about four holes to play, it made for a mental test. Jared Hutchison did a masterful job holding his concentration to place fourth individually. Garrett and Connor also battled through a few bad holes to regain their focus and finished strong.

"Nate Schmidt played probably his best round of the year and his steady improvement made for a good finish to round out our scoring. We get to finish our season on the last day you can play. This was our goal all year to make it back and we did. Now we can relax and enjoy the experience. Hopefully our best golf is still to come. We finished second on the strength of our fifth scorer, Sam Wortman's 92. So it appears that our senior leadership came through today," concluded Zaccari.

Nashville was the winning team with a 324 followed by St. Anthony 328, East Alton-Wood River 328, Hamilton County 329, Breese Mater Dei 337, Robinson 341, Carmi 352, Waterloo-Gibault 355, Metro East Lutheran 367, Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran 379, Pinckneyville 384 and Vienna 387.

The top three teams advance to state while the top 10 individuals not members of qualifying teams advance.

Sam Range was medalist for the meet with a 72. Altamont's Adam Mayhaus also qualified finishing with an 81.

St. Anthony's scorers included Hutchison 38-39 -- 77, Garrett Hixenbaugh 37-43 -- 80, Connor Greene 42-42 -- 84 and Schmidt 44-43 -- 87. Wortman;s score of 42-50 -- 92 broke a tie for the Bulldogs, giving them the second spot. Non-counting scorer was Jeff Niebrugge with a 50-51 -- 101.

The Bulldogs will be heading to Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington Friday and Saturday.

At Waterloo

Although Effingham High School didn't advance as a team, Callaway Smith will represent the squad as an individual at the Class 2A State Golf Tournament at Weibring Golf Club, Illinois State University in Normal.

The Hearts competed in the Class 2A Waterloo Sectional where Mattoon pulled out the team victory with a 327 total followed by Belleville Althoff Catholic 330, Salem 338, Centralia 342, Metropolis Massac County 345, Mount Zion 347, Effingham 350, Alton Marquette 354, Columbia 365, Greenville 366, Bethalto Civic Memorial 382 and Mount Vernon 391.

Matthew McCarthy, a junior from Belleville Althoff Catholic, was the medalist with a 72. Smith finished in the top 10 individuals advancing with an 80.

Scoring for the Hearts were Smith 39-41 -- 80, Jake Linders 42-43 -- 85, Jackson Wendling 42-47 -- 89 and Sean Sandifer 49-47 -- 96. Non-counting scores were Reed Schafer 54-46 -- 100 and Ryan Sandifer 50-50 -- 100.

The Class 2A State meet is scheduled Friday and Saturday.

At Normal

Neoga High School's Luke Baker will be competing in the Class 1A State Tournament at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington after finishing in the top 10 individuals with an 81 at the Normal Sectional at Weibring Golf Club, Illinois State University.

El Paso-Gridley won the team championship with a 314 followed by Decatur Lutheran 317, Beecher 330, Champaign St. Thomas More 338, Tuscola 342, Bismarck-Henning 346, Arcola 363, LeRoy 366, Dwight 369, Gilman Iroquois  West 371, Watseka 389 and Sullivan 391.

El Paso-Gridley, Decatur Lutheran and Beecher advanced as teams. The Class 1A State Tournament will be held Friday and Saturday.

At Zeigler

In the Class 1A Zeigler-Royalton Girls Sectional, Effingham St. Anthony finished sixth while Effingham tied for 10th in the team event.

Belleville Althoff Catholic won with a 325 total followed by Eldorado 334, Metropolis Massac County 344, Mount Carmel 345, Herrin 360, St. Anthony 367, Highland 381, Waterloo 382, Alton Marquette 387, Effingham 389, Nashville 389 and Bethalto Civic Memorial 397.

The Hearts' Morgan Wilson, a senior, advances as an individual. Medalist was Taylor Goodley, a senior from Eldorado, with a 71. Wilson tallied an 82 and will be playing at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur Friday and Saturday.