haunting me since then. Coach ….

haunting me since then. Coach (Toby) Anderson was a big help. We kind of leapfrogged through the course and hung out in certain spots where I knew the guys might need some help making some decisions. We hung out on 10, 11 and 12. Hole 11 which is probably one of the hardest holes on the golf course, I think as a team we played it to 1-over, which was huge.”

Ashland was a distant fifth in the team standings at 356, one shot ahead of Spooner and three ahead of Northland Pines and Rice Lake, who tied for seventh place. The host Hatchets were ninth at 382.

The top four individuals from nonqualifying teams who advanced to Tuesday’s sectional are Davin Hauck of Rice Lake, who was seventh with an 80; Oscar Mullikin of Ashland, who tied for eighth at 81; Logan Kramsvogel of Northland Pines, tied for 11th at 83, and Ty Zeller of Spooner, who tied for 13th at 84.

Regional qualifiers from Tomahawk will join qualifiers from Tuesday’s Barron and Black River Falls regionals at the Antigo sectional. At Barron, St. Croix Central was the champion with a score of 307, while Ellsworth (320), Amery (326) and Osceola (339) advanced. McDonell-Regis won the Black River Falls regional with a score of 333, followed by Black River Falls (355), Bloomer (367) and Gale- Ettrick-Trempealeau (369).

The top two teams and top three individuals from non-qualifying teams at the sectional will advance to state. With GNC nemesis and last year’s Division 2 state runner-up Lakeland playing in Division 1 this year, the Raiders said from day one they saw an opening and, so far, they’ve shown they intend to take advantage.

“We played Lakeland in darn near every meet, and I think that’s huge too,” Haase said. “Having to compete against that, we were always looking for better and better and getting closer to Lakeland. That has definitely driven us to shoot better scores.”

The other big break, Haase said, is playing the regional and sectional tournaments on very familiar courses that are nearby. The guys played Inshalla last weekend and they intend to play Bass Lake on Monday.

“I really believe that if we can get Riley or Lucas to shoot in the mid 80s on Tuesday, I think we have a really good chance of going,” Haase said. “We’re just going to have to play our game, play well, stay smart and not let the mistakes add up to big numbers. If we can do that, I’m confi- dent that we can qualify, if not win it.”

1st at Rhinelander

Medford finished the regular season on a high note Friday, winning the storm-shortened Rhinelander Northwood Invitational.

The event was downsized to a ninehole meet with the varsity teams playing the front nine holes and the JV squads playing the back nine.

In varsity play, Medford carded a team score of 164 to beat Shawano (173), Rhinelander (175), Tomahawk (199), Marathon (208) and Northland Pines (222).

Lingen, Heckel and Hintz all topped the individual leaderboard with 3-overpar 39s. The teammates then went to a playoff to break the tie.

They started on hole one, a 400-yard, par-4 that doglegs to the left. Lingen clinched first place by bogeying that hole. From there, Heckel and Hintz played hole 10, a shorter, 350-yard par-4 that bends to the left at the back end. Both players earned the same score and moved on to the par-4 18th, also about 350 yards with a wider fairway but also bunkers to work around before and at the green. Heckel won it with a bogey to claim the second-place plaque.

“That was very fun and very beneficial for them feeling the pressure going into the postseason,” head coach Matt Haase said of the playoff.

Lingen and Hintz recorded six pars and three bogeys in their round, while Heckel birdied the par-5 seventh hole to help offset four bogeys.

Viergutz shot a 47 that included a par on the nearly 550-yard, par-5 second hole. Liske shot a 49 that included a pair of pars on the par-4 sixth hole and par-3 eighth hole.

In JV play, Medford’s score of 186 beat Shawano (188), Marathon II (222), Rhinelander II (+98) and Marathon III (254). Marathon’s Noah Davids easily won the individual title with a 39, but Medford’s Nick Cipar took second with a 44 that included four pars and Brayden Stelzel was one shot back in third place. He parred three holes. Connor Gowey was fourth with a 47, Aidan Ball tied for sixth with a round of 50.