Golf team takes 8th

The golf team placed eighth out of 12 teams this weekend at The Harvester Golf Club in Rhodes, Iowa, in the class 4A state tournament.

“It was the top 12 teams in the state, so we had our hands full, but we competed well,” junior Jacob Bermel said.

Bermel was the top finisher for the Tigers with his 11th place out of the approximately 80 golfers at the event.

“Bermel really stood out shooting in the 70s both days and getting 12th place individually,” junior Wil Hunemuller said. “I thought State went really well since it was our first time going, and since we’re such a young team.”

Of course, coach Rich Strike agreed. “I thought the kids did very well at the state level. They did a great job. There were some struggles with a course we’re not used to with the difficult greens,” Strike said. “The way they finished Friday’s back nine holes gave us a score that put us sixth place (heading into the second day) really stood out to me.”

Hunemuller said he was also happy with his efforts. “I thought I did fine. The course was playing very hard, so I was happy getting tied for 23rd individually.”

The team is already looking forward to next year, and Bermel likes their chances. “We only lose one senior which is Justin, which is going to hurt the team because he is a very consistant player, but we will have someone to step up and fill his shoes.”

Hunemuller said, “Most definitely we’ll make it to State. We were the youngest team this year, and we’re only losing one senior. We also have two to three guys who could easily fill in that spot on varsity.”

Strike, however, was content to just bask in the glow of this year before judging anything for next year.

“I’m not even thinking about it. It just all depends on what they do over the summer,” he said.

Other state competitors for Cedar Falls were Jon Skarlis, who tied for 32nd individually as a sophomore, senior Justin Krieger who tied with freshman Jared Deines 46th individually.

Also sophomore Alec Braun tied for 55th individually at the state contest.