By JOSH BURRIS
YORKTOWN – The Norwell Knights and Bluffton Tigers ended their golf seasons at the Regional 3 Tournament on Thursday hosted by Muncie Central at The Players Club.
Norwell shot a 353 over the course’s 18 holes to place 15th out of 18 teams. Bluffton finished right behind at 16th with a 356.
The top three teams advanced to next week’s state finals at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel, as well as the top five individuals from non-advancing teams.
Cathedral and Noblesville each shot a 305 to finish at the top of the team standings, with Cathedral winning the tie-breaker with its fifth player’s score. Hamilton Southeastern shot a 309 to come in third.
The five individuals joining them will be New Castle’s Derek Tabor, who shot a 66 to finish as medalist of the tournament, Bishop Chatard’s William Pruitt and Fishers’ Connor McMillan, who each shot a 74, and Delta’s Riley Batton and New Castle’s Dillon Bergum, who each shot a 75.
Norwell’s Augie Mann came closest to advancing from Wells County, shooting a 76. He finished as the individual sectional champion last week when he shot a 72 at Timber Ridge Golf Course.
Mann was followed on Norwell by Ethan Ottinger at 91, Derek Smith at 92, Daniel Simerman at 94, and Kaden Graft at 102.
Bluffton was led by Keegan Schwartz, who shot a 77. He was followed on the Tigers by Ephraim Frauhiger at 83, Kade Abbett at 96, Connor Klopfenstein at 100, and Alec Reiff at 108.
For Bluffton, it was the first time it had advanced to the regional under head coach Steve Abbett.
The State Finals will take place Tuesday and Wednesday morning. All teams and individuals will play 36 holes and tee off at 8 a.m. on both days.
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