The Class 1A boys golf sectional Wednesday at English Valleys didn’t disappoint. Great play and drama were the theme for seven teams vying for next week’s district meet. The top two teams plus top two individuals outside of those teams qualified for districts. The Hillcrest Academy Ravens continued their perfect season, capturing the sectional championship with a team score of 330. Jace Rempel had the top Raven round with a 79, to finish fourth overall. Other Hillcrest cards included Luke Schrock 81, Liam Schrock and Rowan Miller 85, Seth Ours 87 and Josiah Beachy 92. Following the meet, the Hillcrest crew joined KCII Sports to talk about their win. Beachy said, “It was pretty intense, but I had optimism because I was pretty sure that we at least qualified, but I was still sweating it out.”

Rempel said, “At the turn I looked at the scores and we were only up five, so I knew that it was going to come down to the wire. It really just meant that everybody had to play their game.”

Ours added, “It was a sigh of relief. We all played solid and got the job done.”

Luke Schrock said, “Our game plan was to win but we made it closer than we should have. We still got the win though, so that’s alright.”

The Sigourney Savages shot 345 as a team and missed the district meet by just five shots. Despite the team not qualifying, senior Clay Morse advanced to districts as an individual. The senior kept his career alive with a round of 84. He spoke after the day with KCII Sports about sectionals and looking ahead to districts. Morse said, “I was hoping to break 80, that didn’t happen, but got lucky and still made it on to districts. I birdied hole six on the back nine. That was probably my best hole of the day. It was nerve wracking to say the least. We were really close in the team race, ended up losing by five, which is tough because we played fairly well all year. Being the only senior, knowing those guys that are young, I really want them to get the experience. (At districts) I plan on just getting out there and playing, have fun. I have nothing to lose.”

Other rounds for Sigourney included Solon Yates 85, Isaac Bruns 87, Cain Weber 89, Brock Alderson 95 and Josh Wyatt 98. Lone Tree was sixth in the field with a team score of 437. Top Lion was Cade Willoz 104. Others included Oliver Altenhofen 107, Dominic Graap 109, Lukas Fuhrmeister 117 and Braden Viers 124.

Also advancing to districts from EV as a team were the home Bears and Iowa City Regina, along with BGM’s Dominic Coleman as an individual. A trip to the 2023 Class 1A State Tournament will be on the line Tuesday at Brown Deer Golf Course in Iowa City.