Grundy Center boys golf rallies for 1A state title

NEWTON – The Grundy Center boys golf team won the Class 1A state championship with a big turnaround on the second day of the tournament Friday at Westwood Golf Course in Newton.
 
The Spartans turned in a 327 team score on Friday, 29 strokes better than their Day 1 total. Friday's championship win is the third team title in school history and the first since 2005.
 
Harris-Lake Park was the team runner-up with a 687, followed by Exira/EH-K with a 696.
 
Grundy Center's Jake Bangasser finished his high school golf career with an individual medal as well, placing fourth individually with a two-day total of 155 on rounds of 81 and 74. The Iowa Western signee had the second-biggest turnaround of the day for the Spartans behind Matthew Sternhagen, who turned in a 78 on Friday after shooting a 95 on Thursday.
 
Sternhagen and Andy Cox each finished with a 173 total. Nolan Freeman shot a 184 total, Tanner Appel shot 187 and Travis Kuester shot a 193.
 
AGWSR junior Alex Hames shot a two-day total of 175 after improving 11 strokes from Day 1 with an 82 on the tournament's final day. Hames finished in a tie for 23rd as an individual.
 
The full story from 1A state golf will appear in next week's Grundy Register.