Jun. 6—WINONA LAKE — As scores slowly trickled in Thursday afternoon at Stonehenge Golf Course, there was a calm but anxious crowd awaiting to see which three teams and three individuals would be headed to the IHSAA State Finals at Prairie View Golf Club Tuesday.
Then, like a spark being thrown into a pile of leaves, Westview's Luke Haarer's score of an even-par 71 was written on the scoreboard at the clubhouse. It didn't take long for the crowd to make the connection that Haarer's score was the same as Leo's Caden Matthias — meaning a playoff to decide the regional individual champion was in order.
Quickly, the crowd migrated to the backstretch of Hole 18 to set up shop and watch the final showdown between the freshman Haarer and sophom*ore Matthias. The only thing missing from the dramatic finish was popcorn.
"My first reaction was 'Oh no, now I'm in playoff to get into state,' not [knowing] that I was already in," Haarer said afterwards. "It kind of shocked me and I went into panic real quick."
Shaped like a boomerang, Hole 18 saw two differing styles attack it. Haarer stayed on the fairway while Matthias worked the inside edge, landing in the tall grass on his second swing.
Then, the Leo sophom*ore drew a large applause after his shot from the tall grass landed squarely on the green, a little more then a few feet from the cup. Bullseye.
Haarer's third swing also landed on the green, sitting at the inside lip of the hole, further to the flag than his opponent and with a more difficult path to the hole.
The freshman three-putted his way in, but Matthias did so in two, locking up the tiebreaker in a playoff crowd that didn't disappoint.
"He threw a dart and the pressure was on me and I put a good swing on it, I thought it was a good shot, it just happened to be short," Haarer said, also eventually learning he had a spot at state regardless of his medalist result.
Westview head coach Jeff Marchant followed close by throughout the final hole, trying to keep his freshman away from his own thoughts.
"Just trying to keep his mind preoccupied a little bit so he's not so nervous," Marchant said. "That's kind of what I do. Just chitchatting to try and keep the pressure off."
Haarer had no dreams of ever getting into this type of position the night before. Dreams were few and far away with the pressure of his first ever regional on the line.
"Last night I couldn't sleep because I was just thinking of every little thing that could go wrong and just not having confidence."
Haarer's result wasn't enough to keep the Warriors in contention as a team after the Warriors were three shots off from a sectional title last week. Westview finished eighth with a score of 331 — the same score they wound up with at sectionals.
Grinning from ear to ear, the freshman brushed off the loss quickly, pointed out his brother Silas — a state runner-up for Westview last year and now playing golf for the American Junior Golf Association — didn't make it his freshman year.
"He didn't go to state his freshman year so I get to talk a little trash when I get home," Haarer said.
Northridge finished just one spot better with a score of 329. The senior-laden Raiders were led by Coby Hochstetler who shot a 76. Northridge struggled to hang with the group and as soon as scores began to roll in, it became apparent their season had come to a close.
Fairfield impressed the most, recovering from a narrow third-place finish at sectionals last week. The Falcons shot 364, good for fourth place overall — one spot out of qualifying for state as a team. Fairfield trailed the regional champs in Homestead (300) as well as Leo (309) and the host school Warsaw (310).
While Haarer was nervous for the playoff, the crowd cheering on the Falcons junior in Brayden Miller was a bit nervous.
"I started off a little shaky but definitely coming down the stretch there was a little doubt and fear," Miller said, finishing with a score of 72 to tie for third but earn a spot at state for the third time in as many years. "Everyone here wants to compete for a state title next week so I was a little scared but I was just trusting myself, trusting my coach and I made a couple birdies down the stretch to get in."
Fairfield head coach John Kauffman was happy with the conditions as Miller claimed the greens played "very firm and very fast."
"We were a little nervous, didn't know what it was going to take," Kauffman said. "It's 18 holes of golf and it's easy to have one bad round but to be able to go down for a third straight year, that's awesome."
"First nine we had 170 and I knew we were going to be shy of a miracle to get out but man they played so well on the front nine and to finish fourth overall, I'm just very proud of them," Kauffman said about the team performance, despite falling a spot short.
Next weeks state finals will take place in Carmel at Prairie View Golf Club. The two-day, 36-hole tournament will include both Haarer, a first-time participant and Miller, up for his third crack at the tournament. His previous finishes were a tie for 12th his freshman year (77/72 — 149) and a 6th-place finish as a sophom*ore (69/74 — 143).
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WARSAW REGIONAL — at Stonehenge Golf Course
Top three teams and individuals from non-advancing teams will join together at the state finals in Carmel at Prairie View Golf Club. State advancers are bolded.
Team Scores — top four scorers
1. Homestead (300) — Landon Snyder (72), Jack Burda (73), Ryan Parker (77), Caden Baker (78)
2. Leo (309) — Caden Matthias (71 — medalist), Justin Hicks (74), John Nussbaum (78), Hudson Hines (86)
3. Warsaw (310) — Breckin Christner (73), Robbie Finlinson (74), Austin Craig (79), Quinton Fifer (84)
4. Fairfield (364) — Brayden Miller (72), Miles Nine (79), Jake Elliott (87), Benjamin Kio (88)
5. Bishop Dwenger (364) — James Lancia (75), Maximus Jordan (76), Henry Jordan (85), Joseph Hughes (90)
6. FW Carroll (329) — Jacob Knitter (80), Cam Meyers (81), Keenan Beaty (81), Sam Campbell (87)
7. Northridge (329) — Coby Hochstetler (76), Vadim Kidun (81), Conner Hochstetler (83), Kaden Miller (89)
8. Westview (331) — Luke Haarer (71), Wade Springer (84), Brett Springer (88), Judson Hershberger (88)
9. Huntington North (338) — Javin Gray (80), Griffin Husband (81), Dalton Hoch (83), Ceatan Brubaker (94)
10. Northwestern (339) — Hudson Whaley (76), Lucas Miller (83), Samson Shotwell (90), Brayden Applegate (80)
11. Fremont (345) — Ashland Benner (83), Zander Reetz (84), Luke Campbell (89), Trevor Reetz (89)
12. Western (361) — Callen Szerdy (86), Ethan Fisher (87), Brody Fisher (88), Brody Hobson (100)
13. Blackhawk Christian (363) — Gavin Haiflich (72), Miles Steffen (92), Ty Nigg (99), Braden Gibson (100)
14. Lewis Cass (383) — Rylan Stoller (83), Michael Myers (92), Brody Hillis (94), Harrison Clark (114)
15. Plymouth (450) — Dan Nguyen (81), O'Malley Holm (91), Caleb Harland (92), Ben Nguyen (92)
Individual Scores: Carter Demske (Garrett, 75), Caden Anderson (East Noble, 76), Tyson Baer (Northfield, 77), Aiden Hibbard (Elkhart Christian, 78), Alex Schenkel (FW Bishop Luers, 79), Easton Shaw (Northfield, 83), Todd Kauffman (Goshen, 84), Braxtyn Chamberlain (Eastside, 85), Myles McLaughlin (Goshen, 88), Jake Dalman (Heritage, 88), Mason Camden (Peru, 91), Karter Schwartz (Peru, 91), Connor Trump (Manchester, 98), Canaan Horner (Kokomo, 99), Mason Moore (Woodlan, 101)
Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.
