Joliet area ready for downstate trip

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:22PM

While the Joliet area does not have an abundance of qualifiers for this weekend's boys and girls state golf tournaments, those who will make the trip to various locations in central Illinois are capable of making some noise.

For example, there's Providence Catholic in Class 3A boys. The Celtics had an outstanding team a year ago under coach John Platt and finished fifth in 3A. John Thomas, then the senior leader, totaled 152 for two rounds and tied for sixth individually.

Current senior Gabe Aprati is atop the Celtics' lineup. He is joined by fellow seniors Evan Berna, Joe Kieffer, Tele Korbakes and Casey Labuda, in addition to junior Ryan Utter.

In Monday's Edwardsville Sectional, they all shot between 73 and 80, with Aprati's 73 and Labuda's 74 showing the way.

Providence finished with a 303 team score, and a similar effort Friday and Saturday at The Den At Fox Creek in Bloomington no doubt would serve the Celtics well.

"Our top two or three may not be as good as our top two or three last year, but we have six guys now who can shoot 75 or better, and we didn't necessarily have that last year," Providence coach John Platt noted.

Balance, in fact, has keyed the Celtics throughout the postseason run. They escaped the Joliet Regional at Wedgewood as the third and final sectional qualifier, scoring a 313 total to beat the next two competitors by a stroke. They finished second on the fifth-score tiebreaker in the Edwardsville Sectional.

"The guys were teasing that we could go from third last week, to second Monday to first at state," Platt said. "We snuck into the sectional by a stroke; you never know for sure what could happen on any given day."

Providence is the only Joliet area team representative at The Den At Fox Creek, which measures 6,422 yards and plays to a par of 36-36-72. However, some of the outstanding individuals in the area will be there as well.

Lincoln-Way East senior Bryan Contey and sophomore Matt Stoner both shot 73 at the Edwardsville Sectional, a figure matched by Bolingbrook senior David Cooke. Plainfield South junior Matt Ward also is making the trip to state after shooting 74 in the same sectional.

Class 2A boys

An area team that could be a major player in the 2A boys tournament at D.A. Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University is Lemont.

Coached by Mark Hollatz, the Indians are coming off winning the Nazareth Sectional at Carillon last Saturday. Nick Szerzinski shot 75, Jake Groselak and Rob Smierciak 77, Shane Purtle 79, Eric Gruber 80 and Kevin Kling 87. The first three are seniors, the latter three juniors.

Lemont tied for fifth last year in 2A, just behind the fourth-place finish of Joliet Catholic.

The Indians have state experience in their corner. Smierciak tied for 25th with a 36-hole total of 163 last year, while Groselak tied for 30th at 164 and Szerzinski tied for 35th at 165.

JCA is not returning as a team, but the Hilltoppers will be represented by senior Dan Kucinic, who shot an outstanding round of 71 to win the Dunalp Sectional title.

The Weibring Golf Club plays to a par of 36-35-71 and will measure 6,808 yards for the 2A finals.

Class 1A boys

Reed-Custer senior Marcus Hrpcha shot a 73 in the sectional and is the only area qualifier for the state meet at Prairie Vista Golf Club in Bloomington, a 6,737-yard layout with par of 36-36-72. Hrpcha shot 167 last year at state and tied for 59th.

AA girls

A year ago, when the tournament was held at Hickory Ridge in Carbondale, junior Kathy Sterling shot a two-day total of 154 to tie for 12th individually and lead Lincoln-Way East to a ninth-place finish.

Now the venue has changed to Hickory Point in Forsyth, outside Decatur. East missed a return trip by three strokes, finishing fourth in the loaded Homewood-Flossmoor Sectional.

Sterling did qualify individually, however, with a typically strong performance. She shot a 72 to lead all individual qualifiers from that sectional who were not members of advancing teams. Her teammate, Katie Reno, shot 84 and missed qualifying in a playoff among five golfers for three spots.

The runnerup among individual qualifiers was Lockport junior Krystal Garritson, who shot an 80 and will be aiming to improve on her 39th-place finish of a year ago, when she shot 167.

Garrison began her postseason run as the medalist in the Minooka Regional at Heritage Bluffs.

A girls

Wilmington senior Ashley Howard will be the lone area representative in the tournament at Red Tail Run in Decatur. She shot an 83 in her sectional.

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