Wagnitz wins district championship
Matthew Wagnitz heard the kidding from Heartland Lutheran boys golf coach Dan Bremer about the team's "senior curse."
Previous Red Hornets who qualified for the state tournament as juniors seemed to run into bad luck the next year in districts and couldn't earn a return trip.
"I wanted to try to prove that wrong," Wagnitz said.
With a district championship, consider Wagnitz the curse buster.
The senior qualified for his third-straight state tournament by firing a day's best 87 at the Class D, District 3 tournament at a wind-swept Indianhead Golf Club.
Wagnitz earned district medalist honors by three strokes over Pleasanton's Trevor Paitz.
With gusty winds throughout the day, it was far from ideal conditions.
But Wagnitz battled through that to post a 43 on the front nine and a 44 on the back.
"You had to play your shot so you got the wind (behind you)," Wagnitz said. "I tried not to hit into the wind. Sometimes you had to play it short and chip on."
Bremer said Wagnitz has the mental makeup to succeed in difficult conditions.
"He thinks about every shot and what he needs to do," he said. "He has the mental capacity to put aside the conditions.
"Like his father said, he can come back from a bad hole. He doesn't try to make it up with one shot."
The district title surprised Wagnitz.
"I just tried to shoot low," he said. "I didn't think the wind would pick up and be such a complete factor.
"This feels pretty good. It's never happened. I've finished sixth and eighth in previous years (at districts)."
Bremer said Wagnitz has created his own success.
"He's worked hard," he said. "He's a senior. Although he didn't have what he'd consider his best score, under these conditions it was good.
"This is his third year to go to state. I'm proud of him. He's been an important part of the program, and I hate to see him go."
Wagnitz has one more chance to add to his accomplishments for the Red Hornets. The Class D State Tournament will be held at Kearney's Meadowlark Hills Golf Course next Tuesday and Wednesday.
"I want to shoot in the low 80s," Wagnitz said. "I want to have similar scores both days instead of one day (with a good score)."
Experience could play a big part in Wagnitz accomplishing that.
"I'll be a lot calmer," he said. "In previous years, I was nervous and my heart was beating 100 miles per hour."
Burwell's Brandon Buhlke also qualified for state by finishing ninth with a 97.
Franklin, Lawrence-Nelson and Pleasanton earned the three team berths.
Heartland Lutheran finished tied for fourth with a 420, 14 strokes behind third-place Pleasanton.
"I felt we could have done a lot better," Bremer said. "We had played well up to this point.
"Besides one other senior, we're a pretty young team. They grew today. Each saw what we need to do. We were 14 strokes away from going to state. They know it and they're excited about it."
Class D, District 3
At Indianhead Golf Club
Team Scoring (top three qualify for state)
Franklin 382, Lawrence-Nelson 391, Pleasanton 406, Heartland Lutheran 420, High Plains 420, Axtell 440, Osceola 442, Deshler 446, Friend 454, Exeter-Milligan 486, Clay Center 502, Shelton 503.
Individual State Qualifiers
1, Matthew Wagnitz, Heartland Lutheran, 87; 2, Trevor Paitz, Pleasanton, 90; 3, Shane Siel, Franklin, 91; 4, Mitchell Olson, Pleasanton, 93; 5, Zackery Ault, Lawrence-Nelson, 94; 6, Jacob Siel, Pleasanton, 96; 7, Steven Schroer, Lawrence-Nelson, 96; 8, Derek Hammer, Franklin, 97; 9, Brandon Buhlke, Burwell, 97; 10, Adam Vetter, Franklin, 98; 11, Jordan Whitcomb, Clay Center, 98.
Heartland Lutheran (420)
Matthew Wagnitz 43-44--87, Matthew Kirby 51-58--109, A.J. Messersmith 51-58--109, Derek Stinson 55-60--115, Jacob Schwan DQ.
