ONALASKA, Wis. - The Iowa Central men's golf team battled to a third place finish here at the Viterbo V-Hawk Invitational.
The Tritons were just a single stroke back of Winona State for second, with Kirkwood placing first. The two-day, 36-hole event was held at the La Crosse Country Club.
Joseph Forsting placed fourth overall after rounds of 77 and 74 for a 7-over par total. Sterling McIlravy of Kirkwood was the individual champion at 2-under par.
Joe had it going on the front nine for both of his rounds, playing both at even par, but he let some shots get away from him on the back nine on each 18 that I think he'll learn from and be ready to take that next step," ICCC head coach Kris Graewin said. "He's getting close to putting together a full tournament. He has as high of standards for himself as anyone and he's ready to achieve some big goals."
Cody Dirks tied for 10th after rounds of 83 and 74, Kyle Wille finished in a tie for 15th after his rounds of 81 and 77, Tyler Kopp was 20th and Jaxon Myers placed 24th.
It was great to see Cody find his groove again in his second 18 holes," Graewin said. "He'd been struggling a bit but really found a feel on the course and was able to post a nice score for us. It was great for him to play in his hometown and on a golf course that he's played a lot. I know his family and him appreciated the opportunity to play back in La Crosse.
"I couldn't be more proud of Kyle. He tweaked his back early Monday morning and I was going to pull him from the tournament but he talked me out of it and was able to post a score for us in both rounds. Kyle is a grinder and it speaks a lot to the kind of kid he is, he didn't want to stop playing because he wanted to play for his teammates. With the tight-knit group we have right now, I'm really excited to see how we can continue to progress."
After carding a 326 on the first day, Iowa Central responded with a 305 on the second. That total was the second-lowest of round two and fourth-lowest of the event.
"The guys knew I wasn't very happy with our first round score and to their credit they really battled and posted a nice second round," Graewin said. "We've played a ton of competitive golf in the past seven days, including our second place finish in our Quad Cup. We had a great team win over Des Moines Area Community College and tied with Iowa Lakes before falling in a playoff for the title. Playing 36 holes on Saturday and then backing it up right away with 36 holes on Monday was a grind for our guys but they really gutted it out."