In its second consecutive trip to the WIAA Division 1 State
Meet, the Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) boys golf team finished
tied for ninth in the team standings.

The Panthers totaled a 58-over par 634 at University Ridge
Golf Course in Verona
Monday and Tuesday, June 6 and 7, while Milwaukee Marquette
University High
School had a 598 to beat Middleton (606) and
Kaukauna (618) for the State Title.

“We had a great opening day on Monday, probably our third
best round of the year scoring-wise for a team, shot 311 and were tied for
fifth at the end of the day,” said SPASH boys golf head coach Mark Vrieze. “We
finished sixth and seventh prior years, in ’12 and ’13, but we’ve never been
that high up quickly, so we had some really high expectations going into
Tuesday.

“And then the University Ridge golf gods decided not to
smile on us on Tuesday,” he said.

Last year, SPASH finished 11th at state with an 86-over par
662, while the Panthers came back this season and won the SPASH Regional at
Stevens Point Country Club May 24 and finished second behind Eau Claire North
at the Eau Claire Memorial Sectional Tuesday, May 31, to advance to state for
the second year in a row and the fourth time in five years.

“We were led by two great seniors in Jake Hofmeister and
Taylor Thomas, so I felt really good about where we were going,” said Vrieze.
“Taylor and Jake had high expectations for our team all year, and that was our
goal coming in right away, they were going to go back to state.

“That was set in their minds, and they did just that,” he
said.

On the first day of the State Meet Monday, SPASH finished a
23-over par 311 to sit in fifth place in the team standings after 18 holes,
behind Marquette
(295), Middleton (304), Bay
Port (310) and Lake
Geneva Badger (310).

For the final 18 holes Tuesday, the Panthers had a 35-over
par 323, which left them in a tie for ninth place with Lake Geneva Badger with
a two-day total of 634.

Marquette finished with 303 Tuesday to win the State Title
with 598, followed by Middleton (606), Kaukauna (618), Eau Claire North (624),
Hartland Arrowhead (626), Madison Memorial (626), Bay Port (629) and Cedarburg
(630) in the 16-team meet.

“We had six or seven birdies between the kids on Monday, and
we only had one on Tuesday, so I don’t know what really happened to the kids,”
said Vrieze. “They hit the ball well on Tuesday, we just never could score.”

Emmet Herb of Middleton fired a one-under par 138 over 36
holes to win the Individual State Title over Matt Tolan of Eau Claire North
(145) and Harrison Ott of Marquette
(145).

Senior Taylor Thomas tied for 27th overall with an 11-over
par 155 to lead SPASH, while junior Charlie Okray tied for 40th with a 159.

Junior Max Bancker was right behind with a 160, followed by
freshman Evan Thomas (162) and senior Jake Hofmeister (164).

“I had a junior (Okray) and a freshman (Evan Thomas) that
had never played (varsity), so through the whole season, they ended up just
finding out some things, how tournaments roll, and we seemed to get better with
time,” said Vrieze. “So when we got to Regionals and Sectionals, it seemed
second nature to them, it wasn’t a huge deal, and they just felt comfortable
playing.

“Max was a sophomore last year and played at state, and now
with Evan as a freshman here experiencing state, and Charlie was just ready to
go from the get-go for varsity golf, and they felt really comfortable down
there,” he said. “Evan shot 79 the first day, so it didn’t affect him so much,
and I think it’s his experience of playing in tournaments beforehand, leading
up to that. I’ve got a great core coming back, so I feel really comfortable
where we’re at. We’ve just got to make sure that’s our goal to return back.”

Vrieze said he had a great senior class this year, which
included Hofmeister, Taylor Thomas, Sam Hauser and Sam Medo.

“Kids like Sam Hauser and Sam Medo didn’t get to play a
whole lot, but my senior class has been outstanding,” said Vrieze. “I told them
(Tuesday) night when we were eating after the meet, ‘I don’t think I’m going to
replace you. I’m going to try my best, but there are just people you just
cannot replace,’ and Taylor and Jake are those kids.

“They’re going to be well missed, but we are looking for
another challenge,” he said. “You do that every year, you lose some, and
hopefully somebody else will come back in their spot.”

This season the Panthers won the first six of the seven
Wisconsin Valley Conference (WVC) Meets to claim their sixth Conference Title
in a row, while they also won their sixth consecutive Regional Title, on the
way to another trip to state.

“It’s always a phenomenal season when you can end at
University Ridge,” said Vrieze. “Two years ago, we didn’t get to go there, and the van ride back from Wild Ridge in Eau Claire was
tough. This time it wasn’t so bad.

“The season was good, and we enjoyed the whole ride,” he
said. “We had our ups and downs, but I’m really pleased about how my guys
handled themselves in every level, conference, Regionals, Sectionals and at
state.

“They were disappointed because they didn’t finish higher,
but that’s how sports go,” he said.” It’s never awesome every single day.”