Boys capture NCC title with team effort

by Marianne Gasaway

Brothers Eli and Gavin Anderson finished in third and sixth place respectively to help lift the Clear Lake boys to the North Central Conference Tournament title Monday, May 9, at the Fort Dodge Country Club. The Lions combined for a 337 to edge Humboldt and Clarion-Goldfield, which each scored 338.  Webster City and Hampton-Dumont-CAL were right on their heels with 340- and 341.  Iowa Falls-Alden was sixth with  384, St. Edmond scored 404 and Algona 415.

“What a win,” exclaimed Clear Lake Coach Eric Perry.  “We found out how every shot counts in our loss to H-D (finals regular season match).  The Anderson boys battled the elements to help us win.  The heat was nice, but the wind advisory played tricks with our shots.”

Jacob Moore, of C-G, was the medalist with a 78.

Clear Lake freshman Eli Anderson was probably winning the tournament at one point late in the round, according to Coach Perry, but a bad hole put him in the wrong frame of mind.  He finished in a three-way tie for third place with a 10-over par 81.

“That’s something he needs to outgrow,” said the coach.  

Gavin Anderson, a sophomore, finished in sixth place with an 11-over 82.

“I could see today, Gavin has grown up,” continued Coach Perry.  “He was calm most of the day, not letting any bad shots bother him.”

Senior Easton DeVries and freshman Dylan Bieber completed the scoring for the Lions, coming in with 16-over 87s.  They were among five players tied for 15th.  

Coach Perry said Bieber came on and gathered himself to put up a much needed 87.

“Before he came in, we were in fourth place.  I watched him with a chip-in behind the green for a birdie.  He was not in ideal position.”

Clear Lake’s fifth and sixth players, Dylan Plagge and Tyler LeFevre finished in 24th and 25th with rounds of 91 and 92.

“With Plagge shooting a 91, we would have won the tiebreaker,” the coach noted.   “It was not the way Easton, Taylor and Tyler wanted to play, but they are conference champions that no one can take away from them.  They all have been very valuable to our teams’ success.”