The start of the Region 5 boys golf tournament, was all about survival.
Surviving the first several holes was at the forefront of everyone's mind as golfers dealt with cold, rainy and gusty conditions.
Dickinson Trinity braved the early elements en route to claiming its third straight Region 5 championship on Thursday at Heart River Golf Course.
"The way the day started out, I thought it was going to be a long day with the weather," Trinity head coach Tyler Reisenauer said. "The guys held it together and they competed really hard."
Trinity's four-person score of freshman Willy Jahner (74), senior Nathaniel Knopik (77), sophomore Connor Friske (80) and junior David Pokorny (82) totaled 313.
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Beulah was the runner-up by a distant 21 strokes. Heart River finished in the top three with 340. Trinity, Beulah and Heart River all qualified for the state tournament.
Jahner won medalist honors with his score of 74. In Trinity's home meet last Thursday, Jahner fired a 74 in fairer conditions. During regionals, he rattled off back-to-back 37s (74).
"Tyler has been working with our short game, our swings and it really came around well today," Jahner said with smile.
Knopik wasn't affected by the weather conditions. In fact, it was actually a positive for the stocky senior.
"We have a solid team and we have good scorers," Knopik said. "We did that for the most part today."
Knopik was 2-under par going into Hole No. 7 when the rain finally let up. After hitting a pair of tee shots out of bounds, he was saddled with a nine.
Nonetheless, Knopik fought back to fire a 39 on the front nine. He added a 38 on the back nine to finish at 77.
"It was tough to play in that rain," Knopik said. "I was drenched, then I came to No. 7 and took a nine, but I battled through it."
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Trinity's final two scores came from Pokorny and Friske, who each tallied a 39 on the front and back nine, respectively.
Reisenauer is confident about how well his team is able to score. Even the two individual scores the Titans didn't use were both in the 80s.
"Nathaniel is our leader and a lot of the guys feed off of him," said Reisenauer, who was named Region 5 Coach of the Year. "When they see Nathaniel out there playing well, it starts a trickle-down effect for those guys."
Though the poor conditions didn't affect Trinity, one player that was able to shake off a tough start was Heart River's Mitch Krebs. The senior started his round with back-to-back-to-back double bogeys.
Despite the tough start, Krebs went to work and finished his round with a 79, which is a state-qualifying score. Krebs said the tourney highlight was his entire team qualifying.
"Sure, it's great that I qualified individually, but it's even better that the whole team can go," Krebs said. "We've been working hard all year and it's a good thing we can go."
One new individual state qualifier was Hettinger-Scranton's Denby Lueck, who placed 10th with an 85. Beulah senior Noah Iverson was named Region 5 Senior Athlete of the Year.
Since one of the two dates Trinity had circled on the calendar is already in the books, the team now looks toward the Class B state boys golf tourney beginning May 28 at Prairie West Golf Course in Mandan.
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"We feel that we are one of the top teams in the state and we just have to put the rounds together at the right time," Reisenauer said. "Last year, we didn't play our best, but we came back the second day nice. This year, we have the same goals and we'll see what happens."
Region 5 boys golf tournament
At Heart River Golf Course
Team scores: Dickinson Trinity 313, Beulah 334, Heart River 340, Hazen 364, Center 381, Killdeer 390, Beach 397, Southern McLean 470, Bowman County 415, Hettinger-Scranton 509
Individual top 10: 1, Willy Jahner, Trinity, 74. 2, Nathaniel Knopik, Trinity, 77. 3, Mitch Krebs, HR, 79. 4, Connor Friske, Trinity, 80. 5, Hunter Obrigewitch, Beulah, 81. 6, David Pokorny, Trinity, 82. 7, Joey Wagner, HR, 82. 8, Noah Iverson, Beulah, 83. 9, Zach Kessler, Beulah, 84. 10, Denby Lueck, HS, 85.
