By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
There were plenty of awards going around at the conclusion of the Missouri State Relays held at the Bill and Payne Stewart Golf Course in Springfield on Thursday afternoon.
With three classes of competition, Rockhurst claimed the championship in Class 4 while West Plains took top honors in Class 3 and Willow Springs in Class 1 & 2.
Rockhurst, which carded a tournament low of 308, was named as the tournament’s overall winner. Rockhurst freshman Liam Coughlin, who fired a 71, finished as the Missouri State Relays overall individual champion.
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Class 4 Champion Rockhurst
Rockhurst with a 308 finished three strokes ahead of second place Lebanon, which posted a 311, to claim this year’s Class 4 Missouri State Relay title. Hawklet coach Kevin McGill was more than pleased with the amount of poise his young squad showed on Thursday.
“We brought two seniors, a junior, sophomore and freshman down for the tournament,” said McGill. “Our seniors had played the course with us last year so we relied on them quite a bit to lead the team today. The weather was cold at first and we had some slow play, due to so many teams, but our kids stayed focused on what they had to do. I was really proud of the effort we got from all of them.”
Overall tournament winner Liam Coughlin, a freshman, paced Rockhurst with his round of 71.
Rockhurst: 1- Liam Coughlin 71, 2- Matt O’Keefe 77, 3- Jack Dwyer 80, 4- Evan Highfill 80 and 5- Frankie Stasi 81.
Lebanon: 1- Cooper Hess 72, 2- Tryn Titus 74, 3- Hayden Brogdon 78, 4- Grant Carr 87 and 5- Houston Brackett 98.
Top three medalists in Class 4: 1- Coughlin 71, 2- Hess 72 and 3-Logan Smith 73 of Kickapoo.
Class 3 Champion West Plains
It was the closest race of the Missouri State Relays tournament as the West Plains Zizzers and Springfield Catholic Fightin Irish traded shots throughout the afternoon. But in the end it was the Zizzers who walked off the course with a tournament title by the narrowest of margins 323-324.
The Zizzers were led by Noah Becker who carded a West Plains low of 79.
“The boys played good today, we can play better, but they did play well enough today. We got off to a slow start but as the day progressed everybody’s play picked up,” said Zizzer coach Len Jones. “As a team we’re getting there and I’m really expecting good things for our kids this year.”
West Plains: 1- Noah Becker 79, 2- Landry Randolph 80, 3- Landon Rothgeb 82, 4- Parker Ramseur 82 and 5- Clay Butler 88.
Springfield Catholic: 1- Walker Tynes 76, 2- Nick Palmer 82, 3- Michael Zolfachari 82, 4- Dane Puckett 84 and 5- Walker Serrano 87.
Top three medalists in Class 3: 1- Clayton Keiser 76 of Monett, 2- Walker Tynes 78 of Springfield Catholic and 3- Jackson Von Bohron 78 of Logan-Rogersville.
Class 1-2 Champion Willow Springs
Willow Springs fired a team low 339 to claim the 2018 Class 1-2 Missouri State Relay championship. Finishing sixteen shots behind the Bears were the Fair Grove Eagles who recorded a 355.
Ryan Cawrey, with a 79, paced the Bears effort.
“We had a good team last year. We made it to state winning our district and sectional along the way,” said Bears coach Cole Johnson. “We returned four players from last year’s team and newcomer Brandon Marcak has made an impact already. We’re all excited about our possibilities this year.”
The Bearss have already accomplished one of their goals for 2018, something they weren’t able to do last year.
“We had everybody shoot below ninety today,” said Johnson. “That’s something we’re all very proud about. Now we just have to keep building and getting better each day. ”
Willow Springs: 1-Ryan Cawry 79, 2- Brandon Marcak 86, 3- Devin Osborn 86, 4- Jackson Bailey 88 and Michael Cawrey 89.
Fair Grove: 1- Gavin Peterie 86, 2- Shain Lahey 87, 3- Thomas Breummer 87, 4- Jayden Kensinger 95 and 5- Matt Guinn 110.
Top three medalists in Class 1 & 2: 1- Adam Cunnyngham 74 of Galena, 2- Preston Richardson 76 of Miller and 3- Ryan Cawrey 79.
