Updated Oct. 5, 11:30 a.m. to correct Hudson Meister qualifying for the state tournament
Stewart Druin birdied the final two holes thanks to a lengthy putt and sophomore Madden Johnson rallied to go 3-under over the final five holes to send Mattoon to the state golf tournament Monday.
The Green Wave needed 315 strokes among its lowest four scores to finish second, 19 strokes behind Benton and one stroke ahead of Glenwood. All three schools advance from the Class 2A IHSA sectional to the state tournament, which will be held at the Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University later this week. Althoff Catholic lurked two more strokes back.
“I’m really proud of the way we handled adversity today,” MHS coach Brett Poorman said. “We set a target of 308 to safely advance. We ended at 315, but every player had holes where they could have folded.”
Druin had played well before carding a triple-bogey on the 359-yard 16th hole. But then he caught fire. The senior birdied the 525-yard par-5 No. 17 and then drained a 45-foot birdie putt on the 375-yard par-4 No. 18, the second hardest-rated hole on the Acorns Golf Links course in Waterloo. He finished with four total birdies for a 78 that tied several others for 11th overall.
Johnson, meanwhile, posted birdies on three of the final five holes – the 399-yard par-4 No. 14, the 359-yard par-4 No. 16 and at No. 18 , where he lofted his approach shot on No. 18 from about 140 yards out to within eight inches of the hole. He posted an 80 overall.
“Madden didn’t have his best stuff, had three doubles in a row around (holes) 10-12,” Poorman said. “And then he really locked in on the last five holes.”
Senior Blaine Powers posted a steady round that included 13 pars and a birdie to also tie for 11th at 78. He went 1-under 35 on the 3,032-yard front nine before hitting a ball out of bounds on No.10 that resulted in a quadruple bogey.
Said Poorman: “But he grinded out the last eight holes with a bunch of pars.”
Sophomore Will Pullen posted a 79 to round out MHS’s scoring.
Charleston freshman Hudson Meister earned the final playoff spot after winning in a playoff. He had shot a 79 to tie six other golfers, including sophomore teammate Andrew Kuykendall. Juniors Zach Craig (80) and Rhyland Brady (92) completed the scoring for the Trojans, who finished sixth.
| PL | SCHOOL | SCORE |
| 1 | BENTON | 296 |
| 2 | MATTOON | 315 |
| 3 | GLENWOOD | 316 |
| 4 | ALTHOFF CATHOLIC | 318 |
| 5 | RICHLAND COUNTY | 324 |
| 6 | CHARLESTON | 330 |
| 7 | WATERLOO | 341 |
| 8 | HIGHLAND | 343 |
| 9 | CARTERVILLE | 347 |
| 10 | MASSAC COUNTY | 349 |
| 11 | BREESE MATER DEI | 350 |
| 12 | CIVIC MEMORIAL | 354 |
| 13 | TROY (TRIAD) | 357 |
| PL | PLAYER | SCORE |
| 1 | Jairen Stroud (JR) Salem | 72 |
| 1 | Kash Cantrell (SO) Benton | 72 |
| 1 | River Stilley (SO) Benton | 72 |
| 4 | Cy Norman (SR) Benton | 73 |
| 5 | Jacob Hall (SO) Columbia | 74 |
| 6 | Ian Davis (SR) Carbondale | 75 |
| 6 | Jaden Smith (JR) Waterloo | 75 |
| 8 | Parker Bruening (JR) Althoff Catholic | 76 |
| 9 | Ayden Nealis (FR) Richland County | 77 |
| 9 | Max Bruening (SR) Althoff Catholic | 77 |
| 11 | Alex Nealis (SR) Richland County | 78 |
| 11 | Blaine Powers (SR) Mattoon | 78 |
| 11 | Brock Bredehoft (JR) Glenwood | 78 |
| 11 | Cameron Appenzeller (SO) Glenwood | 78 |
| 11 | Derek Dulceak (SO) Glenwood | 78 |
| 11 | Jacob Florek (SO) Mascoutah | 78 |
| 11 | Stewart Druin (SR) Mattoon | 78 |
| 18 | Andrew Kuykendall (SO) Charleston | 79 |
| 18 | Carson Oliver (FR) Mt. Zion | 79 |
| 18 | Hudson Meister (FR)Charleston | 79 |
| 18 | Jeremiah Kay (SR) Benton | 79 |
| 18 | Joshua Rosenberg (SR) Freeburg | 79 |
| 18 | Reese Glover (FR) Richland County | 79 |
| 18 | Will Pullen (SO) Mattoon | 79 |
Coles County Sports 