THE STATE MEET: The 50th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls State Golf Championships will be held Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 11-12, at the University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis. Competition will begin at 8 a.m. on both days. Sunday practice tee time assignments are available on the girls golf homepage of the WIAA website.
STATE MEET STREAMED LIVE: The ninth and 18th holes of the WIAA State Girls Golf Championships will be streamed live without subscription on the NFHS Network at nfhsnetwork.com/associations/wiaa-wi or WIAA.tv.
THE FORMAT: The competition features a two division format with 12 teams and an additional 18 individual qualifiers competing in Division 1, and six teams and an additional nine individual qualifiers participating in Division 2. Competitors play 36 holes, weather permitting, including 18 holes on each day. The lowest scores from the first day will have the later tee times Tuesday.
BY THE NUMBERS: There were 161 teams sponsoring girls golf this fall with 99 in Division 1 and 62 in Division 2. The State Tournament field of teams and individuals are comprised of the first two teams and top three individuals, who are not members of a qualifying team, at each sectional.
HOW THEY QUALIFIED: The Division 1 field consists of the top two teams from each of the six sectionals, and the Division 2 field includes the top two teams from three sectionals. Eighteen individuals in Division 1 and nine individuals in Division 2 qualify as the top three players in each sectional that are not members of a qualifying team.
TEAMS COMPETING: The schools qualifying for the State meet in Division 1 are Appleton North, Bay Port, Brookfield Central, Brookfield East, Cedarburg, Hamilton, Middleton, New Richmond, Tomah, Union Grove, Waunakee and Westosha Central. The team qualifiers in Division 2 are Arcadia/Independence, Edgewood, Freedom, Prescott, St. Croix Central and The Prairie School.
DIVISION 1 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The 18 individuals who have qualified for the State meet in Division 1 are senior Caroline Lewison of Baraboo; senior Abby Busick of De Pere; sophomore Kate Krueger of Divine Savior Holy Angels; freshman McKenna Lowe of Kaukauna; seniors Jenna Anderson and Madeline Fiebig of Kettle Moraine; junior Hannah Dunk of Milton; junior Katie Westbrook of Oconomowoc; seniors Allison Balduzzi and Kiya Bronston of Onalaska; senior Emily Hopp and freshman Addison Sabel of Oregon; senior Ava Wittstock and junior Hannah Miller of Sheboygan North/South; junior Riley Pechinski of Stevens Point; junior Nora Cerroni of Waukesha South/North/West, senior Tess Bruner of Wausau East/West and junior Emily Gastrau of Wauwatosa East/West.
DIVISION 2 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The nine individual qualifiers in Division 2 are junior Lilly Kaminski of Denmark; senior Gillian Johnson of Hayward; sophomore Payton Schmidt of Jefferson; junior Ava Heckmann of Lakeside Lutheran; sophomore Brianna Kirsch of Lancaster; sophomore Ava Pesha of Somerset; junior Sydney Greenfield of Spooner; junior Danielle Bruecker of Wrightstown; and sophomore May Shimek of Xavier.
LAST YEAR: Brookfield Central won the Division 1 State team title with a 27-hole score of 516. Waunakee and Arrowhead tied for the runner-up position at 526. Jessica Guiser of Arrowhead was the individual champion, winning a tiebreaker over Elise Hoven of Cedarburg. Both shot a 119 for the 27 holes. Prescott captured the Division 2 crown, finishing with a 27-hole total of 560. The Prairie School placed second with a score of 579. Lauren Haen of Xavier won individual medalist honors by shooting a 125, one stroke ahead of Ava Salay of Prescott, who finished with a score of 126. Middleton was the champion of the 2020-21 Alternate Fall tournament last spring with a 36-hole score of 640, one stroke better that Bay Port, which finished runner-up with a 641. Jo Baranczyk of Bay Port was the individual medalist with a score of 143. It was the third State championship in her career. Ellie Frisch of Middleton was second with a score of 154.
INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW-DIVISION 1: There are numerous golfers with quality State Tournament experience vying for medalist honors. Senior Ellie Frisch of Middleton qualifies for the fourth time. She finished runner-up in the alternate season in 2020-21 and was 18th in 2019 after a 20th-place standing in 2018. Junior Norah Roberts of Union Grove sophomore and Kylie Walker of Westosha Central tied for third last year. Junior Hannah Dunk of Milton finished fifth at the alternate season championships, and junior Brin Neumann of Tomah and senior Sarah Balding of Brookfield Central battled to a sixth-place tie in 2020. Balding is a four-time qualifier, finishing 52nd in 2018 and runner-up in 2019. Neumann also qualified in 2019, tying for 26th. Senior Avery Dudra of Bay Port was seventh in the alternate season tournament after tying for 28th in 2019, and senior Jenna Anderson of Kettle Moraine was eighth in 2020 following a 25th-place finish in 2019. Senior Sophie Pokela of Tomah and sophomore Madison Haugen of Brookfield East both return after tying for ninth in 2020. Sophomore Vivian Cressman of Middleton also earned a top-10 position with a ninth-place finish in the alternate season. In addition to Anderson, the sectional champions competing to be in the mix for medalist honors are junior Emily Gastrau of Wauwatosa East/West; sophomore Adalyn Johnston of Bay Port, who won the Wausau East/West Sectional after an 11th-place tie during the alternate season last spring; junior Riley Pechinski of Stevens Point; sophomore Izzi Stricker of Waunakee, who won the Oregon Sectional after tying for 13th at State in 2020; Senior Ava Wittstock of Sheboygan North/South, who earned medalist honors at the Hartford Sectional after tying for 11th during the alternate season last spring.
INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW-DIVISION 2: Five of the top seven finishers from last season’s championships return for another shot at the gold medal. The top returning finisher from last season is junior Ava Salay of Prescott, who has finished runner-up the past two seasons. Junior Sophia Lawler of The Prairie School seeks the title after placing in a tie for third last season. Senior Sally Vangsness of St. Croix Central qualifies for State for the third time. She finished fifth a year ago after placing tied for sixth in 2019. Senior Callie Berg of Freedom and junior Rhi Stutz of Prescott are back at State after tying for sixth last season. Berg also qualified in 2019 and tied for 17th. In addition to Salay and Lawler, another in pursuit of a State title following her sectional title is senior Hallie Tulip of Arcadia/Independence, who won the Wisconsin Dells Sectional and placed 11th last season and 22nd in 2018.
THROUGH THE YEARS: In the first 49 years of the girls golf championships, Edgewood has won the most team championships with 15, all coming since 2001. The Crusaders won two championships when only one division was offered in 2001-02 and the first seven Division 2 titles from 2003-09. They added to their total with championships from 2011-14 and two more in 2018-19. Madison West and La Crosse Central are tied for the second-most team titles with five. The Regents won the first five championships offered from 1972-76. The Red Raiders won four consecutive State titles from 1990-93 and added their fifth in 1998. Appleton West, Arrowhead, Homestead and Middleton have won four team championships. Osceola has crowned the most individual medalists with eight, and Madison Memorial is next in line with six individual champions.
NEED RESULTS?: Results are available on the WIAA website. Select the link on the Girls Golf State Tournament page to access the GolfStat results link for each division.
FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Girls Golf Championships on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaagolf. Also like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at wiaawi.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
