Western Dubuque’s Brock Wilson, Linn-Mar capture titles at Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division boys’ golf meet

MARION — Western Dubuque’s Brock Wilson turned potential into tangible results.

Early-season thoughts of being a contender for top conference honors came to fruition for the Bobcats senior.

Wilson fired a 1-under 71 for medalist honors in the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division meet Monday afternoon at Hunters Ridge Golf Course. His performance elevated him to MVC Mississippi Player of the Year. Linn-Mar won the final divisional and took home the divisional team championship.

Wilson added to his two previous all-conference awards with his best finish.

“I felt I could win this,” Wilson said. “I just didn’t know.

“I’ve gotten better during the season. I had a pretty solid summer. I broke my finger but played good golf after it.”

Wilson was powered by play on the front nine, shooting 2-under with birdies on the No. 2 and sixth holes. Both were par-5. He added a birdie on the par-4 11th for 37 on the back.

“I felt good playing,” Wilson said. “I just wanted to play good golf and not worry about anything around me. As we got down to the end, I knew it was close. I just focused on one shot and play good golf.”

Interestingly, one of Wilson’s worst rounds came at Hunters Ridge. He shot a 92 earlier but referenced a 3-under nine-hole round at Hunters last year.

“I knew I had the capability to bounce back,” Wilson said. “As long as I could get off the tee, I’d be fine. That was all I was looking for.”

Recommended Reading

Photos: MVC Mississippi boys’ golf meet

With the postseason just one week away, Wilson is concentrated on the team getting back to state. He recalled what it was like as a sophomore and wants to recapture that excitement.

“I want to make sure to get out of district,” Wilson said. “We really want to go as a team and get a state banner. That’s what we are focusing on it.”

Linn-Mar captures MVC Mississippi team title

Linn-Mar was the front runner in the team race from the start, which included scores from the season-opening MVC Super Meet and previous divisional meet. The Lions posted a 313 to top runner-up Cedar Rapids Xavier’s 320. The Saints also finished second overall.

“It is a summative accomplishment throughout the season,” James said about a team loaded with juniors and seniors. “I think the experience has paid off for us a little bit, too.”

Linn-Mar suffered an inauspicious start. The first shot James saw ended up in a bunker with a plugged lie and resulted in a bogey. Another Lion started with a triple bogey. Others opened with consecutive bogeys. They battled throughout a round that was marked by firm greens with the lack of rain. Low scores were scarce.

“I’m prouder of today and how our guys handled it,” James said. “We didn’t start strong. … You come out of the gates at your home course and come out slow and it’s like here we go. They showed us more today than what I’ve seen the whole season in terms in keeping their round together.”

  Buy Photo

Christian Cloyd shot 75. Max Faulkner carded 77 and Ben Steenrod added 80. Dylan Heater and Trevor Denny has 81 to round out the Lions’ scoring. Cloyd was runner-up for the round and finished just one shot back of Wilson for Player of the Year.

“I know he would have like to win Player of the Year,” James said. “He missed it by one. He has accomplished a lot this year. I know he’s going to use this as fuel to his fire.

“I’m happy how he maintained his composure.”

Iowa City High’s Jack Rogers is MVC Valley Player of the Year

Iowa City High’s Jack Rogers claimed MVC Valley Player of the Year honors. Rogers shot 71 Monday at Irv Warren Golf Course in Waterloo. Rogers added a 68 from the Super Meet and 74 from the first divisional for a total of 213, two strokes ahead of Cedar Falls’ Drew Larimer.

Dubuque Wahlert’s Henry Their fired 66 for medalist honors in Monday’s divisional. The Golden Eagles also won the divisional team title. Wahlert shot 286 to beat Cedar Falls by nine Monday. The Golden Eagles recorded a three-round total of 882, winning the conference team crown by 10 over the Tigers.

City High placed third overall with 911, shooting 309 on Monday.

Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division

At Hunters Ridge

(Par 72)

Teams – 1. Linn-Mar 313, 2. C.R. Xavier 320*, 3. Dubuque Senior 320, 4. Iowa City Liberty 322, 5. Western Dubuque 331, 6. Iowa City West 340, 7. C.R. Kennedy 341

Individuals – 1. Brock Wilson (WD), 71, 2. Christian Cloyd (LM), 75, 3. (tie) Max Faulkner (LM) and Barrett Reed (DS), 77, 5. (tie) Brody Heddens (ICL) and Brooks Andersen (ICL), 78

*-Won tiebreaker with best fifth-player score.

LINN-MAR (313): Cloyd 75, Faulkner 77, Ben Steenrod 80, Dylan Heater 81, Trevor Denny 81

C.R. XAVIER (320): Jacob Schmit 79, Grant Allen 80, Jack Pauly 80, Pranay Monga 81, Mac Driscoll 84

I.C. LIBERTY (322): Heddens 78, Andersen 78, Regan Kopecky 82, Kade Baxter 84, Brady Zimmerman 84

I.C. WEST (340): Tate Genkinger 82, Isaac Wendt 84, Emery Crawford 87, Jack Jensen-Fitzpatrick 87

C.R. KENNEDY (341): Leo Koester 80, Brayden Brueggemeyer 84, Blake Paulson 87, Easton Swanson 90

FINAL MVC MISSISSIPPI STANDINGS

Teams – 1. Linn-Mar 925, 2. C.R. Xavier 938, 3. Western Dubuque 955, 4. Dubuque Senior 960, 5. I.C. West 969, 6. (tie) C.R. Kennedy and I.C. Liberty 981

Individuals – 1. Wilson (WD), 221, 2. Cloyd (LM), 222, 3. Monga (CRX), 227, 4. Koester (CRK), 231, 5. (tie) Steenrod (LM) and Faulkner (LM), 232

Player of the Year – Wilson, Western Dubuque

Coach of the Year – Chris James and staff, Linn-Mar

Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division

At Waterloo

(Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course, par 72)

Teams – 1. Dubuque Wahlert 286, 2. Cedar Falls 295, 3. Waterloo West 300, 4. C.R. Prairie 309*, 5. Iowa City High 309, 6. Dubuque Hempstead 314, 7. C.R. Washington 326, 8. C.R. Jefferson 382

Individuals – 1. Henry Thier (DW), 66, 2. (tie) Anthony Galvin (CF) and Drew Larimer (CF), 70, 4. Jack Rogers (ICH), 71, Jay McCausland (WW), 72

*-Won tiebreaker with best fifth-player score.

C.R. PRAIRIE (309): Jayson Kubik 74, Henry Sobaski 76, Emmett Stockdale 79, Tony Boelter 80, Jack Marquardt 81

CITY HIGH (309): Rogers 71, Henry Birt 75, Nick Meredith 77, Jack Fleming 86

C.R. WASHINGTON (326): Bjorn White 76, Preston Haefner 77, Connor Brown 86, Daniel Holladay 87

C.R. JEFFERSON (382): Cole Fisher 86, Colton Fee 94, Carter Sherard 100, Ryan Panoch 102

FINAL MVC VALLEY STANDINGS

Teams – 1. Dubuque Wahlert 882, 2. Cedar Falls 892, 3. City High 911, 4. C.R. Prairie 823, 5. Waterloo West 937, 6. Dubuque Hempstead 994, 7. C.R. Washington 1,007, 8. C.R. Jefferson 1,190

Individuals – 1. Rogers (ICH), 213, 2. Larimer (CF), 215, 3. Galvin (CF), 216, 4. Cal Martineau (DW), 221, 5. (tie) Jonah Oberfoell (DW) and Thier (DW), 222

Player of the Year – Rogers, City High

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com