At KCII, we’ve been counting down the top 10 sports stories at Washington High School in the 2023-2024 academic year. At number one is the Demon boys’ golf team reaching the state tournament for the second time in the last three years.
The Demons were only four strokes away from reaching state in back-to-back seasons after a bitterly disappointing finish to 2023, coming up just short of Knoxville and Williamsburg at districts.
But that only fueled a team returning all but one starter this past spring, and it didn’t hurt to have the defending individual Class 3A state champion coming back, as Roman Roth looked to continue to rewrite the Washington record books as a senior.
The Demons did not disappoint, failing to win the team competition at only three events in the regular season. That included capturing a third consecutive Southeast Conference regular-season championship and winning the league tournament in back-to-back years.
It was at the conference tournament in Mount Pleasant on May 1st that Washington set a new school record for lowest team score with 289 strokes.
Roman Roth captured the individual conference crown once again with a four-under-par round of 67, while sophomore Rajan Roth was runner-up with a 71; sophomore Drew Conrad finished third with a 75; senior Luke Beenblossom took fourth with a 76; and sophomore Carson Brown rounded out the top five with a 79.
The Demons returned to Mount Pleasant one week later and again cruised to victory to start the postseason, posting a team score of 302 that was 17 strokes better than second-place Albia at their Class 3A sectional tournament.
Roman Roth again was the meet medalist by shooting a two-under 69, with Rajan Roth tied for second with a 71 and Conrad carding a 77 for fifth place.
The last hurdle was once again the district tournament, this time at Stone Creek Golf Club in Williamsburg on May 13th. Despite a day filled with rain, Washington never slipped up, winning the tournament by 19 strokes over second-place Pella to secure their place at state.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the season for the Demons was what came after the meet was technically finished. Roman and Rajan Roth were tied after 18 holes by each shooting a tournament-best, three-under 68, so a playoff was held to crown an individual district champ.
It took four holes, but younger brother Rajan Roth saving par on the fifth not only delivered his second victory of the season, but also a district title on a day when he had an eagle and three birdies.
Rain would unfortunately again play a factor the following week at the Class 3A championships at Veenker Memorial Golf Course in Ames. Too much precipitation meant that the scheduled second day of the tournament was canceled.
Washington did well in their lone day of competition, finishing with a team score of 321 strokes that was only 17 more than eventual state champion ADM but finishing fifth on the team leaderboard.
While Roman Roth would come up short of becoming just the eighth player in Iowa High School Athletic Association history to win back-to-back individual state championships, the senior still finished his career in style, shooting a one-under 71 that would put him five strokes behind the lead.
A tournament-high seven birdies helped Roth finish third in the state in Class 3A, becoming just the 16th player in IAHSAA history to win multiple state medals.
Along with finishing the season with seven victories and 12 total rounds under par, he was recently named one of the three Class 3A Co-Players of the Year by the Iowa High School Golf Coaches Association.
Rajan Roth, Beenblossom, Conrad, Brown and senior Teague Mayer all finished off the season by shooting rounds of 90 or better at state as well.
Congratulations to the entire team, led by head coach Collin Stark, on an excellent season and being Number One on our countdown. You can find all of the Top 10 Washington Sports stories from the last year right now at KCIIradio.com.