Tiger golfers win at Iola; final SEK tourney today

IOLA -- Fort Scott High School's golf team was the team champion of the Iola Invitational here Monday.

The Tigers shot 358 to finish ahead of second-place Coffeyville, which shot 373. Iola shot 378 and was the only other team with a score under 400.

Lyle Brittain just missed out on his first tournament title on tie-breakers. Brittain, who shot 42 on the front nine and 41 on the back for a total of 83, lost out to Yates Center's Jake Morrison (40-43) on the scorecard playoff.

"Scores were rather high, but the weather was quite cold and windy," Fort Scott head coach Ken Klassen said. "Lyle did a great job. He's been steadily improving this season. It's not over yet, but he's accomplished a great deal this year."

Nolan Stark and Evan Heiser also earned medals. Stark took third place with a 44-43--87 while Heiser took eighth with a 47-44--91. Tanner Beckham rounded out the Tigers' four-man score at 49-48--97. Blake Cowen shot 54-52--105 and Craig Davenport finished at 59-57--116.

Only 17 golfers shot under 100, partly due to the conditions. But some schools did not send their entire varsity team, using some JV players instead.

The Tigers play at Columbus in the fourth and final Southeast Kansas League designated tournament. Pittsburg leads the league after three tournaments with a score of 1,005, which is only one stroke ahead of both Chanute and Coffeyville.

Chanute's Mitch Hale leads SEK individuals with a 237 total with Pittsburg's John Nichols one stroke behind and Pittsburg's Andrew Joy five back. Cameron Wiltse of Chanute is in fourth place six behind Hale.

The top 10 individuals after the four tournaments will be All-SEK. The next 10, including ties, will be Honorable Mention.

Currently, Stark is ninth in individual standings, one stroke ahead of 10th, which has a two-way tie. Brittain is 18th, one stroke behind Beckham, who is tied for 19th.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Fort Scott's junior varsity finished 10th in an 11-team field at Prairie View Tuesday.

For the Tigers, Baker Weilert shot 54 followed by Grant Stucky at 59, Reed Ramsey 61, Tyler Clifton 67, Jonathan Hightower 68 and Matt Gaborie 71. Fort Scott's four-man score was 241. Pleasanton won the tournament with a score of 182.

"We struggled, but gained some valuable experience," Klassen said. "I can see some real improvement in the JV players. Several had played no golf until this year."

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Team scores

1. Fort Scott (FS) 358 (Brittain 83, Stark 87, Heiser 91, Beckham 97), 2. Coffeyville (CF) 373 (Blaich 90, Wright 90, Cordray 92, Patrycon 101), 3. Iola (IO) 378 (Mosbrucker 93, Crawford 94, Shallah 95, Collins 96),

4. Independence (IN) 400 (Strycker 91, Baker 100, Honan 103, Smith 106), 5. Parsons (PA) 410 (Hays 88, Manger 103, Dillinger 107, Daniels 111), 6. Yates Center (YC) 420 (Morrison 83, Stockebrand 97, Francis 110, Hartwig 130),

7. Chanute 435 (Taylor 101, Marsh 105, Borjas 111, Carman 118), 8. Iola B 459 (Smith 110, Wolf 111, Berg 113, Headley 125), 9. Burlington 469 (Chrostian 106, Reisbig 112, Lutz 123, Simmons 128),

10. Girard 543 (Spleth 122, Souza 133, Bauder 138, Egbert 150).

Medalists

1. Jake Morrison, YC, 40-43--83; 2. Lyle Brittain, FS, 42-41--83; 3. Nolan Stark, FS, 44-43--87; 4. Payton Hays, PA, 44-44--88; 5. Kenton Blaich, CF, 47-43--90;

6. Ben Wright, CF, 44-46--90; 7. Scott Strycker IN, 44-45--91; 8. Evan Heiser, FS, 47-41--88; 9. Ethan Cordray, CF, 47-45--92; 10. Jared Mosbrucker, IO, 46-47--93.

SOUTHEAST KANSAS LEAGUE STANDINGS

After three tournaments

Team Scores

Top 20 Individuals

Other Fort Scott Golfers