Bears Back on Top: West Branch Wins Class 2A State Golf Title
Your Prep Sports
The state title wait for the West Branch golf team was long and at times disappointing but on Friday all the waiting seemed well worth it.
West Branch rallied from a two-stroke deficit on Friday to claim the sixth state title in program history and first in nearly three decades winning the Class 2A state championship at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
The Bears shot a 323 on Friday to finish the two-day, 36-hole event with a 644 edging runner-up Grundy Center by a single stroke.
It was the first state championship for West Branch since it won its fourth consecutive 2A title in 1992 and came after a runner-up finish in the most recent state tournament in 2019.
“I’ve been at this 25 years now and coach (Jason) Miller has been with me now 20 years and we’ve had some really solid teams that could never quite get over the hurdle to make it to state, we’ve had some really good teams that didn’t even make it out of districts and we’ve had a run here lately where we’ve had teams get to state but then not be able to get over the hurdle there,” West Branch coach Randy Sexton said. “So it was a long time in the making but boy it was certainly worth every minute.”
West Branch trailed Lake Mills by two strokes entering the final day on Friday but matched Grundy Center for the low day-two score with a 323 while Lake Mills shot a 327 on Friday to finish third with a 646.
Just as it has all season West Branch relied on its depth and balance to pull out the state title.
Sophomore Will Bridges finished sixth with a 155 and was the only West Branch individual to place in the top 19.
The other five West Branch golfers each shot between 165 and 170 for the tournament and all finished inside the top 31.
Junior Dylan Countryman tied for 20th with a 165, Brady Knoop tied for 22nd with a 166 and Logan Highly finished tied for 25th with a 167.
“It was so fitting that we would win a state championship this year in the fashion that we did when everyone mattered,” Sexton said. “Every one of the six scored for us at least once over the two days.
Highly and Gage Gingerich who play in the fifth and sixth spots in the West Branch lineup came up huge on Friday.
Gingerich shot an 81 Friday after an opening-round 89 on Thursday while Highly shot an 82 Friday after opening with an 85.
“My pre-meet speech today was it is going to take all nine of us my three coaches and the six golfers, it’s going to take all of us working together for us to win a state championship but it’s our turn,” Sexton said. “That’s been our thing all year is if you keep battling your brother is going to be there to pick you up.”
Bridges was the most consistent of the West Branch golfers over the two-day tournament following up a six-over-par 78 on Thursday with a 77 on Friday.
The sophomore didn’t have a nine-hole score over 40 during the tournament while finishing 11 over on his way to a sixth-place finish.
Dyersville Beckman sophomore Nathan Offerman used the only below par round of the tournament on Friday to secure the Class 2A individual title.
Offerman was tied for ninth place entering the final day after an opening-round 79 but vaulted to the top of the leaderboard with a two-under-par 70 on Friday that included a four-under 32 on the front nine.
Regina sophomore Mikey Takacs shot an 81 on Friday, two strokes lower than his opening-round score, and finished tied for 18th with a 164.
Class 2A State Golf Tournament
At Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
Team scores – 1. West Branch 321-323 – 644; 2. Grundy Center 322-323 – 645; 3. Lake Mills 319-327 – 646; 4. Hudson 332-321 – 653; 5. Boyden-Hull 333-329 – 662; 6. Carroll Kuemper 341-325 – 666; 7. Western Christian 343-325 – 668; 8. Dyersville Beckman 342-332 – 674; 9. Emmetsburg 343-343 – 686
Individual leaders – 1. Nathan Offerman (Dyersville Beckman) 79-70 – 149; 2. Ashton Martens (Grundy Center) 78-73 – 151; 3. Bob Ryan (Tipton) 76-76 – 152; 4. Bennett Berger (Lake Mills) 76-78 – 154; 4. Drew Van Roekel (Boyden-Hull) 73-81 – 154; 6. Will Bridges (West Branch) 78-77 – 155; 7. Dexter Whitehill (Grundy Center) 77-79 – 156; 7. Jake Weissenburger (Des Moines Christian) 77-79 – 156; 7. Caleb Ham (Hudson) 81-75 – 156; 7. Jacob Wiersma (Hudson) 82-74 – 156; 7. Cole Feenstra (Western Christian) 82-74 – 156
West Branch (644) – Will Bridges 78-77 – 155; Dylan Countryman 79-86 – 165; Brady Knoop 83-83 – 166; Logan Highly 85-82 – 167; Kaleb Sexton 81-87 – 167; Gage Gingerich 89-81 – 170
Regina – 18. Mikey Takacs 83-81 – 164
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