Chance at state slips away from Samantha Wilson

WARSAW — When the Ridgewood Generals arrived Wednesday morning at River Greens Golf Course, they knew only one individual and one team could advance to state from their Division II girls district golf tournament.

Coach Craig Reveal said he thought senior Samantha Wilson had a chance.

After the fog passed and Wilson got going, she did have a strong chance. She was four over through eight holes, which kept her right where she needed to be with the leaders — John Glenn's Lexi Bubenchik and Maysville's Makyla Lewellen — at three over and five over through eight holes.

But the 18th hole, her last hole on the front nine, gave her trouble. She eight-shot the hole, fell behind the leaders by four strokes and couldn't make up the ground on the back, finishing with a total score of 86. Bubenchik advanced with a 76.

Wilson said her chipping and putting are what got her.

"I just got real frustrated. I didn't give up, I was trying, but I was just frustrated," she said. "Coach told me just keep doing what you are doing."

But despite that breakdown, the only thing Reveal said he felt was pride.

"I was happy for her. For me personally, it's been a ride, and it was nice to see her have a chance to finish it that way," he said.

An 86 will be the last score Wilson puts up in a Generals uniform.

"I was just happy to get here, and it was just a good opportunity. And I had fun with it," she said.

But another Wilson is on the rise: Sadie, Samantha's freshman sister, competed at districts and shot a 100 in her round Thursday. While not the best by her standards, it showed promise and brings potential to the Generals' program.

"That opens up all kinds of possibilities," he said. "Just the idea that she came here, got the experience of districts and the stress. Just saying the word districts intimidates a lot of golfers. For her to have that and get it out of the way as a freshman, these next three years are going to be fun."

River View had its own history made Wednesday morning: Coach Chad Gress brought his first girls golfer to the district tournament, Kia Haapakoski, a foreign exchange student from Finland.

"When I started coaching, I didn't know I would get an exchange student, so it's been interesting," Gress said. "They don't have sports in their schools."

Haapakoski, despite not playing golf until this year, shot a 95 total, which tied her for the 12th best individual score of the tournament. She will go back home to Findland, and despite not having the sport at her school, she wants to continue playing.

"I'm really proud of her," Gress said. "When she started, she really didn't play much golf. She was using other kids' clubs, and it is pretty impressive her getting out."

cteaguerob@gannett.com

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Twitter: @cj_teague