Boys Golf: Bulldogs score dual win over Mater Dei

Highland High senior golfer Brode Portell fired a stout round of 2-over-par 38 to win match medalist honors and lift the Bulldogs over the visiting Mater Dei Knights, 174 to 180, in a dual match Monday at the par-36 Highland Country Club.

Portell’s impressive round was two shots in the clear of the match’s runner-up score of 40 shot by Mater Dei’s Tyler Goebel.

Highland also received scoring from sophomores Brandon Munie (44), Ben Brauns (45) and Braden Rehkemper (47).

In addition Goebel, Mater Dei also got scores from Nic Hollenkamp (43), Nick Mensing (48) and Noah Gerdes (49).

Last Friday, the Bulldogs finished in ninth out of 13 teams at the O’Fallon Panther Classic held Friday at Tamarack Golf Club in Shiloh.

Centralia won the team title with a tournament-low team score of 302, which edged Belleville Althoff’s runner-up score of 304 by two shots.

Completing the rest of the field were: O’Fallon Blue (310), Mascoutah (324), Mater Dei (325), Granite City and Columbia (both 332), Waterloo (337), Highland (342), Collinsville (343), Alton (345), O’Fallon JV (355) and Triad (360).

Caleb Urshan of Centralia was the individual champion after carding a round of 72. Alex Gorman of Mascoutah finished in second with a 73. Rounding out the top-five individuals were Mascoutah’s Matt Hatley (74), Centralia’s Matt Dobbs (74) and O’Fallon Blue’s Logan Harris (74).

Highland was led by Portell’s round of 81.

Also posting scores for the Bulldogs were Brauns (83), Munie (86) and Rehkemper (92).

Also competing for Highland but not counting toward the team score were senior Will Michael (97) and sophomore Stephen Schniers (98).

Last Thursday, Highland finished second to Mater Dei in a quintuple match at Clover Leaf Golf Course in Alton.

Mater Dei posted a team score of 158 to best second-place Highland’s 170 by 12 strokes. East Alton-Wood River finished third at 171 while Metro-East Lutheran (180) and Roxana (191) rounded out the five-team match.

Scoring for Highland were Portell (40), Brauns (40), Munie (45) and Rehkemper (45).

On Tuesday of last week, the Bulldogs placed third in a triangle match at Westlake Country Club in Jerseyville.

Civic Memorial won the match with a meet-low team score of 178. The Eagles were followed by host Jerseyville’s 184 and Highland’s 187.

Posting scores for the Bulldogs were Michael (44), Portell (45), Brauns (47) and Schniers (51).

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 4:55 AM with the headline "Boys Golf: Bulldogs score dual win over Mater Dei."