Raiders look to bounce back under Haase’s leadership

MEDFORD GOLF PREVIEW

It hasn’t been the ideal start to the high school golf season thanks to winter’s refusal to go away, but the Medford Raiders and new head coach Matt Haase have higher expectations for the finish.

Haase, a 2007 Medford graduate and one of the best golfers in program history, takes over a position that had been held since 2000 by Dave Vaara. He retired from teaching and coaching after last school year.

“I am extremely excited to take over this program being that I came from these schools and grew up here,” Haase said. “Coach Vaara was not only an excellent golf mentor but a life mentor and a big reason why I got into coaching. He’s a big reason why I got as far as I did in the game of golf.”

Haase worked under Vaara as the JV coach for the last five springs and said last week he can’t wait to see what’s in store for this 2022 team that remains young but gained valuable experience a year ago and has possibly added some depth and internal competition. That, he feels, can only make the team better.

“I think we’re going to have a good team with a lot of competition to get those top five spots,” said Haase, who turned his high school success into a solid collegiate career with Marquette University’s golf team before he returned home as a teacher. “That is huge for a team because it pushes guys to compete and be on point every single day when they come to practice because they know the next guy’s coming for them. If they don’t perform, they lose their spot to travel. And they all know that traveling and playing for these varsity events is the most fun they’ll have all year.”

The year has started with minimal outdoor work due to the weather, but the Raiders were able to get out on the Medford Area Middle School grounds and take some swings on April 1 and they even got a wet and cold nine holes in at Cadott’s Whispering Pines on April 5.

“It really was good to get out, although it was some tough conditions,” Haase said. “It was 43 degrees, 15-20 mph winds and it drizzled the whole time but the last halfhour it poured. So the guys got a good taste of spring golf here in Wisconsin.

“It was good,” he added. “A lot of learning experiences and then we got a lot to talk about as to what all happened. How can we improve? What do we need to do differently? There were some rules situations. Stuff like that.” Youth certainly was a factor in Medford’s uncharacteristic fifthplace finish in the Great Northern Conference. The Raiders also finished fifth out of nine teams at the WIAA Division 2 Northwestern regional meet. But, they did send two golfers to sectional competition at Black River Falls and Haase is looking for them –– senior Caleb Heckel and sophomore Connor Lingen –– to lead the way for this year’s group. Heckel, a varsity player since his freshman year, shot an 83 at last June’s sectional to tie for 14th individually, while Lingen was 23rd with an 87. Both earned honorable mention honors in the GNC.

“Caleb is a senior, a varsity returner and sectional qualifier last year,” Haase said. “I’m looking to get big things out of Caleb. I think Connor Lingen is really going to take off this year. I’m really liking the way he’s swinging the club. You can tell when he plays he’s definitely got experience. He’s gotten taller, he’s gotten stronger, he’s swinging it faster, hitting it further.”

Junior Lucas Liske and sophomore Riley Viergutz also return as 2021 letter winners. Viergutz had the team’s lowest score in last week’s round at Cadott. Liske was generally the team’s third- or fourth-best scorer last spring and got as low as 82 in an outstanding round at the Northwestern Invite last May 20.

In all there are 18 boys on the team roster. Junior Connor Gowey is one player who Haase said is definitely right in the mix for one of the top five varsity spots. Freshman Zachary Hintz is another golfer to watch.

“He has played in some state events, which doesn’t happen that often around here,” Haase said.

Juniors Charlie Kleist and Brayden Stelzl are new to the team but have showed potential early on and freshman Evan Fechhelm is another golfer showing early potential.

Toby Anderson is the first-year assistant coach but is a well-known coaching name in Medford’s athletic department.

“He’s very experienced in all aspects of taking care of kids and being a coach,” Haase said. “He’s very knowledgable in the golf world and a very good player.” The Raiders have a light week this week with spring break. With luck, the guys may be able to take advantage of some courses opening during the week. The hope is to start competition on schedule next week with the varsity and JV squads attending Tuesday’s Marshfield Invitational at RiverEdge Golf Course. The April 22 Ashland Invitational might be a little tougher to get in. Great Northern Conference competition is scheduled to start Monday, April 25 at Mosinee’s Indianhead Golf Course. As always, each of the seven schools in the conference is expecting to host a league meet. Medford’s turn is slated for Thursday, May 5 at Black River Golf Course. Medford’s JV GNC home meet is Thursday, April 28 at Tee-Hi Golf Course. Medford will host what is currently listed as a seven-team invitational at Black River on Friday, April 29 at noon. The nonconference slate includes a return to the Nekoosa Invitational the Raiders had attended for a time a few years ago. An exciting new opportunity comes April 30 when Medford is planning to attend Hartland Arrowhead’s MACC Fund Invitational at LaBelle Golf Club in Oconomowoc.

One neat change to varsity golf this year will be the full-time use of an app that golfers will use on their phones to score meets.

In the GNC, Lakeland has won 21 straight league meets and three straight team championships. Those streaks likely would be at 28 and four if the 2020 season hadn’t been canceled due to the pandemic. Haase said the T-Birds clearly remain the favorite.

But, a big post-season change has the attention of several area teams.

“Lakeland is definitely going to be the team to beat in the conference,” Haase said. “However they are moving out of Division 2 and into Division 1 this year for the playoffs. That’s one of the teams that’s always been in our regional and sectional and it’s now gone. They have been in one of those top spots over the last couple of years. That’s big for the rest of us.

“But it’s going to be very hard to compete with them in conference because honestly, their guys play a lot of summer events. It’s hard to make up for that competition that they’re getting.”

Medford looks to gain ground on Mosinee, Antigo and Northland Pines, who were second, third and fourth in last year’s standings. Rhinelander and Tomahawk were below the Raiders in the final standings. All five 2021 first-team All-GNC players were underclassmen, led by Lakeland juniors Kaeden Nomm and Cody Olson and freshman Matt Haggart. Antigo’s Joe Volpentesta and Mosinee’s Toren Holtz made the team as juniors.

Medford, Northland Pines, Antigo and Tomahawk will have the advantage of playing familiar courses in the post-season. Tomahawk’s Inshalla Country Club will host the regional meet on May 24, while Antigo’s Bass Lake Country Club gets the sectional on May 31.