NORTH PLATTE — Call it a divine wind.
Using Mother Nature’s gift — a perceived advantage — the Overton Eagles rallied from a 23-stroke deficit to win the Class D state high school golf championship Wednesday at Lake Maloney Golf Course south of North Platte.
After the first day of the two-day tournament, North Platte St. Pat’s led by a comfortable margin but Overton coach Brian Fleischman told his team, which includes his sons Braden and Brody, that St. Pat’s lead wasn’t impossible to overcome. When Overton claimed the 2014 runner-up trophy, they rallied from 15 down.
“All we can do is go shoot our score and see what the other teams do,” he said.
The Eagles, who posted a four-player team score of 344 on Tuesday, improved by seven strokes on Tuesday.
St. Pat’s went the other way, allowing Overton to win by three strokes.
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Consistency — all 10 individual scores posted by the Eagles were between 82 and 88 — was key to Overton’s win. The weather was also a factor. When the Eagles arrived at the course Wednesday morning, they were greeted by a stiff breeze.
“We play good in the wind. I was excited when the wind was blowing this morning,” said Fleischman, who added that his team’s best scores in practice rounds at Lake Maloney came Monday in the rain. “We practice in it so much. I mean, if the wind is blowing 40, we still go out and practice. They don’t complain about it to me, I guess, because they know we’re going to play in it so we have to practice in it.”
By the time they made the turn after nine holes, the Eagles had closed the gap.
“After the front nine I knew there was a chance because I knew the wind was going to blow a little bit more and our kids were heading to a part of the course they were comfortable with.
I knew if they had a bad hole, they would bounce back quickly,” Fleischman said.
For example, Kaden Lux had a double bogey on the 11th hole, then birdied 12.
“Once they got it going in the right direction, they just kept the momentum themselves. The boys just did a great job,” Fleischman said.
Braden Fleischman tied for eighth place with a 36-hole score of 166. Lux and Connor Shively followed with 170 scored to tie for 17th. Brody Fleischman and Alexander Banzhaf shot 175.
St. Pats’ Teegan Sonneman and Connor Hasenauer finished 1-2. Sonneman shot a 149 and Hasenauer a 151.
From the Hub Territory, Elm Creek’s Nathan Gillming shot a 78 on Wednesday to climb into a tie for sixth place at 164. Loomis’ Quinn Johnson tied for 10th at 167.
In the team race, Loomis finished sixth with a 723 score.
It was Overton’s first state golf championship since winning the Class B sand greens title in 1967. The sand greens tournament ended in 1986.
The Eagles also finished second in Class D in 2014 and 2015.
“That trophy in the van coming home was pretty nice to look at,” Coach Fleischman said.
When the team returned to Overton, there was a welcome home celebration, including kids holding signs, a community gathering and food.
Fleischman admitted he got emotional almost immediately after the team received the trophy.
“It’s amazing to be a state champion coach and it’s even more amazing when your two boys are on your team and they both played really good. It’s very special,” he said. “To experience this with them, I don’t even have a word for it.”
Stars finish fourth in Class C
Kearney Catholic improved by six strokes over its first-day score to post a two-day score of 694 to climb over Grand Island Central Catholic into fourth place in Class C. Columbus Scotus won the tournament with a 640 score, finishing 31 strokes ahead of Doniphan-Trumbull.
For the Stars, Quinten Hogeland finished in a tie for 16th at 168. Alex Abels tied for 19th one stroke back.
Amherst finished sixth in the team race with Austin Adelung joining Hogeland in the group at 168. Scout Simmons tied for 23rd with a 171.
Bearcats eighth in Class A
After shooting a 318 on Tuesday, Kearney High came back to shoot a 320 on Wednesday and finish with a 638 score to place eighth.
Gretna, which also shot a 320 on Wednesday, was seventh.
Lincoln East won the tournament with a 596 score while Omaha Westside finished second with a 597 total.
Lincoln Southeast freshman Thomas Bryson, in second place after the first round, passed Lincoln East’s Thomas Gatlin to win the individual championship with a two-day score of 141.
For Kearney, Cole Schroer tied for 11th place with a 151. He shot a 75 on Tuesday and a 76 on Wednesday.
CLASS A
At Norfolk
Team Scores
1, Lincoln East 294-302 — 596. 2, Omaha Westside 292-305 — 597. 3, Elkhorn South 298-312 — 610. 4, Creighton Prep 308-306 — 614. 5, Lincoln Southeast 305-312 — 617. 6, Grand Island 309-321 — 630. 7, Gretna 316-320 — 636. 8, Kearney 318-320 — 638. 9, Millard West 319-323 — 642. 10, Millard North 337-328 — 665. 11, Fremont 331-339 — 670. 12, Lincoln Southwest 342-358 — 700.
Top 10 Individuals
1, Thomas Bryson, Lincoln Southeast, 69-72 — 141. 2, Thomas Gatlin, Lincoln East 68-76 — 144. 3, Will Topolski, Lincoln East, 75-72 — 147. T4, Jackson Benge, Omaha Westside, 73-75 — 148. T4, Kolby Brown, Omaha Westside, 72-76 — 148. T4, Porter Topp, Omaha Westside, 71-77 — 148. T7, Ryan Lingelbach, Elkhorn South, 69-80 — 149. T7, Nolan Johnson, Gretna, 78-71 — 149. T9, Connor Jasso-Steichen, Creighton Prep, 76-74 — 150. T9, Brock Kuhlman, Columbus, 75-75 — 150.
KHS Scores
T11, Cole Schroer 75-76 — 151. T25, Cole Feddersen 81-77 — 158. T41, Perry Swarm 79-85 — 164. T46, Dylan Dahlstedt 83-83 — 166. 62, Owen Bartee 84-89 — 173.
Class B
At Scottsbluff
Team Scores
1, Norris 304-294 — 598. 2, Omaha Skutt Catholic 307-320 — 627. 3, York 316-330 — 646. 4, Mount Michael Benedictine 317-331 — 648. 5, Scottsbluff 317-334 — 651. 6, Omaha Concordia 337-329 — 666. 7, Elkhorn North 336-342 — 678. 8, Minden 348-343 — 691. 9, Ogallala 347-345 — 692. 10, Columbus Lakeview 342-346 — 698. 11, McCook 362-360 — 722. 12, Wayne 378-373 — 751.
Top 10 Individuals
1, William Mullin, Omaha Skutt Catholic, 68-75 — 143. 2, Jacob Goertz, Mt. Michael Benedictine, 70-73 — 143. 3, Logan Thurber, Norris, 72-74 — 146. T4, Carson Thurber, Norris, 76-72 — 148. T4, Treyton Baehr, Beatrice, 74-74 — 148. 6, Brock Rowley, Norris, 77-72 — 149. T7, Ryan Seevers, York, 79-74 — 153. T7, Jackson Lapour, Omaha Skutt Catholic, 78-75 — 153. T7, Maxwell Fremarek, Columbus Lakeview 78-75 — 153. T7, Austin Thyne, Scottsbluff, 72-81 — 153.
Minden Scores
T19, Seth Hausermann 81-83 — 164. T36, Jameson Birkestrand 88-84 —172. 47, Evan Smith 88-89 — 177. T56, Nolan Reed 87-97 — 184.T58, Brycen Schwenka 93-91 — 184.
Class C
At Columbus
Team Scores
1, Columbus Scotus 330-310 — 640. 2, Doniphan-Trumbull 333-338 — 671. 3, Tekamah-Herman 339-348 — 687. 4, Kearney Catholic 350-344 — 694. 5, Grand Island Central Catholic 350-354 — 704. T6, Amherst 352-358 — 710. T6, Yutan 353-357 — 710. 8, Archbishop Bergan 61-369 — 730. 9, Mitchell 376-370 — 746. 10, Hartington Cedar Catholic 372-376 — 748. 11, Milford 378-374 — 752. 12, Lincoln Lutheran 380-376 — 756. 13, Heartland 380-377 — 757. 14, Tri County Northeast 389-385 — 774. 15, West Holt 401-410 — 811.
Top 10 Individuals
1, Noah Carpenter, Palmyra, 75-89 155. 2, Cael Peters, Mitchell, 80-75 — 155. T3, Seth VunCannon, Columbus Scotus, 79-77 — 156. T3, Alexander Schademann, Fillmore Central, 77-79 — 156. T3, Nick Fleming, Columbus Scotus, 78-78 — 156. 6, Bowdie Fox, GICC, 89-78 — 158. 7, Ethan Smith, Doniphan-Trumbull, 79-80 — 159. T8, Hayden Dzingle, Doniphan-Trumbull, 81-79 — 160. T8, Steven Sladky, Bishop Neumann, 80-80 — 160. T10, Nolan Fleming, Columbus Scotus, 85-76 — 161. T10, Samuel Well, St. Paul, 82-79 161. T10, Brady Davis, Archbishop Bergan, 81-80 — 161. T10, Jake Richmond, Yutan, 74-87 — 161.
Kearney Catholic Scores
T16, Quinten Hogeland 87-81 — 168. T19, Alex Abels 85-83 — 169. T30, Jackson Dunham 86-87 — 173. T53, Landon Edeal 91-95 — 186. T62, Taten Shoemaker 97-93 — 190.
Amherst Scores
T16, Austin Adelung 82-86 — 168. T23, Scout Simmons 86-85 — 171. T48, Tayje Hadwiger, Amherst, 91-93 — 184. T57, Joshua Klingelhoefer 94-94 — 188. T73, Chase Korth 93-104 — 197.
Class D
At North Platte, Lake Maloney
Team Scores
1, Overton 344-337 — 681. 2, North Platte St. Pat’s 321-363 — 684. 3, Pender, 347-341 — 688. 4, Howells-Dodge 348-343 — 701. 5, Thayer Central 356-354 — 710. 6, Loomis 366-357 — 723. 7, Lawrence-Nelson 353-375 — 728. 8, Southern Valley 370-361 — 731. 9, Humphrey St. Francis 379-357 — 736. 10, Wausa 372-379 — 751. T11, Crawford 379-389 — 768. T11, Perkins County 380-388 — 768. T13, Neligh-Oakdale 406-366 — 772. T13, Stanton 378-394 — 772. 15, Hemingford 391-400 — 791.
Top 10 Individuals
1, Teegan Sonneman, NPSP, 69-80 — 149. 2, Connor Hasenauer, NPSP, 73-78 — 151. 3, Zaybreon Hansen, Perkins County, 78-76 – 154. 4, Zachary Vandervoort, Thayer Central, 78-77 – 155. 5, Gage Burns, Creighton, 85-76 — 161. T6, Nathan Gillming, Elm Creek, 86-78 164. T6, Anthony Heiser, Stuart, 78-86 — 164. T8, Quinton Heineman, Pender, 85-81 — 166. T8, Braden Fleischman, Overton, 84-82 — 166. T10, Jaden Kosch, Humphrey St. Francis, 86-81 — 167. T10, Quinn Johnson, Loomis, 85-82 — 167. T10, Colbi Smith, South Loup, 84-83 — 167. T10, Cole Kramer, Sandhills Valley, 83-84 — 167.
Other Overton Scores
T17, Kaden Lux 86-84 — 170. T17, Connor Shively 86-84 — 170. T31, Brody Fleischman 88-87 — 175. T31, Alexander Banzhaf 88-87 — 175.
Other Loomis Scores
T22, Wesley Trompke 91-82 — 173. T64, Gavin Norris 95-96 — 191. T70, Tyson Essex 95-102 — 197. T70, Aidan Perry 100-97 — 197.