THE STATE MEET: The 51st Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls State Golf Championships will be held Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 10-11, at the University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis. Competition will begin at 8 a.m. on both days. Sunday practice tee time assignments are available on the girls golf homepage of the WIAA website.
TICKET INFORMATION: Ticket prices for the State Girls Golf Championships are $9 per day plus online fees, and they are available to be purchased on-line on the WIAA website through GoFan, the WIAA ticketing partner, at: https://gofan.co/app/school/WIAAWI?activity=Golf.
STATE MEET STREAMED LIVE: The ninth and 18th holes of the WIAA State Girls Golf Championships will be streamed live without subscription on the NFHS Network at nfhsnetwork.com/associations/wiaa-wi or WIAA.tv.
THE FORMAT: The competition features a two division format with 12 teams and 18 individual qualifiers competing in Division 1, and six teams and nine individual qualifiers participating in Division 2. Competitors play 36 holes, weather permitting, including 18 holes on each day. The lowest scores from the first day will have the later tee times Tuesday.
BY THE NUMBERS: There were 169 teams sponsoring girls golf this fall with 101 in Division 1 and 68 in Division 2. There have been 26 different schools that have won State team titles, and there have been 33 different schools that have had individuals earn medalist honors. There have been six golfers that have scored a hole-in-one during the State Tournament, and there have been two girls that have won four State championships during their prep careers, sisters Lindsay Danielson (2005-08) and Casey Danielson (2009-12) from Osceola.
HOW THEY QUALIFIED: The Division 1 field consists of the top two teams from each of the six sectionals, and the Division 2 field includes the top two teams from three sectionals. Eighteen individuals in Division 1 and nine individuals in Division 2 qualify as the top three players in each sectional that are not members of a qualifying team.
TEAMS COMPETING: The schools qualifying for the State Championships in Division 1 are Arrowhead, Bay Port, Brookfield East, Divine Savior Holy Angels, Kaukauna, Middleton, Oconomowoc, Stevens Point, Tomah, Union Grove, Waunakee and Westosha Central. The team qualifiers in Division 2 are Altoona/Regis, Edgewood, Lancaster, Prescott, The Prairie School and Wrightstown.
DIVISION 1 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The 18 individuals who have qualified for the State Championships in Division 1 are senior AJ Powell of Appleton North; senior Anna Gosenheimer of Brookfield Central; senior Kate Bogenschutz of Cedarburg; senior Kayla Johnson of Hamilton; junior Olivia Grothaus of Hudson; junior Mya Nicholson of Janesville Craig; senior Hannah Dunk and junior Bethany Vidruk of Milton; senior Abbie Ritzer of New Richmond; junior Sophia Back and senior Grace Durkin of Notre Dame; junior Drew Hoffer and sophomore Addison Sabel of Oregon; senior Ashleigh Johnson of Reedsburg; junior Mahlia McCane of River Falls; senior Emma Raimer of Slinger; senior Nora Cerroni of Waukesha South/North/West; and sophomore Daniella Honkamp of Whitefish Bay.
DIVISION 2 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The nine individual qualifiers in Division 2 are senior Audrey Fryda of Catholic Memorial, freshman Belle Kongshaug of Colfax/Elk Mound, senior Lilly Kaminski of Denmark, junior Alyson Reier of Hayward, junior Payton Schmidt of Jefferson, senior Ella Denure of Portage, junior Ava Pesha of Somerset, freshman Maddi Fletcher of Westby/Viroqua and freshman Aliisa Helminen of Xavier.
LAST YEAR: Westosha Central won the Division 1 State team title with a 36-holes score of 637. Hamilton finished runner-up at 644. Riley Pechinski of Stevens Point was the individual champion, firing a 3-under-par score of 141. Prescott captured the Division 2 crown, finishing with a 36-hole total of 671. St. Croix Falls placed second with a score of 720. Ava Salay of Prescott was crowned medalist with a score of 148 after posting a runner-up finish in 2021.
INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW-DIVISION 1: There are numerous golfers with quality State Tournament experience vying for medalist honors, including Riley Pechinski of Stevens Point, who earned medalist honors in 2021. Among the contenders to dethrone the champion are a pair of competitors that finished runner-up to Pechinski last year. Senior Norah Roberts of Union Grove and senior AJ Powell of Appleton North shared the silver medal a year ago. Roberts also challenged for the title in 2020 before finishing tied for third. Twin sister teammates at Westosha Central may also contend for the title based on their experience in the State Tournament. Junior Kylie Walker finished in a tie for fifth place in 2021 after tying for third in 2020, and junior Katelyn Walker placed ninth a year ago after a 22nd-place standing in 2020. Senior Hannah Dunk of Milton should also be considered a title contender based on her previous experiences at State. She finished fifth at the alternate season championships in the spring of 2021 and tied for 10th last year. Senior Brin Neumann of Tomah fell to a 28th-place tie last season, but she looks to regain the form that positioned her among the contenders with a sixth-place tie in 2020 to go with another 26th-place tie in 2019. Junior Madison Haugen of Brookfield East placed in a tie for 14th last year after tying for ninth in 2020. In addition, junior Vivian Cressman of Middleton tied for 20th a year ago after placing ninth in the 2020-21 alternate season. Sectional champions, in addition to the aforementioned competitors with Top-10 State finishes, competing to be in the mix for medalist honors are freshman Payton Haugen of Brookfield East; junior Izzi Stricker of Waunakee, who tied for 14th at State last season after placing 13th in 2020; senior Nora Cerroni of Waukesha South/North/West; and junior Lauren Lupinck of Oconomowoc.
INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW-DIVISION 2: Five of the top six finishers from last season’s championships return for a shot at the gold medal. Senior Ava Salay of Prescott is the defending champion attempting to retain her title. She hasn’t finished out of the top two at State during her prep career, finishing runner-up in 2020 and in 2019. Junior Payton Schmidt of Jefferson was runner-up to Salay last year and appears poised for another attempt at the title this year. Junior Brianna Kirsch of Lancaster moved up seven places on Day 2 of the championships last season to finish third after placing 13th in 2020. She could challenge the leaders for medalist honors this year. Senior Sophia Lawler of The Prairie School should again be among the top finishers based on past performances at State. She was fifth last season after placing in a tie for third in 2020. Junior Ava Pesha of Somerset came in sixth a year ago and is back to build upon her previous experience. In addition to Salay and Kirsch, another in pursuit of a State title following her sectional title is senior Danielle Bruecker of Wrightstown.
THROUGH THE YEARS: In the first 50 years of the girls golf championships, Edgewood has won the most team championships with 15, all coming since 2001. The Crusaders won two championships when only one division was offered in 2001-02 and the first seven Division 2 titles from 2003-09. They added to their total with championships from 2011-14 and two more in 2018-19. Madison West and La Crosse Central are tied for the second-most team titles with five. The Regents won the first five championships offered from 1972-76. The Red Raiders won four consecutive State titles from 1990-93 and added their fifth in 1998. Appleton West, Arrowhead, Homestead and Middleton have won four team championships. Osceola has crowned the most individual medalists with eight, and Madison Memorial is next in line with six individual champions.
NEED RESULTS?: Results are available on the WIAA website. Select the link on the Girls Golf State Tournament page to access the GolfStat results link for each division.
FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Girls Golf Championships on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaagolf. Also like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at wiaawi.
STATE TOURNAMENT APPAREL: Officially licensed apparel for the 2022 State Girls Golf Championships will be available at University Ridge during the championships.
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