Knoxville boys win sectional

Knoxville senior Evan Smith dominated the Class 3A Sectional Tournament field at Crestmoor Golf Club Tuesday with a 2-under par 70 to lead the Panthers to the team title.

Smith is ranked second in Class 3A with a 34.6 average nine-hole score this season. With Creston receiving another 1.4 inches of rain overnight that created wet course conditions, Creston coach Steve Shantz was impressed with Smith’s 18-hole round.

“Two-under was incredible on a day like this,” Shantz said. “He’s a really good player. He shot even on the front nine and 2-under on the back when the wind picked up.”

While Knoxville sailed to the sectional title to advance to the May 13 district tournament at Atlantic Golf and Country Club with a 314 team score, the race for the second qualifying team spot couldn’t have been any tighter. Ballard edged Nevada for second place, 325-326.

Clarke’s Shay Mathews was among the individuals advancing to the district from non-qualifying teams with his round of 9-over par 81.

Creston was seventh in the eight-team field with a score of 367. Marshall Long shot 87 to finish 16th in the field of 48 golfers. Max Skellenger shot 98. The Panthers handled the tough conditions well, Shantz said.

“It was a wet and windy day and we shot the second best 18-hole score of the year,” Shantz said. “Marshall Long placed 16th individually overall. We wish our seniors Carson Rieck and Max Skellenger the best of luck for the four years of playing Creston golf.”

Qualifiers from the Crestmoor sectional will join qualifiers from the Council Bluffs sectional hosted by Lewis Central at Whispering Woods Golf Course.

“After we got all of that rain, I got out here at 7:30 and it was splashing under my feet just walking down the hills,” Shantz said. “We wanted to get it in. We knew the sun was going to be out and it would be windy, so it would dry out. That was a great team race for second place. They knew it was tight all day.”

Class 3A Sectional

At Crestmoor Golf Club

District qualifying teams — 1. Knoxville 314; 2. Ballard 325.

District individual qualifiers from non-qualifying teams — Parker Rodgers, Nevada, 77; Shay Mathews, Clarke, 81; Kyle Kingsbury, Nevada, 81.

Individual medal winners — 1. Evan Smith, Knoxville, 36-34 — 70; 2. Parker Rodgers, Nevada, 36-41 — 77 (handicap hole tiebreaker); 3. Brady Kruger, Ballard, 38-39 — 77; 4. Carson Uitermarkt, Knoxville, 40-39 — 79.

Team scores — 1. Knoxville 314; 2. Ballard 325; 3. Nevada 326; 4. Bondurant-Farrar 358; 5. Carlisle 365; 6. Clarke 367; 7. Creston 381; 8. Saydel 409.

Creston (381) — Marshall Long 46-41 — 87; Max Skellenger 46-50 — 96; Garrick Clausen 50-48 — 98; Chasse Downing 52-48 — 100; Carson Rieck 57-53 — 110; Tristan Evans 52-59 — 111.