Mid-Prairie drops pair of close duals

Hawk girls fall by tiebreaker

Mid-Prairie girls? golf team opened its season on Monday afternoon at the Kalona Golf Club, and played in a tight contest.

The Golden Hawks and West Branch played to a draw after the final scores were tallied up, both carding team scores of 222. That sent it to the fifth team score, which fell in favor of West Branch, pushing the Bears to a victory.

Mid-Prairie was led by senior Allyson Wertz, who earned meet medalist honors with a 45 over nine holes.

Olivia Nisly recorded a 57 on the day, Paige Slabaugh had a 58 and Lindsey Palmer shot a 62 to round out the scoring.

Abby Statler notched a 72 in her first round of the season, while Kenzi Bontrager had a 79.

Tiffany Fisher shot a 67, while Brianna Kofron notched a 98 on the day.

?I was pleasantly surprised with a 222 team score,? Mid-Prairie girls? golf head coach Tracy McArtor said. ?With the way the weather has been, we?ve been mostly just trying to play as many holes as we can to get some reps in, so now we need to start breaking down everyone?s game and getting a little more detailed in what we work on.?

The Mid-Prairie girls will resume action on Monday at Durant.

Hawk boys drop another close dual

The Mid-Prairie boys? golf team suffered a similar fate in their second dual of the season, falling to West Branch 181-196 on the day.

The Golden Hawks were led by Michael Callahan?s 47, while Duncan McCain recorded a 49, including a birdie on the par 3 second hole.

Seth Mann and Zach Owens each recorded 50s on the day to round out the varsity scoring, while Ryan Slaubaugh carded a 52 and Collin Gingerich notched a 59.

In the junior varsity dual, Karson Duwa picked up a 58 on the day, followed by Sam Bailey?s 60.

Ryan Smith and Chase Cooper each posted 63s, while Chaz Patterson scored a 71 and Tate Waychoff had a 74.

?We played well today,? Mid-Prairie boys? golf coach Kelby Bender said. ?We are scoring better than we did last season and you can see the improvement and confidence growing.  We just need to keeping working and getting more consistent.?