INDIAN BOYS GOLF TEAM WRAPS UP SEASON WITH THIRD-PLACE FINISH AT NEIC TOURNAMENT

The 2000 Waukon Indian boys golf season came to an end Tuesday, May 16, as the Tribe competed in its final outing of the season, the Northeast Iowa Conference meet at Charles City. After finishing the year with an even, 3-3 mark in dual meets against the six other NEIC teams, the Tribe finished a bit better than that in tournament action against those same teams, claiming third at the conference affair with a team score of 331 strokes.

TEAM SCORES
Oelwein 304, Charles City 316, WAUKON 331, Decorah 342, Waverly-Shell Rock 342, New Hampton 345, Crestwood 404

"That's right about where I thought we'd finish," Waukon boys golf coach Leon Mindham said. "We played pretty well, but there was no way we were going to beat Oelwein, and Charles City was playing on its home course. Oelwein is playing very well right now, and all six of their kids are either sophomores or freshmen, so they will be tough for awhile. I was glad to see us beat Decorah after losing to them by a stroke during the regular season."
The Indians landed just one golfer within the All-Conference top 10 individual finishers, with another finishing just a stroke off that All-Conference pace. Senior Mike Blocker pieced together nine-hole totals of 39 and 38 for a 77 that was good enough for a top-four individual finish at the meet and his first-ever All-Conference finish.
It took a score of 80 to make it into that All-NEIC top ten, and Indian junior Heath Hesse was just one stroke away from earning that honor for the third consecutive season. Hesse shot a 39 on the front nine holes and added a 42 from his back nine to finish with a score of 81 for the tournament.
"That was probably the biggest disappointment of the tournament," Coach Mindham said. "Hesse had been All-Conference as a freshman and sophomore, but just missed it this year as a junior. Blocker has been shooting well for us, and continued to do so. He hasn't had a round over 40 in the past three or four weeks."
In addition to Blocker's 77 and Hesse's 81, the Indians also counted a round of 84 from junior Billy Van Gorp and a round of 89 from junior Matt Johnson to complete their team total at 331 strokes. Van Gorp combined a 44 and a 40 for his final total, while Johnson shot a 47 and 42 for his score.
Also competing for the Indians at the NEIC Tournament were junior Nate Novak and freshman Roger Martin. Novak used a 44 and 50 to total 94 strokes and Martin fired a 47 and a 50 for his score of 97.
A pair of Oelwein freshmen laid claim to the medals at the meet, Eric Sanders claiming medalist honors with a total of 72 strokes and Chris Aldrich shooting a 75 to share runner-up medalist honors with Charles City senior Steve Domino. Oelwein wrapped up its team total with rounds of 77 and 80 from sophomores Blake Kerns and Matt Sanders.

2000 Northeast Iowa Conference All-Conference Golfers
Eric Sanders, Oelwein                  72
Steve Domino, Charles City            75
Chris Aldrich, Oelwein                  75
MIKE BLOCKER, WAUKON            77
Blake Kerns, Oelwein                  77
Derek Sauser, New Hampton            77
Trent Hackman, Waverly-SR      79
Danny Mulford, Charles City            80
Jordan Molstad, Charles City            80
Matt Sanders, Oelwein                  80

The Indians wrapped up their season with an overall mark of 8-3-1, those three losses all coming against Northeast Iowa Conference opponents.