Hearts Miss By Two Strokes Reaching State As Team

CARBONDALE – Effingham High School competed in the Class 2A Carbondale Boys Golf Sectional Monday at Hickory Ridge Golf Course and suffered a huge disappointment.

The Hearts finished just two shots away from qualifying as a team for the Class 2A State Finals. Winning the sectional was Waterloo with 297 followed by Belleville Althoff 304, Mount Carmel 304, Effingham 306, Mount Vernon 309, Highland 312, Springfield 313, Springfield  Sacred Heart Griffin 314, Metropolis Massac County 316, Marion 322, Freeburg 331 and Chatham Glenwood 336.

“I am still unsure how I feel about today,” said EHS Coach Jeff Schafer. “We shot an excellent score of 306 on a very fair golf course but missed qualifying for the state finals by two shots. We knew this sectional was loaded with a lot of quality golf teams, it was unfortunate we are going to be left out of state team finals at Bloomington-Normal.
“In other sectionals, scores in the 330s advanced.  We just needed to find three more shots out there today. I am so proud of their effort and results but it really stings to know how close we were.”

Waterloo’s John Wirth shot a 68 to take medalist honors. Effingham’s Anthony Lechman tallied a 72 to finish tied for fourth. Lechman will be advancing to state as an individual.

“Anthony was awesome today shooting 72 and will advance to state next Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Jake Linders also played stellar, finishing tied for 10th. He got into a payoff for the 10th spot to go to state and he was done in by a 30-foot birdie by Nick Patton of Springfield Lanphier.

“Anthony Barrett had another big round for us, shooting a 78. Anthony has come up big for us the last two years. Jackson Wendling, who won the last three tournaments he played in, tried all day to overcome a tough first hole where he found the hazard twice but still managed to last 17 holes at only three over. He is taking this very hard, but he is a great player and has been for us all year. I loved the way his teammates rallied around him after the round.

“It was an awesome season for us. Now let’s hope Anthony can bring home a top 10 finish at Normal this weekend.”

Individuals advancing were Lechman (Effingham) 72, Trevor Flota (Mount Vernon) 73, Matthew Williams (Mount Vernon) 73, Arthur Linden (Freeburg) 74, Nathan Leingang (Columbia) 74, Kody Rendlemen (Murphysboro) 74, Zach Burnham (Metropolis Massac County) 75, Blaine Buente (Troy Triad), Dustin Duncan (Bethalto) and Nick Patton (Springfield Lanphier)

Team Results

(Effingham and Top Three Teams)

Effingham – Anthony Lechman 35-37 – 71, Jake Linders 39-37 – 76, Anthony Barrett 39-39 – 78, Jackson  Wendling 42-38 – 80, Sean Sandifer 51-46 – 97, Reed Schafer 51-50 – 101

Waterloo – John Wirth 34-34 – 68, Charles Hawn 36-35 – 71, Clayton Stoker 37-38 – 75, Joe Mercer 43-40 – 83, Hayden Bode 42-46 – 88, Daniel Bicklein 51-49 – 100

Belleville Althoff – Michael Johnson 36-36 – 72, Matthew McCarthy 36-38 – 74, Jimmy Murphy 41-36 – 77, Connor Eghigian 40-41 – 81, Grant Strieker 38-43 – 81, Taylor David 41-44 – 85

Mount Carmel – Chase  Witsman 34-36 – 70, Christian  Seaton 39-36 – 75, Bridger Kolb 40-39 – 79, 4. Ian HIpsher 41-39 – 80, Gage Iles 43-46 – 89, Daniel Dydo 44-46 – 90