Elgin Courier-News’ boys golf preview

Updated: August 25, 2011 8:56PM

Bartlett

Coach: Tom Boyle

2010 record: Advanced to sectionals as a team.

Top returners: Seniors Mark Hyzy, Ryan Starks, Colin Wadelin; junior Ryan Wolfe.

Key newcomers: None.

Outlook: The Hawks are coming off a season that saw them finish .500 in dual meets, but still advance to sectionals as a team. There is experience at the top for Bartlett this season, but Boyle is still waiting for his younger players to separate themselves from each other to provide depth at the bottom of the lineup.

Burlington Central

Coach: Deb Twenhafel

2010 record: Reached the Class 2A state tournament for the first time in school history, finishing ninth as a team.

Top returners: Seniors Kyle Ingraham, Alex Power, Nick Sherman, Lukas Smith; sophomore Matt Weber.

Key newcomers: Junior Austin Dell; freshman Andrew Sherman.

Outlook: The Rockets lost much from last season’s historic team, but Weber is back. He tied for eighth individually at the Class 2A state meet as a freshman and had a terrific summer as he tries to lead Central back to state. The team is facing some injury problems, as well. Smith is playing through a sore wrist and Power is dealing with a shoulder injury that forced him to miss action early on. But with Weber consistently shooting low scores, the Rockets should be fine.

Elgin

Coach: Andy LaScala

2010 record: N/A

Top players: Eric Chai, Andrew Kim, Sondro Moraca, Ben Nelson, Jim Sterns, Derek Strohmaier.

Outlook: The Maroons have struggled in the early going behind an inexperienced roster. Improvement as the season goes on and the young players get more comfortable on the varsity team will be key for Elgin.

Elgin Academy

Coach: Bill Harris

2010 record: N/A

Top players: Beck Blair, Zach Bohenick, Andrew Dykun, Miranda Kuzyk.

Outlook: Numbers are down for Elgin Academy, but Blair and Dykun are capable of shooting solid scores which should give them a shot by the time Class A regionals roll around.

Genoa-Kingston

Coach: Mike Lauer

2010 record: N/A

Top returners: Seniors Alex Piehowski, Matt Rassmussen; juniors Mason Lucca, Eric Tucker.

Key newcomers: Sophomore Jake Langford.

Outlook: Lauer is looking for Lucca to lead the way this season for the Cogs. His older brother, Brett, was a state qualifier a year ago, but he graduated. Lauer is looking for the players behind Lucca to get some consistent scores to help him out.

Huntley

Coach: Jim Rolondo

2010 record: 7-7 overall, 4-7 Fox Valley Conference, seventh in the FVC.

Top returners: Senior Mason Wicks; juniors Ryan Craig, AJ Fanselow, Jr.; sophomores Gage Jereb, Tyler Ross, Riley Wicks.

Key newcomers: Junior Garrett Chmiola; sophomore Brad Spoeth; freshman Trent Craig.

Outlook: The Red Raiders are coming off of their best finish since joining the FVC and are looking to continue to improve behind Ryan Craig and Mason Wicks. Craig advanced to sectionals and both were all-conference performers a year ago. The team is young, but has some experience both in the high school season as well as over the summer. Rolondo is expecting another jump in the standings this fall.

Jacobs

Coach: Jeremy Bauer

2010 record: N/A

Top returners: Sean Kozak.

Key newcomers: Chris Boyle.

Outlook: The Golden Eagles are fielding a young squad this season, with only one key starter returning. Bauer is looking for his team to progress through the season in order to find improvement for the postseason.

Larkin

Coach: Tim Jones

2010 record: N/A

Top returners: None.

Key newcomers: Junior Dylan Ganow; sophomore Jack McCracken; freshmen Dan Lenz, John Lenz.

Outlook: The Royals are extremely young, with no returning players from last year’s team and a lineup heavy in freshmen and sophomores. Gaining experience throughout the season will be the key for Larkin.

St. Charles East

Coach: John Stock

2010 record: Upstate Eight River champions, regional champions, seventh at the Class 3A state meet, second consecutive team state appearance.

Top returners: Seniors Brian Danowski,Sean Lechner.

Key newcomers: Sophomores Kyle Jacobs, Conner McAdam, ,Luke Molloy, Brad Riva; freshman Keone Derain.

Outlook: After tremendous success the past two seasons, including a Jordan Wetsch sixth-place individual finish at the Class 3A state meet, Stock starts from scratch. The youngest team he’s had in 12 years coaching the Saints, his two senior returnees, Danowski and Lechner, were not starters a year ago. But the team has plenty of talent, as they hung with Geneva and other top teams in the early going this season despite the lack of experience.

St. Charles North

Coach: Rob Prentiss

2010 record: 10-3 overall, second in the Upstate Eight River.

Top returners: Senior John Carroll; junior Dan Shepherd; sophomore Raghav Sherala.

Key newcomers: Seniors Quint Barr, Pete Roschmann; juniors Ryan DalDegan, Jason McAleese.

Outlook: A big void is left by four-year starter Nathan Clark’s graduation. He was the team’s Most Valuable Player the past three seasons. Six other seniors graduated from the program, as well. But Prentiss does have three of his top six players back and have had some early season success, leaving him optimistic about his team’s chances to compete with Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles East in the UEC River.

St. Edward

Coach: Greg Winters

2010 record: 10-1 overall, fourth in Suburban Christian Conference, regional champions, advanced to state meet as a team, third in Class 1A state meet.

Top returners: Seniors Ryan Frank, Michael Holevas; junior Brian Jones; sophomore Dan Winters.

Key newcomers: Juniors Kevin Lamp, Ian Pattison, Drew Thomas; sophomores John Butznow, Michael Butznow.

Outlook: Holevas is flying high after winning an individual sectional championship as a junior and winning the MAJGT University of Illinois Open over the summer. Winters was a key cog to last year’s third-place state team and figures to improve. Four players from that state run return and the Green Wave play a lot of larger schools throughout the year to prepare for the Class 1A postseason.

South Elgin

Coach: Jay Bartholomew

2010 record: Finished third in the Upstate Eight River.

Top returners: Seniors Xavier Owens, Ryan Ford; juniors Eric Stazy, Colton Kubovy; sophomores Andrew Dylo, Deven Meredith.

Key newcomers: None.

Outlook: After graduating the best player in either division of the Upstate Eight, Ryan Pondel, the Storm regroups behind Owens. A state qualifier as a sophomore, Owens is one of the top players in the Chicago area. Bartholomew is hoping to finish in the top half of the conference and post at least a 155 average in nine-hole events.

Streamwood

Coach: George Rosner

2010 record: N/A

Top returners: Seniors Michael Katz; juniors Devon Holota, Jeff Weaver; sophomores Matt Grens, Eric Hamlin.

Key newcomers: Junior Eric Alms; freshman Danny Orlando.

Outlook: The Sabres are coming off a two-win campaign that saw all-conference players Dominick Tatone and Alex Woodrich graduate. Rosner has a solid rotation of five players in place, but will need contributions from some of his younger players to add some depth.

Westminster Christian

Coach: John Wedell

2010 record: 5-7 overall, 4-1 in the Northeastern Conference (co-champions).

Top returners: Senior Zack Edwards.

Key newcomers: Sophomores Connor Rejman, Nate Sunday; freshman Andrew Howard.

Outlook: After graduating 10 seniors off of last year’s squad, Westminster will be really young, with Edwards being the only upperclassman on the roster. Despite that, Wedell feels that there is enough young talent on the team for it to finish in the top three in the conference yet again.

Compiled by Paul Johnson. Editor’s note: Any local teams that are not included did not respond to information requests.

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