The Montgomery County golf team brought home another tournament championship on April 18.

The Wildcats came out on top at the Elsberry Tournament at Sun Valley Golf Course, winning the Red Division by 19 strokes. MCHS shot a four-player score of 359 to finish first, while Bowling Green was second with 378.

On April 14, the Wildcats won the Red Division championship of the Warrenton Tournament at Country Lake Golf Club. They had four golfers earn medals and finish with a team score of 338.

MCHS coach Rob Ripperdan said he was pretty happy to see his team win titles in the first two tournaments it played in this season.

“We seem to be developing the kind of reputation that I want our team to have,” Ripperdan said. “Whenever we show up, we’re going to be a force to reckon with. Even though we’re going to have bad days, we’re not going to win everytime, but they’re going to be out there competing. That’s what I want for this program going forward. The town and the school district can look at their golf team and say, ‘Those guys represent us pretty well.’ I think all of them sort of feel that.”

The Wildcats were scheduled to play in the Eastern Missouri Conference tournament on April 25 at Tanglewood Golf Course in Fulton. They won the EMO tournament title last year.

MCHS’ next tournament is the Class 2, District 2 tournament, scheduled for May 9 at Norwood Golf Course in Hannibal. If the Wildcats finish in the top two, they will advance to the Class 2 state tournament on May 16-17 at Columbia Country Club.

Ripperdan said his team turned in a strong effort at the Elsberry tournament despite playing in chilly conditions.

“It was cold and the wind was howling,” the MCHS coach said. “All of them started off just terrible. To their credit, they really buckled down. Once they got through the first few holes, they just realized that there was nothing they could do about (the conditions). They just had to play golf. They played well.”

Junior Keaton Reagan and senior Keenan James earned medals for the Wildcats. Reagan finished 11th and James came in 13th. Both shot an 88.

Senior Logan Hutcheson finished in a tie for 15th with an 89, but he lost a medal to Timberland’s Dan Ursul on a tiebreaker. Juniors Alex Hartman and Maddox James shot a 94 and 99, respectively.

“We were right there in the individual honors,” Ripperdan said. “All of our guys were in the top third. We would have finished in the top four in the large school division against the Class 3 and 4 competition. It was a good day for us, especially with the conditions. They didn’t quit. They didn’t get frustrated. They stayed mentally tough. They played better as the day went on. I have to hand it to them. I was very pleased with the effort they put out on the kind of day we had.”

Bowling Green’s Brayden Buffington, who captured the Class 2 state championship in 2021, won the individual title with a 71.