Raiders pick up several awards after solid 2nd-place GNC showing

ALL-GNC GOLF

In another season where the Lakeland Thunderbirds dominated, the Medford golf team did about as well as it could to separate itself from the rest of the Great Northern Conference pack.

Four of Medford’s five varsity players earned All-GNC honors while first-year coach Matt Haase was named the GNC Coach of the Year after the team’s second- place finish in the conference season, which consisted of seven 18-hole meets, one hosted by each conference school.

While Lakeland won all seven meets to earn a team score of 49 points for the fourth straight season, Medford finished second in the first six meets and fourth in the final one at Antigo’s Bass Lake Golf Course to finish with 40 points, well ahead of Rhinelander (33), Antigo (28), Mosinee (23), Northland Pines (15) and Tomahawk (7).

Not only did the Raiders succeed in conference play by jumping from fifth place to second under Haase, a Raider standout from 2004-07, they also won the WIAA Division 2 regional championship at Tomahawk’s Inshalla Country Club on May 24 with a team score of 321 on the par-70 course and just missed qualifying for the Division 2 state meet with a fourth-place score of 336 at Bass Lake on May 31. The Raiders were two shots behind second-place Antigo who, under long-time coach Steve Fermanich, qualified for its first state tournament since 1985 and placed seventh out of eight teams, beating sectional champion Amery, 686-689.

Lakeland, under head coach Scott Howard, was a Division 1 regional champion and sectional runner-up and tied Sheboygan North for fourth in the D1 state competition with a two-day score of 625 at the Meadow Valley Course at Blackwolf Run in Kohler.

Individually, Raider senior Caleb Heckel scored 27 points during the GNC season to place sixth in the individual standings to earn All-GNC second-team honors. Sophomore Connor Lingen also got a spot on the second team, which consisted of the sixth- through 10th-place finishers. He tied Rhinelander’s Koldyn Gechas for eighth place. Each scored 20 points.

Heckel scored in all seven GNC meets, led by the 7.5 he earned for finishing in a four-way tie for second place at Rhinelander’s Northwood Golf Course on May 10. He shot a 4-over-par 76. Lingen scored in four meets, led by two fourth-place finishes that gave him six points each time. The first was in meet one at Mosinee’s Indianhead Golf Course on April 25, where he shot a 13-over-par 85 in cold and windy conditions. He shot a 5-over-par 77 to take fourth at Northland Pines on May 16.

Freshman Zachary Hintz led the honorable mentionees, consisting of the 11th- through 15th-place finishers. Hintz scored 17 points to finish one point behind 10th-place Brody Kowieski of Rhinelander, also a freshman. Hintz’s top finish was a tie for fifth at Lakeland’s Timber Ridge Golf Course on May 13 where he shot an 8-over-par 80. Hintz later came up one stroke shy of qualifying for state. He shot a 9-over-par 80 at the sectional meet to finish in a threeway tie for second among the potential individual state qualifiers. In a playoff to determine which of those three would earn the last two state spots, Hintz was eliminated after two holes.

Sophomore Riley Viergutz scored in just one GNC meet, but his three eighthplace points at Inshalla on May 3 were enough to give him 14th place. He shot a 79 that afternoon.

Lakeland had the GNC’s top four scoring individuals, led by repeat GNC Player of the Year Kaeden Nomm. The senior earned 64.5 points with three outright wins and a tie for first at Medford on April 28. Jack Rubo tied Nomm in Medford and won the sixth meet at Pines while placing second with 49.5 points.

Lakeland’s Haggart finished third individually with 46 points, including a second-place finish at Pines, while Cody Olson was fourth with 39.5 points. Antigo senior Joe Volpentesta was fifth with 32.5 points and had a huge finish at the Division 2 state meet, taking second individually with a two-day score of 149 (77-72), two strokes behind Winston Knobloch of Winneconne.