The Westside boys golf team never gave up hope. Through rain, sunshine, sleet, and snow; the Warriors persevered and came out on top.
The Warriors were in third place and trailed Lincoln Southeast by ten strokes heading into the final round of the NSAA State Championship at the Norfolk Country Club.
Westside junior Trevor Gutschewski led the comeback with a round of 69 to finish as the state runner-up at 1-under par. The University of Florida commit had four birdies to help lead the Warriors to a two-day total score of 590, which was two strokes better than Lincoln Southeast. Gutschewski has had a picture perfect couple of weeks leading up to state by playing multiple rounds in the 60’s, including a 63 in the metro championship. However, Gutschewski came up short of those scores in the first round, only shooting a 74. He made up for it on day two.
“It feels incredible,” Gutschewski said. “We didn’t play our best yesterday. To come out today and win after being ten shots down is pretty special. It’s good to do it with these guys. I love these guys. It’s just so much fun.”
Westside freshman Tye Treadwell made an impressive debut in his first state tournament with a round of 69 to finish in eighth place. Nebraska recruit Jackson Benge made a big comeback with a round of 71, after struggling with a 79 in the opening round. Christopher Whittle birdied the 18th hole to finish with a round of 72 and tie for 15th place along with Benge. Freshman Knox Pocras finished with a 79 to end up in 24th place. Westside head coach Jered Hellman was emotional about the team’s dramatic comeback.
“Obviously it’s beyond special,” Hellman said. “There were no secrets, this was the goal. The target was on our back. We won 10 of 11 regular season events and we didn’t play great yesterday. But we didn’t play terrible. To regroup, spend time with our family last night, focus on what is important, and to come out today and play the way that they did. Top to bottom, it’s historic. I’ll let the experts decide about this golf team. If you look at numbers and you look at what they have done, they’re special.”
The Warriors became the first golf team from the high school to win back to back state championships. Westside dominated the season with the Metro and District Championships, which put the pressure on the team to win the state title again. With the pressure that was put on them after day one, coach Hellman was able to go to bed with a clear mind and a strong trust in his team.
“I slept better last night,” Hellman said “We talked ten strokes down and ten strokes up, our mentality did not change. These boys coined themselves the cazadors at the beginning of the year because we would rather be the hunters than the hunted. We knew the target was on our back. We knew it didn’t offend anyone that we didn’t play our best golf yesterday. But we focused on what was important and they leaned on each other. As a coach, what more could you ask for.”
Westside added their seventh NSAA State Golf Championship and will look for a “three-peat” next year, when the tournament moves to Kearney. Looking forward, the Warriors will have tons of talent, with almost their whole roster returning. Besides Jackson Benge, who will be moving on to play at Nebraska, the Warriors will have the entire varsity roster returning. Westside will get one more year out of juniors Chris Whittle and Trevor Gutschewski. Also returning are freshman Knox Pocras and Tye Treadwell who are obviously just getting started. That being said, the future is bright for Westside golf.
