Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Reid Hall, Linn-Mar capture titles at MVC Valley divisional golf meet

IOWA CITY — Reid Hall demands a lot from himself.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s two-time state qualifier has high standards, which is precisely why he may not be satisfied with this season. One many golfers would happily take.

Hall provided the jolt he needed Monday. He fired a 1-over 73 for medalist honors at the Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division meet in windy conditions at Pleasant Valley Golf Course. The round secured MVC Valley Player of the Year honors and his third first-team all-conference performance.

“I haven’t had the greatest season, so far,” said Hall, who is 16th in scoring for Class 4A and will begin the postseason Monday at Thunder Hills Country Club in Peosta. “This is definitely a confidence booster, going into district, which I really needed.”

Hall captured top divisional honors for the second straight season. He becomes the first Kennedy golfer to earn back-to-back Player of the Year honors since Davis Sutton did in 2013-14. Hall still has a shot at three in a row.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Hall said. “I don’t think it’s the biggest thing in the world. District matters more. It’s pretty good to win it twice.”

The elements affected play. Hall said he was able to get through half of his round before wind made an impact. The key was managing the course with the proper club on each shot.

“For the first nine, I’d say it wasn’t as windy as I expected,” Hall said. “It got difficult at the end, for sure. You definitely have to dial in on distance when it’s really windy. You have to make the right club selection.”

Hall carded birdies on the par-4 Nos. 5 and 7 holes, parring the rest of the front nine. He received a charge, pushing one in from the fringe for a birdie and going 3-under after the turn.

“I made a putt from off the green,” Hall said. “That really got me going. It was pretty exciting for that to drop.”

Hall was just one of three players to break 80, joining Linn-Mar’s runner-up medalist Matt Buse (77) and Dubuque Hempstead’s Wil Sigwarth, who was third with 79.

“Reid had a really good day in tough conditions,” Kennedy Coach Mike Green said. “Shooting (2-under) on the front was really impressive and to not hit very many fairways on the back nine, and still shoot under 40, was a testament to his mental toughness.”

Linn-Mar shot 324 as a team and edged Kennedy by one in the team race. The Lions won the divisional team championship more convincingly. Linn-Mar finished the three-round competition with a 949 score, 25 more than the second-place Cougars.

Lions Coach Chris James said he had mixed emotions about the performance. The Lions were still successful, but weren’t at their best handling the conditions that were more challenging than most rounds this season.

“We didn’t play very well,” James said. “I know we still won with a 324, but we were a little immature at times. It was the first real day they had to wear layers, which makes a difference, and it’s windy. Greens are not easy, so I get it.”

The Lions’ balance was on display. Three placed in the top seven Monday. In addition to Buse, Carter Bond tied for fourth with 80 and Caden Postma tied for seventh at 81. Christian Cloyd rounded out the team score with 86.

Buse, Postma and Cloyd all finished with first-team all-MVC Valley honors, while Bond was a second-teamer. Linn-Mar won its the first conference title under James, who was named Valley Coach of the Year.

“It is a good accomplishment,” said James, who is in his sixth season as Linn-Mar’s head boys’ golf coach. “I’m really happy for the guys. We won today, but I think the guys will be plenty motivated going into next week, especially after today.”

Xavier second at Mississippi divisional

Cedar Falls won the team and individual titles at the MVC Mississippi Division golf meet Monday at Ellis Golf Course. The Tigers shot 300 and topped runner-up Cedar Rapids Xavier by 12 strokes. Max Tjoa led Cedar Falls with a 71, earning medalist honors.

The Saints were led by Charlie Allen, who tied the Tigers’ Owen Sawyer for third with 74. Dubuque Wahlert’s Ben Dolter was runner-up with 72.

Sawyer finished with a three-round total of 209 for divisional Player of the Year honors. Allen, a former Player of the Year, was a first-team all-conference player, finishing second to Sawyer with a 223 total.

Cedar Falls claimed the overall Mississippi Division crown with a three-round total of 890. Xavier was second with 928 and Cedar Rapids Prairie was third at 945.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCE

VALLEY DIVISIONAL MEET

At Iowa City

(Pleasant Valley Golf Course, par 72)

Teams – 1. Linn-Mar 324, 2. C.R. Kennedy 325, 3. C.R. Washington 333, 4. Western Dubuque 334, 5. Dubuque Hempstead 336, 6. Iowa City High 338, 7. Iowa City West 339, 8. Waterloo West 371

Individuals – 1. Reid Hall (CRK), 73, 2. Matt Buse (LM), 77, 3. Wil Sigwarth (DH), 79, 4. (tie) Dillon Croco (ICW), Jackson Webber (WD) and Carter Bond (LM), 80

LINN-MAR (324): Buse 77, Bond 80, Caden Postma 81, Christian Cloyd 86

C.R. KENNEDY (325): Hall 73, Collin Kinne 81, Daylen Davis 84, Leo Koester 87

C.R. WASHINGTON (333): Ben Blocklinger 81, Bryce Brim 82, Preston Haefner 84, Luke Toms 86

CITY HIGH (338): Ethan Nace 81, Jack Rogers 83, Nicholas Meredith 86, Drake Obermueller 88

I.C. WEST (339): Croco 80, Cole Collier 84, Landon Peoples 87, Brady Simcox 88

OVERALL STANDINGS

Teams – 1. Linn-Mar 949, 2. C.R. Kennedy 974, 3. Western Dubuque 992, 4. C.R. Washington 999, 5. Iowa City West 1,004, 6. Iowa City High 1,018, 7. Dubuque Hempstead 1,030, 8. Waterloo West 1,132.

Individuals – 1. Hall (CRK), 222, 2. Buse (LM), 228, 3. Postma (LM), 232, 4. Croco (ICW), 238, 5. Cloyd (LM), 241.

MVC MISSISSIPPI DIVISIONAL

At Ellis Golf Course

(Par 72)

Teams – 1. Cedar Falls 300, 2. C.R. Xavier 312, 3. Dubuque Wahlert 315, 4. C.R. Prairie 318, 5. Iowa City Liberty 325, 6. Dubuque Senior 326, 7. C.R. Jefferson 341

Individuals – 1. Max Tjoa (CF), 71, 2. Ben Dolter (DW), 72, 3. (tie) Owen Sawyer (CF) and Charlie Allen (CRX), 74, 5. (tie) Owen King (DS) and Evan Schofield (CF), 76

C.R. XAVIER (312): Allen 74, Quincey Johnson 78, Garrett Nurre 80, Grant Allen 80

C.R. PRAIRIE (318): Ashton Carmer 78, Tanner Wachtl 80, Payton Burns 80, Bryson Steuhm 80

I.C. LIBERTY (325): Tate Brunk 79, J.J. Grimm 81, Ryan Schmierer 82, Lucas Bartachek 83

C.R. JEFFERSON (341): Landon Augustine 83, Logan Augustine 85, Adam Panoch 85, Logan Miller 88, Jacob Strain 88

OVERALL STANDINGS

Teams – 1. Cedar Falls 890, 2. C.R. Xavier 928, 3. C.R. Prairie 945, 4. Dubuque Wahlert 946, 5. Iowa City Liberty 950, 6. Dubuque Senior 999, 7. C.R. Jefferson 1,007

Individuals – 1. Sawyer (CF), 209, 2. C. Allen (CRX), 223, 3. Dolter (DW), 226, 4. Wachtl (CRP), 228, 5. Will Coohey (DW), 229

ALL-MVC VALLEY DIVISION

First team

Reid Hall (CRK), Matt Buse (LM), Caden Postma (LM), Dillon Croco (ICW), Christian Cloyd (LM), Wil Sigwarth (DH), Ben Blocklinger (CRW), Jack Rogers (ICH), Jackson Webber (WD)

Player of the Year – Hall (CRK)

Coach of the Year – Chris James (Linn-Mar)

Second team

Brock Wilson (WD), Carter Bond (LM), Cole Collier (ICW), Daylen Davis (CRK), Preston Haefner (CRW), Luke Toms (CRW), Tyler Skrtich (WD)

Honorable mention

Jackson Skrtich (WD), Ethan Nace (ICH), Drew Lewis (DH), Grant Nelson (DH), Owen Larson (ICW), Brody Gilkison (CRK), Leo Koester (CRK), Zachary Meredith (ICH)

ALL-MVC MISSISSIPPI DIVISION

First team

Owen Sawyer (CF), Charlie Allen (CRX), Ben Dolter (DW), Tanner Wachtl (CRP), Will Coohey (DW), Jack Beecher (CF), Evan Schofield (CF), Tate Brunk (ICL)

Player of the Year – Sawyer (CF)

Coach of the Year – Tim O’Brien (CRX)

Second team

Payton Burns (CRP), Ryan Schmit (CRX), Nate Obbink (DS), J.J. Grimm (ICL), Garrett Nurre (CRX), Quincey Johnson (CRX), Ashton Carmer (CRP), Ryan Schmierer (ICL)

Honorable mention

Vaughn Tyler (ICL), Anthony Galvin (CF), Bryson Steuhm (CRP), Bock Mueller (DW), Landon Augustine (CRJ), Logan Miller (CRJ), Braden O’Connor (ICL), Adam Panoch (CRJ)