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Tigers win Pittsburg tourney
CHICOPEE -- Fort Scott High's golfers won their first tournament title of the season at Crestwood Country Club here Tuesday, shooting 323 as a team to take the Pittsburg Invitational.
Pittsburg finished just three strokes back at 326. Nevada was third at 335.
"We played on a drenched course," Fort Scott head coach Ken Klassen said. "Every fairway was saturated. The winds were blustery, the temperature cool, the sky overcast. I thought our kids played very well under the circumstances.
"The first-place team medals were the fruit of some hard, sustained practice after second- and third-place finishes the previous two weeks, when we didn't perform according to our potential."
This was not one of the four SEK designated tournaments, so standings for the league team and individual championships did not change.
Cole Murrin led the Tigers with a second-place finish, shooting 40 on the front nine and 37 on the back for a total of 77. Nevada's Tyler Gast won the individual crown with his score of 37-37--74.
Chris Brown and Pittsburg's Jon Nichols had identical scores of 39-39--78 but Nichols was awarded third on the scorecard playoff tie-breaker.
"I know Chris appreciated playing on faster greens, where the ball rolled truer than at our earlier tournament at Iola," Klassen said. "Both these team leaders, as the playing conditions improve, should score in the low 70's. I know neither of them is content to merely place well in tournaments."
Dylan Renfro (43-40) earned his first medal of the season as a three-way tie for 10th was left unbroken. He tied with Girard's Ben Paoni (43-40) and Trey Scallions (41-42) after all shot 83's.
Paul Norris and Tanner Beckham each had season-best scores. Norris shot 44-41--85 and Beckham scored a 46-44--90. Andrew Defebaugh, playing his first varsity tournament of the season, shot 47-54--101.
"As a squad we're starting to see a certain degree of consistency and success," Klassen said. "Hopefully we'll not regress through complacency. We all want to succeed. It's a question of how much of our time and heart we'll invest to reach our potential. The next couple of weeks should prove critical. (The) weather has been -- and looks next week it will still be -- poor, limiting our practice time. We'll do the best we can."
In fact, weather has caused the postponement of today's scheduled tournament at Columbus. That meet has been rescheduled for Tuesday.
1. Fort Scott (FS) 323 (Murrin 77, Brown 78, Renfro 83, Norris 85), 2. Pittsburg (PT) 326 (J.Nichols 78, T.Nichols 81, Casey 81, Williams 86), 3. Nevada (N) 335 (Gast 74, Braucher 84, Cavener 86, Davis 91),
4. Iola (IO) 342 (C.Ellis 82, Manbeck 84, Walden 86,A.Ellis 90), 5. Girard (G) 342 (Paoni 83, Scallions 83, Heatherly 86, Mein 90), 6. Parsons 351 (Heenan 85, Thomas 86, Walters 90, Darkis 90),
7. Coffeyville (CF) 352 (Yeubanks 80, Vacca 89, Hurlbutt 91, Watts 92), 8. Chanute (CH) 353 (Gant 82, Hudson 89, Miner 91, Coronado 91), 9. Independence 354 (Botts 84, Goad 88, Berberick 90, Webster 92),
10. Pittsburg Colgan 356 (Smith 86, Hudson 88, Mitenelson 90, Sloan 92), 11. Labette County 367 (Carter 85, Fentress 90, Sparks 93, Arb 99), 12. Columbus 405 (Kitch 87, Schoech 91, Norris 112, Tochia 115).
1. Tyler Gast, N, 37-37--74; 2. Cole Murrin, FS, 40-37--77; 3. Jon Nichols, PT, 39-39--78; 4. Chris Brown, FS, 38-39--78; 5. Brandon Yeubanks, CF, 38-42--80;
6. Tom Nichols, PT, 42-39--81; 7. Travis Casey, PT, 41-40--81; 8. Jeremy Gant, CH, 42-40--82; 9. Chase Elllis, IO, 42-40--82; 10 (tie). Ben Paoni, G, 43-40--83; Dylan Renfro, FS, 43-40--83; Trey Scallions, G, 41-42--83.
JUNIOR VARSITY -- The Tiger junior varsity finished second in a nine-hole tournament Friday at Girard. Chanute was the winner with a score of 185 followed by Fort Scott at 191.
Evan Heiser was the Tigers' best scorer, finishing third with a 45. Trevor Swim took fifth place with a 47 and Nolan Stark tied for 10th with his 49.
Corey Midkiff shot 50 for the Tigers while Andy Gant scored a 53 and Garret Rash finished at 66.
The next JV tournament is scheduled for Monday at Columbus.