Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – After a third-place finish in the Pella Invitational at challenging Bos Landen Golf Course on Thursday Solon was searching for a boost in its return to action on Friday.

The Spartans got just what they were looking for at their home invitational.

Isaiah Zoske and Brennan Heesch finished first and second as Solon shot a 292 on its home course while winning the team title at the Solon Invitational on a sunny Friday at Lake MacBride Golf Course.

“After yesterday, it’s going from a hard course to an easier course so you feel a lot better but we wanted to do a lot better today after the score we had yesterday,” Heesch said. “It was a confident boost playing here.”

Heesch and Zoske were the only two players to shoot under par on Friday leading a group of four Spartans that shot 79 or better as the Spartans finished 11 strokes in front of runner-up Williamsburg.

After shooting a 323 in its third-place finish on Thursday in Pella the Spartans quickly turned things around in its return home.

Nick Stahle and Jack McCarty each shot 79 for Solon as the Spartans outdistanced the 10-team field.

“(Assistant coach) Scott (Wolfe) came in today and said that might be the best range session we’ve had in five years,” Solon coach Adam Stahle said. “The kids were dialed in right away, whether that was they were disappointed with how they played yesterday or they were excited to play today it might be a combination of both but they were dialed in.”

Zoske fired a five-under-par 67 to win the Solon Invitational individual title for the second consecutive season.

The junior had his only bogey of the round on the par four fourth, playing the final 14 holes six under.

“I started out pretty slow just like I did last year and picked it up on the back nine,” Zoske said. “The biggest thing for me was I only made one bogey the entire round and I think that was the biggest factor in me playing well today that and I had a hot finish coming in.”

Zoske shot a 35 on the front nine and closed with a four-under 32 on the back, closing with birdies on four of the final five holes including three straight to end his round.

“I was able to put myself in play a lot and I had a lot of wedges in,” Zoske said. “That definitely helped me a lot.”

Heesch was two shots back of his teammate, finishing runner-up with a three-under-par 69.

“I hit my driver well,” Heesch said. “I think I maybe had two drives that were bad but it was definitely my putter today that was big.”

Heesch had an eagle on the par-five seventh hole as part of an opening-nine 34 and had four birdies on a 35 on the final nine.

“He has the confidence that if he misses a green it’s going to get up and in,” Stahle said of Heesch. “That’s where he’s made the biggest improvement is the short game but I think there is just a confidence now that he can hit shots that he wasn’t comfortable with in years past.”

Stahle shot a 39 on the back nine and finished with a 79 while McCarty shot a 37 on the opening nine on his way to a 79.

Gehrig Turner shot an 81 for the Spartans while Nolan Seagren shot an 83 and Jack Irwin an 85.

“It’s something they’ve worked the last two and half weeks for where this is the only course we’ve played on,” Stahle said. “There is a comfort level for them playing here, you could tell a lot of them were a lot more comfortable today.”

Clear Creek Amana placed fourth with 326 points and had three players shoot 84 or better led by Tyler Evans with an 80.

Carson Nash shot an 81 and Carson Fox shot an 84 for the Clippers.

West Branch was fifth with a 341 and Regina was sixth with a 343.

Bryce Anderson led West Branch with an 82 while Paxton Tisinger shot an 84.

Regina was led by Noah Clark with an 80 while Corbin Daniel fired an 85 for the Regals.

Solon Invitational

Team scores – 1. Solon 292; 2. Williamsburg 303; 3. West Delaware 310; 4. Clear Creek Amana 326; 5. West Branch 341; 6. Regina 343; 7. West Liberty 346; 8. Tipton 349; 9. Benton Community 376; 10. Durant 433

Individual leaders – 1. Isaiah Zoske (SOL) 35-32 – 67; 2. Brennan Heesch (SOL) 34-35 – 69; 3. Crew Klingner (WIL) 36-36 – 72; 4. Bryce Yearian (WIL) 35-38 – 73 73; 5. Macoy Peyton (WD) 40-34 – 74; 6. Griffin Lott (WD) 39-37 – 76; 7. Robbie Allison (WIL) 43-34 – 77; 8. Nick Stahle (SOL) 40-39 – 79; 9. Colson Mersch (WD) 38-41 – 79; 10. Collier Rockow (DUR) 41-38 – 79

Solon (292) – Isaiah Zoske 35-32 – 67; Brennan Heesch 34-35 – 69; Nick Stahle 40-39 – 79; Jack McCarty 37-42 – 79; Gehrig Turner 38-43 – 81; Nolan Seagren 41-42 – 83; Jack Irwin 43-42 – 85; Garret Stebral 44-42 – 86

Clear Creek Amana (326) – Tyler Evans 40-40 – 80; Carson Nash 41-40 – 81; Carson Fox 45-39 – 84; Jackson Stevens 43-44 – 87; Logan DeKoter 39-49 – 88; Cameron Johnson 49-48 – 97; Brandon Detert 48-52 – 100; Andrew Rotzoll 58-47 – 105

West Branch (341) – Bryce Anderson 41-41 – 82; Paxton Tisinger 41-43 – 84; Sawyer Jeffries 43-44 – 87; Reece Druecker 46-43 – 89; Bradyn Sexton 45-44 – 89; Cameron Gingerich 45-47 – 92; Reese Gingerich 47-45 – 92; Ethan Miller 47-48 – 95

Regina (343) – Noah Clark 41-39 – 80; Corbin Daniel 44-41 – 85; Daniel Clark 39-48 – 87; Brady Venzon 53-43 – 96; Brendan Baker 49-52 – 101; Luke Klingeman 59-47 – 106; Will Aitchison 56-52 – 108; Finn Boyle 56-54 – 110

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