HNS golfers compete at State

NORTH PLATTE - For the second time in three years, the Hartington-Newcastle boys’ golf team completed its season in the Nebraska Class D Golf Championships at Lake Maloney Golf Course in North Platte.

In 2021, the Wildcats finished in the top 10 after firing a team-total of 796 in the 36-hole event, which landed them at number 10, but despite shooting nearly 30 strokes better in 2023, the team wound up 13th after compiling a team score of 767 over the two days of the tournament.

“Overall, I thought the kids competed very well at state,” co-coach Mike Johnson said. “We didn’t shoot the scores that we wanted to shoot, but they competed hard and never gave up.” Pender, the team that won the team-title in the Wildcat’s district meet won the team championship in North Platte by 11 strokes over Overton, which won the title over the Pendragons in 2022 by seven shots. Pender carded a 641.

Gage Burns of Creighton, another familiar name for HNS, won the individual gold by a single shot over Pender’s Quinton Heineman 151-152.

Riley Sudbeck paced the Wildcats after recording a 93 on the first day and a 92 on day two for a total of 185, which placed him in a tie for 59th.

Turner Dendinger was next at 188 (93/95), which put him in a tie for 70th; Dayton Sudbeck came in at 196 (100/96) for 81st; Bailey Paden carded a 199 (99/100) for 83rd and Mason Buschkamp posted a 203 (104/99) to earn a tie for 86th.

“This was a truly enjoyable team to coach,” co-coach, Ken Kneifl said. “They worked very hard, were very reliable in terms of fulfilling their responsibilities, and were just very good people. We were very proud of them.”

The future looks fairly bright for Wildcat golf as Riley and Dayton Sudbeck will return for senior campaigns after getting some quality experience the past couple of years.

“Dayton scored the low average on our team this year and medaled in almost every meet including districts,” Kneifl said. “We are going to rely on him to be our cornerstone next season,” Kneifl said. “Riley is just scratching the surface, he just picked up the game as a freshman - at the end of the season he really started to take that next step as a player.”

Dendinger, Paden and Buschkamp will all be lost to graduation and had three very different paths throughout their careers.

“Turner has been a mainstay on our varsity from the very start,” Kneifl said. “He medaled a number of times in his career and was a very positive leader, not only on the golf team, but in the hallways at school.”

Bailey recently joined the Wildcats after transferring in from Ponca after his junior season last year.

“In many ways, Bailey was our most consistent player,” Kneifl said. “He had the ability to bounce back after a tough nine holes and come through with a great round in his second nine.”

Buschkamp, another golfer who didn’t pick up the game until high school, paid his dues to earn his spot on the team.

“He played his entire career on the JV team until this season,” Kneifl said. “He was a young man the team really ‘rooted for’ as he is such a humble, nice young man.”

NEBRASKA CLASS D GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

Team Results:

1. Pender (319/322) 641; 2. Overton (328/324) 652; 3. Loomis (346/331) 677; 4. Humphrey St. Francis (348/339) 687; 5. Lawrence-Nelson (355/339) 694; 5. Neligh-Oakdale (334/360) 694; 7. Perkins County (349/359) 708; 8. Hitchcock County 351/362) 713; 9. Sandy Creek (368/346) 714; 10. Bridgeport (355/361) 716; 11. Elgin Public/Pope John (355-365) 720; 12. Elmwood-Murdock (369/361) 730; 13. Hartington-Newcastle (385/382) 767; 14. Hemingford (385/393) 778; 15. Burwell (385/419) 804.

Individual Top 15:

1. Gage Burns, Creighton, (76/75) 151; 2. Quinton Heineman, Pender, (73/79) 152; 3. Layton Gralheer, Pender, (76/77) 153; 4. Zaybreon Hansen, Perkins County, (74/80) 154; 5. Carter Milton, Exeter-Milligan, (79/77) 156; 6. Jaden Kosch, Humphrey St. Francis, (82/75) 157; 7. Braden Fleischman, Overton, (82/76) 158; T8. Kaden Lux, Overton, (82/76) 158; T8. Wesley Trompke, Loomis, (80/80) 160; 10. Jake Dane, Sandy Creek, (85/76) 161; T11. Connor Shively, Overton, (80/84) 164; T11. Jacob Holzfaster, Paxton, (80/84) 164; T13. Tyson Essex, Loomis, (86/79) 165; T13. Trey Johnson, Pender, (85/80) 165; T13. Anthony Heiser, Stuart, (83/82) 165.

Hartington-Newcastle Scores: T59. Riley Sudbeck (93/92) 185; T70. Turner Dendinger (93/95) 188; T81. Dayton Sudbeck (100/96) 196; 83. Bailey Paden (99/100) 199; T86. Mason Buschkamp (104/99) 203.