Winneconne's Winston Knobloch repeats as state golf champion, leads Wolves to second place in Division 2 team standings
KOHLER - Winston Knobloch put himself in some pretty elite company Tuesday at Blackwolf Run.
The Winneconne senior, the defending Division 2 boys golf champion, won his second WIAA state title in a row on a cool, breezy morning on the Meadow Valleys course.
Knobloch shot a second-round 75 to finish at 3-over-par 147 in the two-day event and win by three shots over Alex Weiss of Edgewood.
Cody Strang of Edgewood was the last Division 2 player to win back-to-back titles, in 2008 and 2009. Piercen Hunt of Arrowhead won back-to-back in 2017 and 2018 in Division 1.
“It’s pretty cool to me,” said Knobloch, who also shot 147 last year. “I don’t really know what to think of it. It hasn’t been done since 2009 and it’s a pretty cool experience to go back-to-back and no better way to close out my senior year of golf.”
Knobloch was the leader after the first round, one shot ahead of Weiss and Andrew Kettle of Sheboygan Falls.
He played the first nine holes Tuesday in 1-over 37, with eight pars and a bogey on the par-4 fifth hole. He started the back nine with a double bogey on the par-4 10th hole, but came right back with a birdie on No. 11, a par-5.
“I walked out of there and I’m like, ‘You know what, it is what it is. There’s still eight more holes to play,” he said of the double bogey. “So I just kind of stayed patient and recovered on the next hole and made a nice birdie to kind of kick-start my round again.”
He parred the next two holes and despite a bogey on the par-4 14th hole still led by three shots over Weiss and Zeke Boos, also of Edgewood. Knobloch finished his round with four consecutive pars.
With a backup of players waiting on the 18th tee, Knobloch waited close to a half hour to hit his tee shot on the final hole. When it was finally his turn to play, he split the fairway with an iron, hit his second shot about 15 feet above the hole and then two-putted to close out the victory.
Knobloch said he didn’t feel pressure as the defending champion and focused on his game.
“There’s a role I’m trying to fill there and I’m sure everybody’s kind of coming for me, but it’s golf,” he said. “Everybody comes in with an equal chance, so I just try to go out and play my golf. Whatever everybody else does, I can’t control that.”
Knobloch, who will play next year at Dodge City Community College in Kansas and eventually hopes to transfer to an NCAA Division I program in the South, hit his stride late in the season after unseasonable weather hampered the early part of the season.
He admits to sneaking on Lake Breeze Golf Course near his home to get in some swings before the course opened for the season.
“I know I maybe trespassed on the golf course a couple times when it wasn’t open, but I think all that hard work paid off and the owner will be able to forgive me for that,” he said with a smile.
Knobloch’s win helped Winneconne to a second-place finish behind Edgewood in the team standings, its best-ever finish. The Wolves finished third last season.
Casey Peters tied for 10th for Winneconne, Ben Henning tied for 23rd, Parker Groff tied for 29th and Austin Dobbe tied for 45th. Peters is a junior, Henning is a senior, and Groff and Dobbe are freshmen.
“I knew we had a good group of guys coming in this year. A couple freshmen on our team stepped up and really played some big roles, especially the last couple weeks. They’ve played some really good golf,” Knobloch said. “We tried our best and Edgewood’s got a very solid team. We took home second, which is one better than last year, so I’m proud of my boys for that.”
Other local players earn medals
Aiden Cudney of Kimberly had a roller-coaster round that included two triple bogeys and shot 81, but still finished in a tie for third in Division 1. Jack Weisenberger of De Pere shot 78 and finished in a tie for sixth. … In Division 2, Grant Bauman of Peshtigo shot 74 and finished in a tie for third place. Pierce Zimmel of Lomira shot his second 77 in as many days and finished in a tie for sixth place. … In Division 3, Spencer Lynch of St. Mary Catholic shot 79 and finished in second place.
Final results
DIVISION 1
SHEBOYGAN NORTH 296-318-614, EAU CLAIRE MEMORIAL 304-318-622, WAUKESHA NORTH 312-324-636, WEST DE PERE 317-319-636, WAUNAKEE 310-332-642, MILTON 317-335-652, KIMBERLY 317-336-653, MARQUETTE 321-334-655, FOND DU LAC 315-341-656, FRANKLIN 312-345-657, LAKELAND 334-324-658, ARROWHEAD 331-327-658, DEFOREST 324-335-659, KETTLE MORAINE 328-332-660, HOLMEN 326-343-669, WESTOSHA CENTRAL 337-344-681
Top finishers: 1, Parker Etzel, Eau Claire Memorial 69-78-147; 2, KC Nickel, Waunakee 71-78-149; T3, Mason Schmidtke, Sheboygan North 74-76-150; T3, Jackson Piacsek, Waukesha North 74-76-150; T3, Aiden Cudney, Kimberly 69-81-150; T6, Hogan Miller, Sheboygan North 73-78-151; T6, Jack Weisenberger, De Pere 73-78-151.
Sheboygan North: T11, Roberto Reyes 74-80-154; T27, Brandon Bloechel 75-85-160; T57, Ryder Miller 84-84-168.
Fond du Lac: 8, Will Mauthe 76-76-152; T25, Wyatt Pfeiffer 78-81-159; T74, Jackson Blaine 81-90-171; T79, Cole Thorin 80-94-174; 104, Blake Spies 96-99-195.
Kimberly: T33, Chance Rill 82-80-162; T40, Riley Schmidt 79-84-163; T91, Trey Vanevenhoven 87-91-178; 95, Kade Dunham 87-93-180.
West De Pere: T11, Mason Haupt 76-78-154; T15, Darrien Thomas 76-79-155; T27, Ethan Heck 81-79-160; T53, Isaac Sinkula 84-83-167; 97, Cody Gevers 90-96-186.
Other area individuals: T21, Rasmus Madsen, Appleton North 70-88-158; 47, Cooper Bjerke, Wausau East 84-81-165; T48, Thomas Bobinski, Notre Dame 80-86-166; T79, Brady Bleck, Plymouth 86-88-174.
DIVISION 2
EDGEWOOD 308-307-615, WINNECONNE 325-313-638, KETTLE MORAINE LUTHERAN 324-332-656, EDGERTON 322-344-666, MCDONELL CENTRAL/REGIS 330-337-667, XAVIER 334-334-668, AMERY 343-330-673, BERLIN 349-347-696
Top finishers: 1, Winston Knobloch, Winneconne 72-75-147; 2, Alex Weiss, Edgewood 73-77-150; 3, Zeke Boos, Edgewood 77-74-151; 4, Grant Bauman, Peshtigo 77-74-151; 5, Charlie Darrow, University School of Milwaukee 75-77-152; T6, Al Deang, Edgewood 78-76-154; T6, Pierce Zimmel, Lomira 77-77-154.
Winneconne: T10, Casey Peters 80-77-157; T23, Ben Henning 87-79-166; T29, Parker Groff 86-82-168; 45, Austin Dobbe 92-89-181.
Xavier: T8, Dawson Fish 75-81-156; T34, Eddie Oelhafen 82-89-171; T37, Jon Bertram 87-85-172; T39, Kyle Watry 90-83-173; T43, Jonah Gentry 95-85-180.
Berlin: T23, Alex Johnson 81-85-166; T34, Frank Kujawa 87-84-171; T39, James Paskey 89-84-173; T49, Dashiell Bowdon 92-94-186; 52, Amber Dretske 108-116-224.
Other area individuals: T8, Andrew Kettle, Sheboygan Falls 73-83-156; 22, Connor Lingen, Medford 77-88-165; 28, Vince Sigl, Seymour 82-85-167.
DIVISION 3
CAMBRIDGE 323-334-657, MINERAL POINT 339-347-686, SHEBOYGAN LUTHERAN 352-357-709, NEWMAN CATHOLIC 359-362-721, LENA 370-373-743, BARNEVELD 395-378-773, NEILLSVILLE 380-399-779, GLENWOOD CITY 385-401-786
Top finishers: 1, Kian Bystol-Flores, Cambridge 77-76-153; 2, Spencer Lynch, St. Mary Catholic 76-79-155; 3, Nick Buckman, Cambridge 80-76-156; 4, Conner Krach, Newman Catholic 80-79-159; 5, Reece Breitenbach, Kohler 77-84-161; 6, Cameron Lipinski, Cochrane-Fountain City 81-83-164.
Sheboygan Lutheran: 11, Caden Solle 85-85-170; T14, Elliot Leibham 87-86-173; T16, Jack MacGillis 86-88-174; 35, Alexei Leganchuk 94-98-192; T43, Andrew Leibham 101-104-205.
Newman Catholic: 4, Conner Krach 80-79-159; T21, Issac Seidel 87-93-180; T29, Mason Prey 93-96-189; 41, Samuel Nelson 108-94-202; 47, Owen Reeves 99-110-209.
Lena: 7, Braden McVane 86-79-165; 26, Mason Belongia 92-93-185; T36, Mason Spice 93-101-194; 39, Drake Dionne 99-100-199; 50, Evan VanderZanden 105-112-217.
Neillsville: 12, Tucker Johnson 83-88-171; T29, Jonah Czarnicki 93-96-189; 40, Isaac Berger 95-106-201; 51, Andrew Brown 109-109-218; 52, Mark Jorgenson 145-140-285.
Other area individuals: 8, Cooper McLaughlin, Lourdes Academy/Valley Christian 77-90-167; T16, Konnor Mehlberg, Wisconsin Valley Lutheran 89-85-174; 20, Kaiden Bailey, St. Thomas Aquinas 85-93-178; T33, Aaron Federwisch, Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah 92-99-191.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Winneconne's Knobloch wins Division 2 state golf championship again
