Warriors reign supreme in Midwest Conference

by Andrew Roberts
Pharos-Tribune sports editor

May 10, 2008 12:52 am

— MONTICELLO — With temperatures dropping as the afternoon turned to evening, golfers from the eight schools that make up the Midwest Conference battled for the league title at Pine View Friday afternoon.
With Winamac coming in as the heavy favorite, it was no surprise when the Warriors finished the day with their top golfer, Josh Ruff, taking medalist honors, and four total golfers being named All-Midwest Conference, en route to the 2008 title.
The Warriors finished with a team score of 329, while Tri-County took the runners-up spot with a round of 357.
Ruff turned in an 18-hole round of 75, three shots over par. Teammate Noah Bonnell finished second with an eight-over 80, followed by Caston’s Nick Roe, who earned third-place with a score of 82. Warrior golfer Charlie Dilts shot an 86, tying him with Tri-County’s Jacob Lape for fourth.
Rounding out the all-conference team were Keegan Scott of Winamac, Tri-County’s Brock Hardebeck and Ty Shrontz of Pioneer who finished tied for sixth with scores of 88.
Warrior coach Steve Bonnell said although some of his golfers scores were than he thought they would be, but he is pleased with his teams accomplishment.
“Winning the conference was one of our goals we wanted to do this year,” he said. “It feels good to get it done.
“We had four of five golfers make all-conference. It would have been nice to get five, but we just had a couple of kids that didn’t play as well as we had hoped, however, Josh Ruff and Noah Bonnell finished 1-2, they had good days. It is good to see them play well.”
Kevin Smith rounded out the scoring for Winamac with a score of 89, finishing one stroke from being named All -MWC.
The Panthers of Pioneer were shooting for a second place finish, but new that Tri-County would be a competitive team in the battle for the No. 2 spot. The Panthers finished in third with a score of 364.
“We were hoping for second, but we also wanted to score about 350-360, so we were not far off,” Panther coach Jesse Robinson said. “Tri-County played well, we played real close with them. We knew it was going to be close.
“We knew it would be in a battle for second. Everyone new Winamac was the favorite. However we finished a strong third.”
Pioneer was led by Shrontz, followed by Kyle Gerlach, who finished tied for 10th with a score of 90. Jake Franklin placed 14th with a round of 92, John Farrer shot a 94 to finish in 17th, while Will Land took 24th with a round of 100.
Following Pioneer, West Central took fourth, lead by Jordan Stevens and Jordan Danford, who shot a 91.
Caston finished in fifth, finishing with a score of 385.
Following Roe were Shane Biscella with a 96, Boston Blackman shot a 100, Matt Reichhart finished with a score of 107 and Kyle Moudy shot a 109.
Caston Coach Greg Brash said Roe did well against Ruff, who he was paired with, through nine holes, but once the weather changed heading into the final nine holes, he started to struggle.
“Nick played against Josh Ruff and did well,” he said. “They enjoy each other’s competition. The match went against Nick once the temperatures plummeted on the back nine. He went from 38 on after hole 18 (they started at hole 10), then dropped to 44 on holes 1 to 9.
“It was disappointing, but not unexpected. Nick does not play well in the cold.”
Brash said his team is very inexperienced, and he just hopes they can improve heading into the sectional.
“Our team is inexperienced,” he said. We didn’t expect to be a contender and we were nosed out by West Central by only two strokes. I just hope we can groom ourselves and be at our best for sectionals.
“I’d like to think if Nick improves he could get out of the sectional and advance to regionals.”
Andrew Roberts can be contacted at (574)732-5180 or via e-mail at andrew.roberts @pharostribune.com

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