Golfers 2nd, 4th in GNC meets; team wins Prentice triangular

After a slow start in the first two Great Northern Conference golf meets, the Medford Raiders made a move this week with improved performances in meets hosted by Mosinee and Antigo.

At Antigo’s Bass Lake Country Club Tuesday, the Raiders finished fourth with a team score of 368 and that result leapfrogged them over Rhinelander into fifth place in the current team standings. Medford holds a 13-12 lead over the Hodags with three meets to go.

Lakeland continued to dominate, winning its fourth straight meet of this season and its 18th straight GNC meet overall with an outstanding team score of 309. The T-Birds hold a 28-23 lead in the team standings over Mosinee and would have to collapse down the stretch to not win their third straight league title.

Mosinee was second in Tuesday’s meet at 348, 10 shots ahead of the host Red Robins. Northland Pines was fifth, five strokes behind the Raiders, Rhinelander was sixth at 375 and, with just three golfers, Tomahawk did not register a team score.

No Raiders cracked the top 10 individually, but all five golfers posted 18-hole scores of 100 or better for the first time this season.

Freshman Connor Lingen led the way with an 87 on the par-71 course. That was good for 12th place and left him one stroke shy of getting into a tie for ninth. Lingen was 10-over-par with a 46 on the front nine and a solid six over on the back nine. He birdied the par-4, 389-yard second hole and notched five pars. Caleb Heckel also had a strong back nine and shot a 90 (49-41) that included five pars. Lucas Liske carded a 91 (43-48) that included birdies on the par-4, 357-yard first hole and on the par-5, 500-yard seventh.

Colton Gowey (50-50) and Riley Viergutz (53-47) shot 100s. Viergutz birdied the par-3 17th hole. Gowey was six or under on 15 of 18 holes.

Lakeland teammates Kaeden Nomm and Jack Rubo shot 76s to tie for top honors individually, while Matt Haggart was a shot behind and Cody Olson was fifth with an 80. Antigo’s Joe Volpentesta broke up the T-Birds’ dominance at the top with a fourth-place score of 78. Nomm took over the lead from Olson in the individual standings with the 9.5 points he earned Tuesday. He has 31 points through four meets to lead the pack. He’s one point ahead of Olson.

The Raiders took their first step forward Thursday at always-challenging Indianhead Golf Course in Mosinee during the GNC’s third meet of the spring.

Medford carded a team score of 371 and finished in a three-way tie for second place with the host Indians and Northland Pines. That trio of teams was well behind Lakeland, who shot a 339, but one shot ahead of Antigo. Rhinelander was sixth with a 380 and Tomahawk did not post a team score.

Heckel pushed his GNC point total to seven by collecting 3.5 points and tying for seventh place with a 14-over-par 86. Koldyn Gechas of Rhinelander also shot an 86. Nomm and Logan Kramsvogel of Northland Pines tied for ninth with 89s.

Volpentesta was the meet medalist with a 77. Nick Krueger of Northland Pines and Rubo tied for second with 10-over-par 82s. Olson temporarily took over the individual scoring lead, boosting his total to 24 points with a fourthplace score of 83.

For the Raiders, Gowey tied his best score of the season with a 94. It was his best GNC score thus far. Lingen also shot a 94 that included birdies on the par-4 eighth hole and the par-5 16th. Liske came in with a 97 and Viergutz shot a 101 with and birdie on the par-5 seventh hole in his second GNC appearance on the lineup card.

Northland Pines hosts the fifth GNC meet Friday at 3 p.m. at the Eagle River Golf Course. It’s Medford’s turn to host Monday. That meet will take place at 3 p.m. at the Black River Golf Course. In between, Medford takes its annual trip to the Stanley-Boyd Invitational Saturday, which will be played at Cadott’s Whispering Pines Golf Course.

5th at Rhinelander

Three Raiders turned in sub-100 scores on another challenging course, Northwood Golf Course, during Monday’s nine-team Rhinelander Invitational.

Lingen led the way with a 21-over-par 93 on a course known for some tight fairways and tough doglegs. He tied for 12th individually out of 45 golfers, shooting a consistent round that included a 47 on the front nine and a 46 on the back nine. He birdied the par-5, 500-yard 13th hole.

Heckel was a shot behind Lingen and took 14th with his 94 (44-50). Two triple bogeys kept him from threatening the 90 mark. Gowey shot a 98 (47-51) that saw him card sevens on two holes and six and under on everything else.

Liske’s 101 (51-50) included birdies on the 130-yard, par-3 11th and on the 340yard, par-4 18th. Viergutz shot a 105 (5352) that included 11 bogeys.

Those results added up to a team score of 386 and a fifth-place finish behind Shawano (343), Antigo (359), Laona-Wabeno (379) and Rhinelander (381). The Raiders were two shots ahead of Mosinee and also ahead of Marathon (392), Crandon (421) and Ashland (441).

Marathon’s Noah Gage was the meet medalist with a 10-over-par 82. Antigo’s Alex Samolinski and Reed Christianson of Laona-Wabeno both shot 83s. Shawano got an 84 from Lucas te Plate and 85s from Kaden Marcell and Andrew Puissant in its winning effort. Rhinelander’s Koldyn Gechas also shot an 85.

In the JV meet, Medford placed fourth out of seven teams at 488, beating Shawano (523), Marathon (535) and Crandon (720). Mosinee won with a score of 406, followed by Antigo (431) and Rhinelander (483).

Sam Liske led the Raiders with a 113, followed by Noah Machon (119), Isaac Schaefer (125), Nick Cipar (131) and Jake Cipar (144).

The varsity will return to Northwood for the Great Northern Conference finale on May 21.

First at Prentice

Medford outscored Prentice and Hurley to win a nine-hole triangular Friday at Prentice Pines Golf Course.

The Raiders’ team score of 166 was 23 shots better than both the Buccaneers and North Stars, who tied with a 189 on the par-35 course.

Viergutz led the Raiders with a solid 4-over-par 39 that put him in second place, one shot behind Prentice’s Joe Hueckman. Heckel shot a 6-over-par 41 and tied Hurley’s Dominic Croci for third place out the 15 individual golfers in the meet. Lingen was one shot behind with his 42. Lucas Liske and Gowey tied for sixth with 44s, one shot ahead of Hurley’s Gavyn Moncher.