PREP BOYS GOLF: Northridge team, Haarer, Miller advance to state out of Warsaw regional

Jun. 8—WINONA LAKE — For the first time in nine years, a full team from Elkhart County will be making an appearance at the boys golf state finals.

Northridge shot a team score of 315 at the Warsaw regional Thursday, taking third place in the 15-team field. This advances them to next week's state championship meet, which will be played Tuesday, June 13 and Wednesday, June 14 at Prairie View GC in Carmel.

Leo was the regional champions at Stonehenge GC with a 308, while Homestead was second with a 312 to also advance as a team.

Northridge has not made the state finals as a team since 2012. The last boys team from the county to do so was NorthWood in 2014.

"It's pretty awesome for these guys — this is what they've worked for," Northridge head coach Ken Brewster said. "... We knew we had a shot (Thursday); there was about five or six teams that had a shot. For them to come out — it was one of the first times all year where we shot better on our first nine than our second nine, so we kind of held on at the end to make it. I'm really proud of the guys."

The two individuals to move on from non-advancing teams also came from The Goshen News coverage area. Both Westview sophomore Silas Haarer and Fairfield sophomore Brayden Miller shot 69s Thursday, tying them for first. This led to a playoff, with Haarer winning by making a birdie on the 18th hole and Miller a par.

Since they both shot 69, however, they were guaranteed to be moving on to the state tournament, regardless of how the playoff turned out. Fairfield shot a team score of 335 Thursday to finish eighth, while Westview carded a 349 to take 10th.

NORTHRIDGE IS STATE BOUND

Conner Hochstetler picked a great day to play his best round of golf.

The junior carded a 72, which was a +1 on the par-71 course. Hochstetler ended his round with a bang, drilling a birdie putt that all-but sealed the third-place finish for the Raiders. He also had birdies on No. 7 and No. 10, working around four bogeys mixed in to finish fourth overall individually.

"I just made a ton of pars," said Hochstetler of the key to his success Thursday. "Whenever I seemed to make a bogey, I had a birdie to back it up as well. I only three-putted once and only had one bad hole. Every other hole, I was scrambling and had a really good short game. ... I've shot 2 over probably eight times in my life, but this was the first time I ever shot 1 over."

Brock Reschly was second for Northridge with a 74. The senior has advanced to the state meet the past two seasons as an individual, but never with his full team.

"It's awesome, man," said Reschly of advancing to state with his teammates. "It's kind of the only thing left that I really hadn't done, and it's going to be a lot of fun being down there with all five of us next week."

Other scores that went to the team total for Northridge was an 82 from junior Coby Hochstetler and an 87 from junior Vadim Kidun.

"They just battled," said Brewster of his team. "They have bad holes, but they know that they're not bad players. They continue to make pars and minimize the damage, so I'm proud of them and happy for them. ... When Conner made that birdie putt on 18, I felt really good and pretty comfortable at that point."

HAARER CATCHES FIRE TO WIN MEDALIST HONORS

With two holes left to play, Haarer was two shots behind Miller on the leaderboard. More importantly, he was one shot behind Bishop Dwenger's Alex Holder, who's score of 70 was the second best amongst players outside of the top three teams.

With his season on the line, Haarer hit a beautiful tee shot on the par-3 17, sticking it to within three feet of the hole. He'd tap in for birdie to push his score to 1 under.

Then, on the par-5 18th, Haarer scratched across another birdie, this time sinking a putt from six feet out to give him a 69 overall for the day, guaranteeing his spot in next week's state tournament.

For good measure, he birdied No. 18 again to win the playoff over Miller.

"I don't know what happened," admitted Haarer when asked about his late-round surge. "I'm still in shock still. God is good; I couldn't do it without him. He's given me a great season. It just kind of happened, and it's awesome."

Haarer shot 4 under across his final 12 holes to make it to the state tournament. The Westview sophomore did admit the emotions were high as he played his final shot in regulation.

"The real No. 18 there, that birdie putt, my heart was pumping out of my chest," Haarer said.

MILLER HAPPY TO ADVANCE

It was mixed feelings for Miller after losing the playoff.

Fairfield started its round before Westview did, meaning Miller wrapped up around 2:20 p.m. For a long time, his 2 under score was the only sub-70 of the everyone competing. When Haarer made his late surge to force the tiebreaker, it had been more than 80 minutes since Miller swung a club.

"I definitely wanted to win, but when we went to the playoff hole, we were standing on the tee box and were like, 'Win or lose, we're both advancing to state, and that's all that matters,'" Miller said. "I knew there was no pressure on the line. Me and Silas are good friends, and we could just play our game and have fun. Obviously, it didn't work out the way I wanted to, but that's alright."

The Fairfield sophomore explained what worked well for him all day.

"I was hitting the driver really well," Miller said. "I was putting it in the fairway most of the time, and when I put it in the fairway, I know I can stick an iron or a wedge shot in there close. My short game was good (Thursday), too, which was perfect."

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2023 BOYS GOLF REGIONAL AT STONEHENGE GC IN WINONA LAKE — Final results

Note: top three teams, plus the top two individuals from non-advancing teams, move on to the state championship tournament, June 13-14 at Prairie View GC in Carmel. Individuals advancing are noted below.

1. Leo, 308: Justin Hicks 71, Caden Matthias 75, Wesson Oplinger 77, Patrick Judd 85, Brooks Oplinger 87

2. Homestead, 312: Ryan Parker 77, Karson Cabe 78, Jack Burda 78, Caden Baker 79, Noah Lancz 85

3. Northridge, 315: Conner Hochstetler 72, Brock Reschly 74, Coby Hochstetler 82, Vadim Kidun 87, Isaiah Lehman 92

4. Bishop Dwenger, 321: Alex Holder 70, Joseph Hughes 80, Michael Brita 84, David Schenkel 87, Charleston Olson 94

5. Warsaw, 322: Auston Craig 75, Robbie Finlinson 81, Aidan Bowell 83, Breckin Christner 83, Dylan Barkey 88

6. East Noble, 326: Caden Anderson 76, Ryan Norden 81, Nathan Bowker 84, Ronan Fisher 85, Joseph Sorrell 105

7. Carroll, 327: Joe Sellers 77, Sam Campbell 83, Griffin Scheele 83, Donny Dimberio 84, Cam Meyers 85

8. Fairfield, 335: Brayden Miller 69 (advancing to state), Carter Kitson 85, Miles Nine 86, Jasper Carl 95, Andrew Miller 97

9. Northfield, 337: Tyson Baer 72, Cash Cartwright 84, Easton Shaw 89, Tristan Hoffman 92, Dylan Ross 108

10. Westview, 349: Silas Haarer 69 (won medalist on playoff; advancing to state), Wade Springer 89, Brett Springer 89, Bryan Yoder 102, Judson Hershberger 103

11. Culver Academies, 352: Jaxson Wiernik 85, Kyle Lee 88, Grady Sullivan 88, Rory Sullivan 91, Owen Hart 92

12. Lewis Cass, 354: Jensen Burrous 80, Michael Myers 85, Garrett Helvie 90, Rylan Stoller 99, Nolan Hines 110

13. Blackhawk Christian, 367: Gavin Haiflich 74, Miles Steffen 92, Braden Gibson 97, Jon Overholt 104, Ty Nigg 111

14. Northwestern, 368: Hudson Whaley 87, Jackson Peelle 93, Samson Shortwell 94, Brayden Applegate 94, Logan Duncan 108

15. Southwood, 374: Luke Watson 84, Griffin Chambers 90, Keaton Metzger 96, Ian Vanderpool 104, Jordan Trisler DQ

Individuals: Earl Williams (NorthWood) 76, Vaughn Dyson (Wawasee) 76, Andrew Hedrick (Columbia City) 76, Kam Hoag (Columbia City) 77, Carter Demske (Garrett) 77, Ben Keil (Lakeland) 78, Greg Miller (Tippecanoe Valley) 78, Karson Parrott (Kokomo) 80, Preston Scherer (Wawasee) 82, Brody Fisher (Western) 84, Alex Schenkel (Bishop Luers) 87, Joshua King (Bremen) 88, Sam Oberley (Heritage) 88, Jax Mickley (Bishop Luers) 97, Tanner England (Tri-Central) 100

Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.