Holy Family Rallies to First State Title; Deziel Holds Off Hitchner to Medal

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
  JORDAN, Minn. – Eliminating a three-stroke deficit following the opening round Tuesday, the Holy Family boys golf team posted a score of 292 during the final round Wednesday to beat Detroit Lakes by three shots, winning the first Minnesota State High School Class AA team title in school history.
 
“It was an interesting year—a short year—not enough balls hit and we didn’t get off to a great start at [The Preview High School Championship], but they worked very hard on their own and I was very pleased to have those kids,” Holy Family head coach Rob Nelson said after earning his first state title in 43 years of coaching. “It’s the first state championship for Holy Family and first for me, so it’s really special. I don’t know how it could be any more special. But the kids earned it, I just dreamt it.”
 
Detroit Lakes, winners of three Class AA team titles, took a three-stroke lead after the first round of competition Tuesday before Holy Family came charging back during the final round Wednesday. Led by seniors Tyler Muschewske and Lincoln Cizek as well as freshman Charlie Lindberg, the Fire heated up to take a one-stroke lead with just nine holes to play.
 
Muschewske would post a 72 during his final high school round, finishing tied for 10th to guide his team to a first-place finish, while Lindberg’s final-round 74 put him into a tie for 18^th at 150. Cizek bettered his opening round score of 77 by shooting 74 during the final round to help give the Fire its first state title.
 
East Grand Forks senior Nate Deziel followed up his opening round of 69 by shooting 4-under par 68, holding off a late surge by 2016 Class AA individual champion Derek Hitchner, who rolled in his eagle putt from 30 feet on the final hole to finish one shot back of Deziel at 6-under par 138.
 
“I’m speechless right now. I had an excellent season and to finish off like this being a senior is one-of-a-kind. You don’t get to do this very often,” Deziel said.
 
“My plan today was to keep doing the same thing—hit fairways and greens and keep giving myself chances and I did that really well today. I struck the ball extremely well and got off to really good start on the front nine. I played the front really well this week. That was important because I wanted to keep myself in contention. I missed three fairways and four greens today, so I think I hit the ball really solid.”
 
Deziel wasted little time getting the scoring started Wednesday, tapping in a short birdie putt on his opening hole to move to 4-under for the championship. In full command of his irons early, Deziel putt each of his approaches at six, seven and eight inside of five feet and converted three consecutive birdie chances to move to 7-under, taking a four-stroke lead over Hitchner through nine holes.
 
Trading birdies at the 10^th and 14^th with bogeys at the 11^th and 15^th, Deziel watched Hitchner trim a five-stroke margin with birdies at the 14^th and 16^th and sink his long eagle chance on the final hole to pull within one. Short and left of the final green in two, Deziel chipped inside of 10 feet and two-putted for par to earn medalist honors at 7-under 137.
 
“Derek gave me a run for my money and had a strong finish with birdie-par-eagle. It was extremely fun. I just made my way around with some pars and got the job done,” Deziel said.
 
While he’s made six state tournament appearances, Hitchner played as an individual for the first time this week as Blake fell to Totino-Grace in the Section 5AA championship. Hitchner’s second place finish is his best since cruising to an 11-stroke victory at the 2016 championship, which included a tournament-record 65 during the first round.
 
Hitchner finished tied for 44^th as an eighth-grader at the 2013 championship and finished inside the top-25 a year later. Earning the first of four top-10 finishes, Hitcher placed ninth in 2015 before claiming medalist honors as a sophomore.
 
A final-round 70 last season gave Hitcher a fifth-place finish last season, falling just three shots short of Red Wing sophomore Cecil Belisle before finishing one shot better than Belisle Wednesday, a second-place finish at 6-under par 138.
 
“I played fine this week. The last four holes really put me back in it, but I just couldn’t get it going on the greens,” Hitchner said Wednesday. “I hit the ball fine and gave myself chances but didn’t convert on too many until the last few holes.
 
“I almost viewed today as match play and knew there were some other guys who were close, but Nate played so well, I was just trying to keep up with him at the end.
 
Committed to Pepperdine University beginning this fall, Hitchner’s accomplished junior career draws closer to a close with one individual and three team titles to his credit.
 
He finished fifth at the Minnesota State Open last summer against the state’s best amateur and professional players and in five American Junior Golf Association starts, collected one win and four other top-5 finishes to earn a top-40 ranking. He also qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship shortly following the conclusion of his junior year of high school.
 
“It gives me confidence that I can compete. I played really well two years ago and didn’t play as well last year. It would’ve been nice to win this one, but I’ve played well in tournaments over the last few years and it was a pretty good run that I had,” Hitchner said of his strong and consistent play during his prep career. “I think my putting held me back a little bit this season, but the fact that I was able to stay in the tournament is definitely a positive takeaway.”
 
 
 
2018 MSHSL BOYS’ CLASS AA GOLF TOURNAMENT
RIDGES AT SAND CREEK
JORDAN, MINN.
6,655 YARDS, PAR 72
 
 
FINAL TEAM RESULTS
1. Holy Family, 308-292—600
2. Detroit Lakes, 305-298—603
3. Red Wing, 317-302—619
4. Cloquet-Esko, 319-303—622
5. Blue Earth Area, 320-307—627
6. St. Cloud Cathedral, 320-314—634  
7. Totino-Grace, 321-325—646
8. Worthington, 348-345—693
 
 
FINAL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Nate Deziel, East Grand Forks, 69-68—137
2. Derek Hitchner, Blake, 71-67—138
3. Cecil Belisle, Red Wing, 71-68—139
T4. Kasen Anderson, St. Croix Prep, 74-70—144
T4. Sam Baker, Cloquet-Esko, 76-68—144
T6. Luke Alexander, Rochester Lourdes, 73-72—145
T6. Glavine Schugel, New Ulm, 74-71—145
T8. Wyatt Blomseth, Detroit Lakes, 74-72—146
T8. Max Court, Rocori, 72-74—146
T10. Tyler Muschewske, Holy Family, 75-72—147
T10. Carter Doose, St. Peter, 74-73—147
 
 
For complete tournament results go to: www.mshsl.org/mshsl/golfscores_history.asp?year=2017&gender=Boys&class=AA