Silver Hawks focus, win golf title

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BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

This time, the good feelings lasted more than a day.

Lincoln Southwest held the first-day lead for the third consecutive Class A State High School Boys Golf Tournament, but this year, the Silver Hawks ran away from the field at Holmes Golf Course.

Runner-up the last two years, Southwest  finished with a 597total Wednesday - counting the best four individual scores each day.

Lincoln Pius X finished second at 609, six strokes ahead of defending champion Creighton Prep.

"We used the theme 'Finish and Focus' and these guys made it complete today," said a wet-eyed Southwest coach Jim Danson. "We've been so close the last couple of years, partly because we tried so hard. Today, we needed to relax more, let it go and have some fun."

Danson ran from greens to tee boxes all day, talking to his players between tee shots, coaxing them to relax, shake off bad shots, focus on the next shot.

"These kids do it all," he said. "They practice and they help each other. They also got a retirement present for Jerry Wilks, our principal, who is retiring this year."

Norfolk's Scott Bruening birdied the first hole of a playoff to edge Fremont's Andy Sajevic for the individual title.

Southwest senior Brett Sundberg and Mike Coatman finished tied for third, just one stroke out of the lead.

"Brett and I were part of two runner-up teams and we just weren't going to go through that again," said Coatman, a Nebraska golf recruit. He said the memory of Southwest losing a nine-stroke lead after one round a year ago was imprinted in his mind.

"We knew what we had to do with a lead this time. I don't think any of us lost focus on the finish," he said.

Southwest's Austin Zimmerman  finished tied for eighth, first-round leader Kyle Jaacks tied for 11th and Justin Stonacek tied for 20th.

The Silver Hawk victory will force Danson to change his season-starting motivation.

"Every year, he'd take us into the gym and point out that we didn't have a state championship banner and we could win one this year," said Sundberg, who shot a 72 Wednesday. "We wanted a banner, the first in school history, and now, we know how good it feels to get it.

"We're all good friends on this team and we wanted to win for each other as much as anything."

Pius X, which battled Southwest all season,  made a second-day jump from fifth place. The Thunderbolts' Kevin Gillick tied for fifth,  Andrew Primavera tied for 11th and senior Pat Hanzel finished 14th when he posted a final-round 70 to improve on a first-day 83.

Sundberg, who will walk on at Nebraska, said the plan for the Silver Hawks was to shoot par during the final round.

"Coach told us if we shoot pars we'll be right there and there was no reason to make stupid mistakes," he said. "Just going out and playing some golf like we've all been doing for a long time. No pressure. Just play like we know how."

Pressure didn't bother Bruening either.

The Norfolk junior, shot a final-round 72 to tie Fremont sophomore Sajevic after 36 holes.

Bruening, the younger brother of Husker golfer and 2002 state high school champion Chris Bruening, sank a 10-foot birdie putt to win the title.

"I had a birdie coming on that hole and did just what I planned, for once," he said. "I left my first putt so short and I knew Andy (Sajevic) could putt, so I thought give it a run and see what happens."

Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or at khambleton@journalstar.com.

FINAL STATE BOYS LEADERBOARD

CLASS A

Lincoln Southwest 597

Lincoln Pius X 609

Creighton Prep 615

Individual winner: Scott

Bruening, Norfolk (146).

Defeated Fremont’s Andy Sajevic in a playoff.

CLASS B

Sidney 604

Scottsbluff 607

Gretna 613

Individual winner: Kyle Huus, Sidney (137)

CLASS C-1

Gibbon 624

Ponca 642

Hastings St. Cecilia 643

Individual winner: Joshua Reinertson, Gibbon (141).

CLASS C-2

Franklin 636

Creek Valley 668

Alma 671

Individual winner: Joey

Spellerberg, Archbishop

Bergan (146)

FINAL RESULTS

Class A

At Holmes Golf Course

TEAM SCORING

Southwest 302-295—597

Pius X 310-299—609

Creighton Prep 307-308—615

Norfolk 309-310—619

Bellevue East 314-311—625

Elkhorn 312-321—633

Fremont 327-312—639

North Platte 325-324—649

Papillion-La Vista 331-318—649

Millard North 328-322—650

Millard South 331-326—657

South Sioux City 351-342—693

INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS

Scott Bruening, Norfolk (playoff) 74-72—146

Andy Sajevic, Fremont 74-72—146

Brett Sundberg, Southwest 72-72—147

Mike Coatman, Southwest 77-70—147

Alex Young, Elkhorn 76-73—149

Kevin Gillick, Pius 76-73—149

Kevin Stanek, Bellevue East 76-73—149

Austin Zimmerman, Southwest 76-75—151

Colin O’Connor, O. Westside 75-76—151

Daniel McKernan, Bellevue East 77-74—151

Andrew Primavera, Pius 77-75—152

Kyle Jaacks, Southwest, 74-78—152

Noah Sterba, Creighton Prep 74-78—152

Pat Hanzel, Pius 83-70—153

Ross Friehe, P-LV South 79-74-153

Southwest—Justin Stonacek, 78-78—156.

Pius X—Daniel Jenkins, 77-81—158; Jack Burt, 80-81—161.

East—Taylor Stewart, 77-72—159.

Northeast—Brett Miller, 88-80—168.

Class B

At Mahoney Golf Course

TEAM SCORING

Sidney 304-300—604

Scottsbluff 315-292—607

Gretna 316-297—613

Gering 318-305—623

Grand Island Northwest 319-306—625

Nebraska City 319-313—632

Blair 319-318—637

Fairbury 320-320—640

Adams Central 325-320—645

Waverly 328-317—645

O’Neill 331-324—655

Wayne 333-328—661

INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS

Kyle Huus, Sidney 68-69—137

Austin Miller, Gering 70-70—140

Jared Gustafson, Gretna 74-70—144

Greg Pohlmann, Col. Lakeview 73-72—145

Derek Hull, Schuyler 69-78—147

Nathan Cox, Grand Island NW 75-72—147

R. Schneider, West Point-Beemer 75-73—148

John Cantril, Scottsbluff 79-69—148

Ben Deines, Beatrice 76-73—149

Glenn Bills, Grand Island NW 77-73—150

Matthew Landen, Scottsbluff 78-72—150

Michael Havermann, Ogallala 75-76—151

Taylor McCormick, Valentine 76-75—151

Brett Castinado, Scottsbluff 78-73—151

Lee Horky, Fairbury 75-77—152

Sidney—Kyle Huus 68-69, Matthew Johnson 76-78, Brett McCarville 77-79, Ryan Smith 86-74, Josh Wamsley 83-81.

Scottsbluff—John Cantril 79-69, Matthew Landen 78-72, Brett Castinado 78-73, Logan Steele 80-80, Eric Stich 83-78.

Class C1

At Meadowlark Hills Golf Course

TEAM SCORING

Gibbon 311-313—624

Ponca 323-319—642

Hastings St. Cecilia 333-310—643

Superior 335-323—660

Hartington Cedar Catholic 327-335—662

Oakland-Craig 342-331—673

Norfolk Catholic 333-343—676

Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer 351-326—677

North Platte St. Patrick’s 354-333—687

Columbus Scotus 362-340—702

West Holt 351-356—707

Fillmore Central 356-363—719

Kimball 362-361—723

Mitchell 381-346—727

Elmwood-Murdock 395-383—778

INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS

Joshua Reinertson, Gibbon 69-72—141

Jordan Reinertson, Gibbon 74-71—145

Cody Butler, Superior 78-75—153

Justin Blatchford, Ponca 76-78—154

Jordan Arensdorf, NP St. Pat’s 81-74—155

Bradley Kulus, Grand Island CC 78-78—156

Jono Schwenka, Hastings SC 78-78—156

Andrew Brazil, Superior 81-76—157

Kris Koelzer, Wood River 75-82—157

Nicholas Lauer, Hartington CC 79-79—158

Kevin Zoz, Elmwood-Murdock 79-80—159

Brandon Bollinger, Oakland-Craig 78-82—160

Jesse Souchek, Hastings SC 81-79—160

Beau Brown, Arlington 81-80—161

Joshua Schindler, David City 84-77—161

Class C2

At North Platte Golf Course

TEAM SCORING

Franklin 314-322—636

Creek Valley 334-334—668

Alma 335-336—671

Humphrey St. Francis 330-341—671

Archbishop Bergan 640-337—677

Ewing 331-348—679

Orchard 343-346—689

Potter-Dix 351-341—692

Pope John 343-350—693

Cambridge 342-354—696

Hitchcock County 356-353—709

High Plains Community 358-356—714

Pender 363-352—715

Garden County 368-371—739

Elwood 373-367—740

INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS

Joey Spellerberg, Bergan 73-73—146

Andrew Childers, Pope John 75-78—153

Craig Flenniken, Ewing 79-74—153

Lucas Siel, Franklin 75-78—153

Shawn Preister, Humphrey SF 79-74—153

Nick Fowler, College View 76-79—155

Doug Erb, Orchard 78-78—156

Matt Thomas, Thedford 78-78—156

Mitchell Anderson, Axtell 77-79—156

Scott Bartels, Franklin 79-78—157

Shane Siel, Franklin 79-80—159

Tyler Kruse, Mullen 80-79—159

Dillon Kauk, Alma 81-79—160

Josh Transmeier, Eustis-Farnam 82-78—160

Jackson Johnson, Cambridge 79-82—161