Caravan golfers aim to state their case

Mount Carmel never has qualified as a team for the state boys golf tournament.

That all may change in the next two months.

"We're going to find out a lot about our team in the first week of the season," said Caravan coach Tom Nicklas, whose team plays in the Windy City Classic on Monday at George Dunne National in Oak Forest and then hosts its own invitational Aug. 23 at The Meadows in Blue Island. "We have a very interesting team. Our kids are very competitive, and we have good senior leadership."

Mount Carmel returns all six players from a third-place regional team that finished seventh at the sectional. Leading the way is sophomore sensation Bobby Sloan, who shot 79 at the regional and sectional and ended up 25th (77-78-155) at the state tournament.

Sloan will get help from senior captains Dan Grolla, Tim Carey, David Objatek and Kirk Hooker, junior Peter Vrdolyak, senior Ryne Markvart and sophomore Zak Linz.

The Caravan can't forget about Catholic League rival Brother Rice, which advanced six individuals to the sectional last season. Keys to the fortunes of coach Bob Twardy's Crusaders this season likely will be seniors Steve Collins and Mark Bermele and juniors Rich Gallagher, Jake Garey and Hagan Muellar.

Homewood-Flossmoor, which also competes in Monday's Windy City Classic, might be on the verge of more good news this season. Juniors Michael Fitzgerald (65th at state, 82-83-165) and Tim Weber (76th place, 78-89-167) return from last year's sectional champion that went on to finish eighth at state in Class 3A.

"We have a strong junior class and a lot of competition for spots in the lineup," H-F coach Chris Stiglic said. "We're looking for consistency from all of our players. We definitely have the players who can get us back to state this season."

Among the other players the Vikings are counting on are seniors Landon Lukasik and Connor Mulcahy and juniors Kevin Bayles and Pat Cueller.

Lincoln-Way East, which lost a tiebreaker to H-F for the sectional team title, was also right behind H-F in the state standings, finishing ninth. Brian Bullington, now a sophomore, was terrific at state with two rounds of 79 for a 158 total and a tie for 36th place. Senior Chris Holley was 65th at state (78-87-165), while senior Tim Huizinga shot 88 at the sectional.

Returning state qualifier Ryan Frederick, of Lockport, tied for 36th at state after shooting a medalist round of 76 to lead the Porters to the regional title. Frederick was fourth at the sectional. The Porters' senior-heavy lineup this fall includes Adam Saban, Jake Kuper, Zach Yaeger and Cory Silver.

Providence Catholic, second at the regional, will rely on senior Jeremy Lackey, juniors John Thomas and Mike Sweeney and sophomore Gabe Aprati.

Sandburg junior Austin Craig, who shot an impressive 78 at the sectional at George Dunne, finished 82nd at state. The Eagles also are relying on seniors Brendan Stanford and Pat Clavio and junior Pat Kennedy.

Regional champion Marian Catholic deserves attention with seniors Ryan Whitebloom, Keith Haines and Doug Tolish returning.

Other players to watch include Marist seniors Ruben DeAvila and Jeff Siefert, Oak Forest's Tyler Triezenberg, Andrew's Matt Mangin, St. Laurence's Ben Savory, Oak Lawn's Randy Wrobel, Stagg's Kris Friedlein, Crete-Monee's Joey Rossi and Lincoln-Way Central's Ryan Carney.

In the Class 2A state finals, Chicago Christian and Lemont finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Seniors Brendan Lautenbach and Steven Ipema return for Chicago Christian, while Nick Cyr leads Lemont. Also watch for Evergreen Park's Tom and Dan Cronin.

In Class 1A, junior JaMichael Jones was a medalist on a Morgan Park Academy team that won a regional title. Senior Kyle Earman and junior Joey Misulonas also return. Beecher will be led by juniors Brett Donaghue and Derek Lindgren and seniors Brandon Knuth and Alex Burgess.