SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
KINGMAN, Kan. — Kingman's Kory Meireis punched his ticket to the Class 3A state golf tournament with an individual title Monday at the regional held at Eagles Pub and Golf Course. Despite Meireis’ standout round of 79, the Eagles narrowly missed qualifying as a team, finishing fourth with a 361, just two strokes behind the final qualifying spot.
Cheney captured the team title with a 347, followed by Hoisington (358) and Garden Plain (359) to round out the state qualifiers. The top three teams from each of the four regional tournaments advance to next week’s state championship.
Meireis earned one of five individual state berths awarded to golfers not on advancing teams. Kingman also received scoring contributions from Chaz Snyder (88), Will McBeth (91), Jace Sasina (103) and Malachi Graber (116).
Lyons placed sixth in the team standings with a 424. Noah Geeves led the Lions with a 94, while Landon Ankerhol shot 97, Easten Benevide 116, Robert Beitler 117, Lucas Timberlake 124 and Diego Cabral 132.
Haven was not in team contention but was led by Kyler Nikkel’s 103. Kolton Altvater added a 105 and Jacob Myers shot 112.
Nickerson’s Addrick Nelson carded a 109, while Alfonso Lozano finished at 132.
Joining Meireis in the group of individual qualifiers were Ellsworth’s Aidan Johnson (92), Lyons’ Noah Geeves (94), Ellsworth’s Micah Galvan (98), and Ellsworth’s Cooper McGowan (99). All five advanced as the lowest individual scores from non-qualifying teams.
The Class 3A state tournament will be held May 27-28 at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City.