Raiders finish 2nd; four golfers earn All-GNC awards
GNC GOLF CONCLUDES
The Medford Raiders didn’t end it with their best scores, but they completed a strong overall season of golf in the Great Northern Conference with a second-place finish following the seventh and final meet of the league season Tuesday at Antigo’s Bass Lake Country Club.
After six straight second-place finishes, the Raiders closed things out with a fourthplace score of 339 on Tuesday, trailing Lakeland (302), Rhinelander (323) and Antigo (337). Medford was comfortably ahead of Mosinee (361), Northland Pines (363) and Tomahawk (406).
From a team perspective there was little drama to Tuesday’s finale as each team, realistically, had its final spot in the standings locked up. Lakeland completed a fourth straight perfect season and finished with 49 points. Medford ended with 40 points to finish well ahead of Rhinelander (33) and Antigo (28).
Individually, there was some jockeying taking place in the final meet. Raider senior Caleb Heckel knew he’d be on the All-GNC second team, but after starting the day in seventh place, he bumped up to sixth by scoring two more points with a ninth-place score of 80 on the par-71 course. He wound up with 27 total points, 5.5 behind fifth-place Joey Volpentesta of Antigo, who was the only first-team golfer not from Lakeland. Heckel’s round was highlighted by birdies on the par-5 fourth hole and par-5 13th. Freshman Zach Hintz had a shot at grabbing 10th, which would have given him the last second-team spot. He shot well, carding a 78 that tied him for seventh place and gave him 3.5 more points. But Rhinelander freshman Brody Kowieski had a big day, shooting a 75 to tie for second and earn 8.5 points, pushing him just past Hintz in the final standings, 18-17. Hintz’s only blemish on the day was a triple bogey on 18. Other than that, he was steady with 13 pars and four bogeys.
Sophomore Connor Lingen did finish on the second team, though he didn’t add to his point total Tuesday. His round of 84 tied him for 12th on the day. His 20 points tied him with Rhinelander’s Koldyn Gechas for eighth in the standings.
Sophomore Riley Viergutz didn’t have his best day, shooting a 105, but his eighth-place finish in the third GNC meet, hosted by Tomahawk, was enough to give him honorable mention. Lucas Liske shot a 97 to place 26th and close out his GNC season.
Lakeland’s Jack Rubo won the meet with a 73 and took second in the individual standings with 49.5 points. His teammate Kaeden Nomm repeated as GNC Player of the Year. He tied Kowielski for second in the day’s round and finished with an impressive 64.5 individual points. Cody Parsons of Antigo, Matt Haggart of Lakeland and Gechas tied for fourth Tuesday with 76s. Haggart finished third individually with 46 points. Lakeland’s Cody Olson tied Hintz Tuesday and finished fourth with 39.5 points.
Medford’s first-year head coach Matt Haase was named the 2022 GNC Coach of the Year following the meet. Medford’s still relatively young squad took a big jump from finishing fifth in the GNC a year ago to finishing second in all but one meet this spring.
Medford will finish the regular season Friday at the Rhinelander Invitational. WIAA Division 2 post-season play starts Tuesday at the Tomahawk regional at the Inshalla Country Club. Based on scoring averages, Medford ranks right with Northwestern and Hayward as favorites to be one of the four teams who advance from the meet to the May 31 sectional at Antigo. Antigo is another team that looks to have a shot at advancing. The top four individuals from non-qualifying teams will also advance to Antigo.
At Pines
The GNC teams were finally able to play at the Eagle River Golf Course Monday after having to postpone previous meets there on April 29, May 5 and May 12. Thursday’s gathering had to be postponed when thunderstorms popped up in the Northwoods that afternoon.
Medford posted its second-best GNC score of the season Monday at 323 to, again, finish second behind Lakeland. The T-Birds came in at 303 to clinch their GNC team championship. The Raiders were 15 strokes ahead of third-place Antigo. Rhinelander finished fourth at 342, followed by Mosinee (367), meet host Northland Pines (372) and Tomahawk (395).
Medford had three top-10 finishers in the individual standings on the par-72 course that measures about 6,200 yards.
Lingen led the team with a 5-overpar 77 (39-38) and had bogeys or better on all 18 holes. He birdied the 506-yard, par-5 ninth and 448-yard, par-5 17th and notched nine pars. Lingen was part of a three-way for fourth on the day with Jett Walters of Mosinee and Volpentesta.
Heckel and Hintz tied Olson for third with 80s. Heckel (39-41) had just one double bogey on a par 3 and also birdied the par-5 ninth and 17th holes. He also birdied the par-4, 314-yard fourth hole. Hintz (40-40) offset two double bogeys with birdies on the ninth and 17th holes as well as the par-4, 409-yard 16th hole.
Liske carded his second straight 86 in league play, that included a solid 41 on the back nine. He birdied the 17th and parred eight holes in his round. Viergutz came in with a 94 that included a birdie on nine and four pars.
Nomm won the meet with an evenpar 72 that included four birdies in the first 10 holes. His teammates, Haggart and Rubo, weren’t far behind with scores of 75 and 76. Rhinelander’s Garrett Kulhanek and Gechas tied for 10th with 81s.
At Lakeland
At Minocqua’s Timber Ridge Golf Course Friday, the host Lakeland Thunderbirds used their knowledge of the home course to card a spectacular team score of 295 and earn the top four indi- vidual finishes for the round.
Medford came in second behind the T-Birds for the fifth straight GNC meet with a score of 329. For the first time, however, someone other than Rhinelander took third. The Antigo Red Robins jumped into that spot with their score of 345, followed by Mosinee (349), Rhinelander (351), Northland Pines (395) and Tomahawk (400).
Medford put three golfers in the day’s top 10, led by Hintz, who shot an 8-overpar 80, which put him in a fifth-place tie with Parsons. Both golfers earned 5.5 points for their efforts. Hintz had an outstanding back nine, going just two over with a 38 on those holes. He was six over on the front nine completing a round of 10 pars and eight bogeys.
Lingen was on pace for an outstanding round as well, but one hole bit him as he got a 10 on the par-4 eighth. Despite that, he still carded a 9-over-par 81 that put him in seventh place for the day. He also had a double bogey on the par-5 seventh. But 14 pars and a birdie on the par-5 15th kept him among the leaders.
Heckel was a shot behind Lingen with an eighth-place 82 that included nine pars and a birdie on the par-3 13th hole.
Liske and Viergutz also came in under 90 to cap a strong day for the Raiders. Liske shot an 86 that included six pars and a birdie on the par-4 14th. Viergutz shot an 89 that included six pars and nine bogeys.
Lakeland’s Rubo (71), Nomm (73), Olson (75) and Haggart (76) swept top spots on the leaderboard. There was a threeway tie for ninth, one shot behind Heckel, between Walters, Logan Kramsvogel of Northland Pines and Timothy Meitus of Lakeland.
