East Buchanan returns to state golf meet

Not many expected the East Buchanan boys' golf team to play in the season's final meet.

Heck, even East Buchanan coach Scott Zhiss wasn't sure his golfers would advance, but they did and that's all that mattered.

The Bucs won a district team title and earned a berth to play at the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 1A state golf meet Friday at Spring Valley Golf Course in Livermore.

The Bucs will play at state for the third time in four years, returning after missing out a year ago.

"It was the goal of a lot of people on the team," East Buchanan senior Nick Bergfeld said. "We just wanted to work hard everyday and try to get there. Just improve everyday."

The season started with some uncertainty. He had three seniors, who were being called on to be leaders for the first time, a sophomore and two freshmen earning their stripes immediately on varsity. The team had potential and the players responded by living up to it.

"They worked hard in practice," Zhiss said. "They listen to coaching and starting to believe in themselves and their games a little bit. It's helped them here at the end."

East Buchanan rose to the occasion at district, topping Lisbon, which beat them handily by 18 strokes for the sectional title, and facing an HLV squad that returned five of six players from last year's state qualifying team.

"I knew we definitely weren't the favorite," Zhiss said. "I'd probably had put us in the three or four category of teams that were there that I knew about."

Depth and balance allowed the Bucs to prevail. Curt Cooksley paced East Buchanan with an 80 to place fourth, individually. John Fawcett, who normally is the team's No. 6 golfer, posted the second-best score. The Bucs shot a 351, two shots better than Lisbon, who also qualified.

"We knew it was going to be hard to come out of there," Bergfeld said. "We just went in with high hopes and tried to play our best."

Zhiss said his team hasn't put their best rounds together yet, but the they have played consistently, making it a fun and relatively smooth season. Everybody has filled their role on the team admirably.

"Curt's been our most steady and best player all year," Zhiss said. "The seniors have provided good leadership."

The state berth came with a side order of redemption for Bergfeld and fellow seniors Justin Hoffman and Craig Sperfslage. They were on the team that saw their teammates place third and fourth at the 1A state meets in 2007 and 2008, respectively, but missed out on the state meet last year by just one stroke.

The van ride home from Iowa City's Pleasant Valley Golf Course was much more enjoyable this year than than the return trip from district a year ago.

"It was pretty tough last year," said Bergfeld, noting that the feat is a little more special returning the program to state in his final prep season. "I think we all expected to get to state last year. We just happen to fall short. This time we came through. Everybody was a lot happier."

Even with risen spirits, the Bucs postponed celebrating. They will reserve that for after the state tournament, which Zhiss and Bergfeld both said they hope to enjoy the experience and play as well as possible.

"We really didn't celebrate," Bergfeld said. "We just said good job to each other and started getting ready for the state meet."

HLV senior Brenden Kuesel advanced to the 1A meet individually. Lisbon junior Tyler Gunderson will lead the Lions, attempting for his third top 10 state finish.

In the 2A meet at Lake Panorama National Resort in Panora, Dyersville Beckman, led by senior Bennett Klostermann, is making its fourth straight state appearance. Solon's Nate Fordice qualified for the individual field.

The 3A meet at the Harvester Golf Club in Rhodes has a strong Eastern Iowa flavor. Washington, Iowa, and Decorah, which placed third and fifth, respectively, last year return to state. The Vikings' Andrew Peter looks to defend his 3A state individual title. Williamsburg, paced by senior Brandon Davis, is making its first trip to the state tournament since 1991.

Western Dubuque's Jordan Azbell, who tied for ninth in the 2009 state meet, qualified individually.