PREP BOYS GOLF: Warsaw wins; Northridge, Goshen round out top three at NLC championship
May 22—GOSHEN — Earlier this week, Warsaw cracked the top 10 of the Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association poll, coming in at No. 10 overall.
The Tigers proved why they're one of the best teams in the state Saturday afternoon, winning the NLC championship by 13 strokes after shooting a 303.
The most eye-opening performance at Black Squirrel Golf Club on the day also came from a Tiger, with Cal Hoskins shooting a 67 — just one shot shy of the course record — behind an eagle and six birdies.
Nobody was going to dethrone Warsaw with how it played across the board during the tournament, but Northridge showed why its the potential favorite to win its respective sectional in early June.
The Raiders earned themselves a second-place finish after shooting a 316 as a team. Brock Reschly led the pack with a 73 — second overall individually — while Ty Miller and Coby Hochstetler each finished at 80 on the afternoon.
"I'm happy with the way we played, because we tied our season low in 18-hole matches with the 316," Northridge head coach Todd King said. "I'm proud of the way the guys powered through on the course (Saturday). A 303 from Warsaw is fantastic, so we're happy with what we did to get second place. This will give us more of an idea of what we need to keep working on in certain aspects of our game as we get closer to the sectional tournament.
"Our goal is to win (sectional), get to regionals and get out of that as a team. I think they're capable."
Reschly stayed consistent, hitting two birdies and 13 pars during his round, while Miller had three birdies and six pars through 18. Their efforts helped both of them earn All-NLC honors following the tournament.
The Raiders now have a few nine-hole matches lined up over the next couple of weeks to fine-tune some things before sectional play at Meadow Valley in Middlebury on June 3.
"We do a really good job of getting up and down (the course), but we'll be working on our short game a good bit between now and sectional," King said. "We just need to be a little more consistent with our three-to-six foot putts. ... Another big thing is adjusting to different greens when we go from one course to the next. We've been getting better at that. It's been a process this year, but we've been continuing to get better."
Rounding out the top three was Goshen, finishing with a 332.
The RedHawks saw another solid performance from Todd Kauffman, who continues to put up impressive numbers in the No. 4 spot. He shot an 80 behind two birdies and six pars.
Zach Subera also had an admirable round, finishing with a 91 despite playing with stitches in one of his fingers.
Goshen's top players in Chase Meyer and Jacob Moyer played slightly below their high standards, though, and that cost the RedHawks the most Saturday. Meyer finished with an 80 and Moyer finished his round with an 81.
If the RedHawks are going to upend Northridge during sectional play, Goshen head coach Brent Randall knows they'll have to get better outings from both of his golfers sitting at the top of the lineup.
"We need to get Zach Subera healthy, and then we have to get Chase and Jacob back to breaking 80," Randall said. "That's where both of them have been in the past. If we do that, I feel like we have a really good chance to compete even with going against Northridge at their home course.
"I think we're as deep as any team in that (sectional) field once we get everybody going and healthy. I'll like our chances at that point. My top three seniors have put a lot into their game, and I want to will it for them, but they're going to have to make the shots. I don't have my hands on the clubs. I want the best for them, and we'll see how things go once we get everybody going again."
Some other rounds that stood out from the other Goshen News coverage area teams included a 77 from NorthWood's Earl Williams, an 86 by NorthWood's Cooper Wiens, an 87 for Wawasee's Robbie Finlinson and an 87 shot by Concord's Charlie Deuel.
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2022 NLC Boys Golf Championship — final results
1. Warsaw, 303: Cal Hoskins 67 (first place individually), Aiden Bowell 77, Ben Brander 79, Lewis Turley 80, Jaxson Gould 83
2. Northridge, 316: Brock Reschly 73 (second place individually), Ty Miller 80, Coby Hochstetler 80, Conner Hochstetler 83, Brayden Maxey 93
3. Goshen, 332: Chase Meyer 80, Todd Kauffman 80, Jacob Moyer 81, Zach Subera 91, Braxten Sheets 92
4. Plymouth, 344: Bennett Christy 79, Eli Schramm 87, Fitz Holm 89, Carter Snyder 89, Easton Tapia 89
5. NorthWood, 348: Earl Williams 77 (third place individually), Cooper Wiens 86, Ashton Hochstetler 92, Trevor Barrett 93, Brady Chupp 97
6. Wawasee, 359: Robbie Finlinson 87, Vaughn Dyson 90, Jay Finlinson 91, Myles Everingham 91, Caleb Clevenger 94
7. Concord, 367: Charlie Deuel 87, Lucas Prough 92, Dillon Shaffer 93, Liam McDowell 95, Nate Schraw 107
8. Mishawaka, 417: Andrew Smith 102, Brady Fisher 104, Bren Dickerson 105, Owen Holtsclaw 106, Justin Fisher 109
All-NLC Team: Cal Hoskins, Warsaw; Brock Reschly, Northridge; Earl Williams, NorthWood; Aiden Bowell, Warsaw; Bennett Christy, Plymouth; Ben Brander, Warsaw; Chase Meyer, Goshen; Jacob Moyer, Goshen; Jaxson Gould, Warsaw; Ty Miller, Northridge
All-NLC Honorable Mention: Robbie Finlinson, Wawasee; Ben Pamachena, Mishawaka; Coby Hochstetler, Northridge; Lewis Turley, Warsaw; Cooper Wiens, NorthWood
NLC Coach of the Year: Jack Carpenter, Warsaw
Evan Lepak can be reached at evan.lepak@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240326. Follow him on Twitter @EvanMPLepak.
