Golf Team Ends Season with Conference Championship

The Moraine Valley Community College golf team had a respectable finish to a successful season on the links. After clinching the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) championship Oct. 1, the team had to take one of the top spots at the highly competitive NJCAA Region IV Tournament at PrairieView Golf Club in Byron (Oct. 9-11) to advance to nationals. Moraine Valley was fourth among 10 teams.

Moraine Valley slowly improved over the three-day tournament, going from seventh place on the first day to fourth on the last. Matt Contey (Lincoln-Way East) has been one of the Cyclones’ most consistent players all season; the region tournament was no exception. He had 79, 77 and 78 and missed qualifying for nationals by one shot. He is the first alternate should one of the other individual players become unable to compete. He also made the All-Region team (#9). Another consistent player all year, David Karwoski (Oak Forest), shot well— 81, 79, 85. John Yerkes (Marist) and John Orowick (Lincoln-Way North) nearly played identical golf, each shooting 84 and 80. Yerkes had 84 and Orowick had 85 on the first day. Joe Knight (Sandburg) rounded out the bunch with 84, 88 and 83.

Besides earning the ISCC championship this season, Coach Bob Freudenthal was Skyway Conference Coach of the Year and three golfers were named to the All-Conference team: Karwoski (#3), Contey (#6) and Yerkes (#10). The Cyclones dominated the ISCC all season, finishing in first place four times in five conference matches.

“I’m proud of how the guys finished. We had a conference championship, three All-Conference players and one All-Region. That’s a pretty successful season in my book,” Freudenthal said. “We have three of these starters coming back next year so that bodes well for the future.”