Washington boys are state bound

SHELLSBURG — Two strokes is all that separated an utter sorrow trip back to Washington and a ticket punched to the state tournament at the Class 3A district meet in Shellsburg on Monday.

The Demons did not disappoint.

As the last round of golfers finished up, the Demons waited intently, knowing one shot could have made the difference.

As the final team results were announced, it seemed like an eternity. The final five through three were announced, no Washington, they did it.

Sophomore Roman Roth grabs the state qualifier banner and celebration commences.

A season dream, a reality.

“It feels like it’s been forever,” senior Grant Sobaski said. “When I started my freshman year, my brother convinced me to go out. I went along with it and kinda fell in love with the sport. To see the progression, I’m extremely proud of our team to get to this point where we’re at. Excited that I get the opportunity to go. I didn’t know how it was going to play out. We just had to battle. Everything just fell into place.”

On the exceptionally windy day, every shot had drastic implications. Washington rose to the occasion to make their first trip back to the state tournament since 2018.

Washington secured the second-place finish with a final total of 347, edging Marion by two strokes, 349, after 18 holes and nearly six hours of play.

Roth once again showed his talents, leading the Demons with the fourth best score in the competition. He carded a 41 on the front nine and a 38 on the back nine for an overall of 79.

“State was one of our goals coming into this year,” Roth said. “I came into conference and played pretty good there and at sectionals too. Today, it didn’t go the way I wanted to, but the team stepped up.”

Luke Beenblossom shot an 86 on the day. Sobaski posted a 90. Isaac Vetter tallied a 90. Teague Mayer chipped in a 96 and John Prochaska a 106.

“It’s one thing to play your absolute best,” Washington head coach Collin Stark said. “The conditions were pretty tough today. We knew the scores weren’t going to be as low as they could. At the start of the day, if you would have told me a 347 would get you there, I would have told you you were lying. With this group, the crazy thing is they played a full 18 holes. That’s the biggest thing, they have showed the improvement. This is just the beginning of this group. I think this will be a good experience for them. A good memory for the seniors as well.”

Solon took home the team title shooting an 315 in the meet. The top individual finisher was Marion’s Nathan Whalen who defeated Solon’s Isaiah Zoske in a playoff.

Mt. Pleasant’s Nick Matheney also took part in the competition. Matheney was a lone Panther to earn a spot in the district tournament.

As the final scores were announced, it was heartbreak for Matheney as he missed the cut by just one stroke with an 80.

Mt. Pleasant head coach Rob Zeglen said he’s proud of Matheney and the entire team for all their hard work this season.

“I’m super proud of these boys,” Zeglen said. “Everyone of my boys improved score wise this season. I was a little disappointed that our team shot a score at sectionals, that was our best by 13 strokes and didn’t make it. But we did improve by 13 strokes and that was amazing, super proud of them. Nick coming here today, he just had a few bad shots. As you know in golf, that makes a huge difference from 79 to 80.”

Washington will tee off at the state meet on Monday, May 23 and Tuesday, May 24 at Veenker Memorial Golf Course in Ames.