After the dust had settled – well, technically, after the rain cleared – Gregory was the top boys ‘B’ golf team in the state.
On Tuesday at Elks Golf Course in Rapid City, in what was one of the more bizarre tournaments with weather, a decision was made to cancel the second round of the state tournament. This meant all individual and team standings would be decided by the first-round results.
“We were hoping to be able to go out and golf, because we wanted to win it with both days. We were proving ourselves [Tuesday] morning too,” said Gregory head boys golf coach Kaitlyn Steffen. “We’re so happy to win. These boys put in so much time on the course, I’m pretty sure they live out there. They have worked hard for this and I’m so happy that we were able to pull it off.”
The Gorillas team at state this year consisted of Coy Determan, Trey Murray, Eli Fogel, and Kade Stukel.
“We have a solid team and I think that competitiveness has given us our edge,” explained Steffen. “They weren’t just given their spot, they had to really earn it.”
Stukel and Fogel both shot an 81 (+9), while Trey Murray shot a 78 (+6), and Determan, who also tied for the individual state championship in the ‘B’ tournament with Bennett Cassens of Faulkton Area, shot a 76 (+4).
For coach Steffen, the feeling of her team winning the state championship hasn’t quite soaked in.
“It probably won’t for a while,” Steffen joked. “It’s kind of unbelievable that they did it, but I had complete faith in our boys, and they just went out there and played their game, and that’s what they needed to do.”
The tournament’s first round on Monday ended up getting delayed because of a severe thunderstorm, and then because of its continuation and conditions, round one was postponed into Tuesday. Tuesday morning, the boys wrapped up their round one play immediately, and then decided to try to get a second round in with a shotgun start. Mother Nature once again forced a weather delay, which turned into a cancelation in which all results would be decided on the scores from round one.
“The boys even bought new umbrellas for it. We were just holding out hope and positively that we could make it two days, because it’s rapid city, you never know what the weather is going to do,” Steffen stated.
This is the Gorillas first state boys golf title since 2010, and their second in program history. As Steffen explained, the people of Gregory support high school sports as good as any, and this title isn’t just for a team of a few good golfers, it’s for everyone within the community and school.
“The community was so excited when we came home last year. Last year we showed up at state and got sixth, so that was a building block for us, we sure built on it,” said Steffen. “They will be very welcoming when we come home, I’m sure there’ll be a party.”