HUNTINGTON – Eighth-ranked Norwell began its quest for a state golf championship by crushing the sectional field June 4 at the par-72 LaFontaine Golf Course.

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Each of the Knights’ top four scorers went sub-80, and their collective 301 total was 20 shots lower than second-place Huntington North (321) and 30 better than third-place Bellmont (331). 

All three teams advance to the regional at The Players Club in Yorktown June 10.

“Norwell is by far the best team here,” said Huntington North’s E.J. Tackett, who fired a two-under 70 to earn medalist honors. “They’ve always been good because they’ve got five solid guys who can shoot in the 70s, and McCormick (Clouser) and Ross (Mathews) can both shoot in the 60s easily.

“They’re a good team.”

Tackett and Clouser each shot 34 on the front nine, where Mathews turned in a 37 in the battle for the medalist position.

Mathews drove the green at the par-4 10th hole and sunk his eagle putt, then followed that with a birdie at 11 to get to even par for the day. The IP-Fort Wayne recruit added a birdie at 15, but he gave shots back at 14 and 18 to finish with a 34 and second-place total of 71.

“I started off by three-putting the first two holes, but I was hitting it well,” Mathews said. “I hit every green on the front nine and knew if I kept doing that, some putts would fall and things would go right.”

Clouser ran into trouble with a four-putt bogey at the par-five 12th and an out-of-bounds tee shot which led to double bogey on the 13th en route to a back-nine 40 and a third-place 74.

“I was solid all day, but I didn’t do anything too good,” said Clouser, who will play golf at Michigan State in the fall. “I had a four-putt on 12 for bogey and went OB on 13 – other than that, I didn’t play too bad. 

“I just couldn’t get anything going all day.”

Norwell used the 78s of Taylor and Nick Imel to round out its scoring.

Tackett made three birdies and three bogeys on the back nine, but his even-par 36 helped hold off the two Norwell players to earn the medalist honor.

“I had some ups-and-downs,” Tackett said. “I started really well, stumbled through the middle a little, and had some birdies on the back. (70) is all right – it’s average for this being my home course. 

“I left quite a few (shots) out there, but it was good enough to come away with a win and move on to regional.”

Blackford’s Franklin Crist fired a 76, Mississinewa’s Dalton Miller carded a 77, and Eastbrook’s Andrew Weiland finished with a 78 to earn the three individual qualifying spots for the regional.

Weiland and his Eastbrook teammates appeared to have earned a third-place finish as the final groups were finishing their rounds. But the Panthers’ low round of the day, a 77 by Blake McQueen, was disqualified after it was determined he had taken an improper drop and signed an improper score card at the conclusion of his round.

Huntington North’s Neal Hamilton, who was keeping McQueen’s score and brought the mistake to the attention of officials after both players had signed the incorrect card, was also disqualified. 

The error hauntingly turned Eastbrook’s 324 into a 338 and kept the team out of regional competition, while Huntington North replaced Hamilton’s 86 with an 86 by Quinton Flora and remained at 321.

Zach Wetzel and Nathan Kortenber had 77 and 78, respectively, to lead Bellmont’s third-place effort.

Norwell has been ranked in the state’s Top 10 nearly all season, and the Knights appear poised to make a run toward the state championship. Pleased with a 301 and the sectional trophy, they know it will take an equal or better effort in the regional to qualify for the state finals.

“If we shoot around 300, we should be good,” Clouser said. “We can go lower than that, and hopefully we will all play pretty solid.”

The team and individual scores:

McCormick Clouser 34-40 74

Ross Mathews 37-34 71

Taylor Imel 40-38 78

Issac Tomac 39-43 82

Nick Imel 38-40 78

EJ Tackett 34-36 70

Neal Hamilton DQ

Tyler Shearer 39-45 84

Bryan Lagemann 40-41 81

Quinton Flora 45-41 86

Zach Wetzel 38-39 77

Nathan Kortenber 41-37 78

Chase Ellsworth 42-44 86

Cory Coshow 51-51 102

Connor Busick 44-46 90

Andrew Weiland 39-39 78

Blake McQueen DQ

Lance Hoch 44-41 85

Austin Cansler 39-45 84

Chris Duckwall 46-45 91

Zach Clouse 40-43 83

Preston Jones 43-44 87

Tyler Arenas 48-53 101

Scott Meyer 44-44 88

Taylor Lakes 44-41 85

Dalton Miller 37-40 77

Scott Atkins 46-45 91

Zeke Lockwood 43-43 86

Ryan Walters 46-45 91

Eric Solms 43-39 82

Austin Engle 43-46 89

Nate Clem 46-44 90

Brady Collins 45-44 89

Griffin Engle 42-45 87

Franklin Crist 37-39 76

Grant Jones 47-48 95

Ben Townsend 47-47 94

Evan Baugey 43-49 92

Austin Dickey 53-48 101

Tyler Mohler 44-40 84

Carson Addington 49-42 91

Andrew Wilson 49-48 97

Spencer Barnell 47-50 97

Ian Betz 51-58 109

Mark Muselman 45-47 92

Daniel Heckard 47-50 97 

Chase Mosser 47-46 93

Derek Fox 44-45 89

Zach Grabau 51-51 102

Tyler Cassiday 41-52 93

Justin Herring 43-49 92

Nick Thompson 55-58 113

Zach Leyman 47-51 98

Blake Pfeiffer 46-56 102

Nick McCullough 56-59 115

Kyle Fourman 57-52 109

Josh Thieme 46-51 97

Ren Christian 53-58 111