Watertown wins tiebreaker for team title in home invitational at Cattaill Crossing Golf Course

WATERTOWN — Watertown High School's boys golf team has certainly proven that it's capable of matching the season-ending success of last season.

The Arrows concluded their regular season on Tuesday by winning a tiebreaker over Mitchell (5-over 293s) for the team title in the Watertown Invitational at Cattail Crossing Golf Course.

"Today was another close battle. The guys continued to stay focused on what needed to be done and finished strong," Watertown head coach Corey Neale said. "It was good to see them come out on top and to see the seniors get the 'W' in their last regular-season home meet."

Golfers from 15 schools competed in the meet, which was held on the host course of the upcoming state Class AA tournament on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 7-8. The Arrows are the defending champion, having won their first state title since 1971 last fall.

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First up, though, is the Eastern South Dakota Conference tournament on Monday at the Moccasin Creek Country Club in Aberdeen. The Arrows are the three-time defending champions.

"It's going to be another tough day. Pierre, Harrisburg and Brandon Valley are all really good teams and today Mitchell showed that it can do it as well," Neale said.

"It's going to take our best golf to come out on top. The guys just have to keep doing what they have been doing all year and what they did today: Stay focused on every shot, stay confident in themselves and keep the pedal down until the last ball is holed."

Senior Kaden Rylance, who had missed the last couple of events due to having stitches in his hand, came back Tuesady and fired a 3-under 69 to lead the Arrows. He finished second, one shot behind Harrisburg's Charlie Swift. Fellow seniors Ty Lenards (74) and Gabe Norberg (75) finished 13th and 14th, respectively, and freshman Max Stemwedel (75) took 18th.

Three other area golfers posted top-20 finishes. Finn Anderson of Roncalli was fourth with a 71, Jonathan DeBoer of Milbank seventh with a 73 and Tate Steffensen of Sioux Valley 20th with a 76.

Tournament Results

• Team Scores — 1. Watertown 293 (won tiebreaker); 2. Mitchell 293; 3. Pierre 297; 4. Harrisburg 300; 5. Brandon Valley 306; 6. Tea Area 309; 7. Rapid City Stevens 311; 8. Aberdeen Roncalli 319; 9. Yankton 321; 10. Watertown JV 326; 11. Aberdeen Central 331; 12. Brookings 334; 13. Sioux Valley 337; 14. Milbank 344. Huron DNF.
• Top 20 Individuals (Par 72, Red-Yellow 9s at CCGC) — 1. Charlie Swift, Harrisburg, 68 (-4); 2. Kaden Rylance, Watertown, 69; 3. Cole Jansen, RC Stevens, 69; 4. Finn Anderson, Aberdeen Roncalli, 71; 5. Nick Bothun, Pierre, 71; 6. Asher Dannenbring, Mitchell, 72; 7. Jonathan DeBoer, Milbank, 73; 8. Everett Morrison, Mitchell, 73; 9. Sawyer Sonnenschein, Pierre, 74; 10. Hayden Scott, Harrisburg, 74; 11. Sam Titze, Mitchell, 74; 12. Carter McCormick, Mitchell, 74; 13. Ty Lenards, Watertown, 74; 14. Gabe Norberg, Watertown, 75; 15. Carter Peterson, Brandon Valley, 75; 16. Derek Anderson, Tea Area, 75; 17. Will Peterson, Brandon Valley, 75; 18. Max Stemwedel, Watertown, 75; 19. Luke Olson, Harrisburg, 76; 20. Tate Steffensen, Sioux Valley, 76.

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• Other Area Golfers — Watertown (27. Jaden Solheim, 77; and 32. Johnathan Lake, 78); Watertown jv (29. Jerome Zebroski, 78; 30. Gavin Neynes, 78; 47. Carter Buisker, 81; 71. Riley Randall, 89; 75. Ashton Rabine, 90; 77. Tyson Lawrence, 91; 89. Brecken Jungen, 110); Aberdeen Central (40. Jackson Ravellette, 81; 45. Cole Brust, 81; 59. Kalen Larson, 84; 61. Ben Phillips, 85; 63. Carter Blanchard, 85; 76. Kyler Senger, 91); Aberdeen Roncalli (33. Gannon May, 79; 52. Jesse Hernandez, 82; Lucas Daggett, 87; 72. Matthew Gerlach, 89; and Owen Vogel, 90); Sioux Valley (44. Maverick Nelson, 81; 69. Damon Uecker, 88; 79. Trentyn Schmit, 92; 80. Nate Larson, 92); and Milbank (31. Owen Fischer, 78; 81. Charlie Peery, 94; 93. Ryan Keeton, 99; Gregory Grabow, 99; and Thomas Bass, 100).

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown wins tiebreaker for team title in home invitational at Cattaill Crossing Golf Course