Riesen's career-best 69 propels Tornadoes to Hohenstein Classic victory

CLYDE — Jace Riesen feels right at home at Green Hills Golf Course.The Columbian senior blew away his career-best score Monday, carding a 2-under-par 69 to win medalist honors at the Hohenstein Classic.Columbian had three golfers finish in the top 10 — Riesen, Logan Smith (75) and Brayden Boes (79). Eli Snyder rounded out the scoring for the Tornadoes with an 84. Ryan Arnold finished with an 85.Riesen's 69 bested the 74 he shot last year at Green Hills. He had six birdies on the day, which began with a morning shotgun start."My putting was insane," Riesen said. "The wedge shots were pretty good, the driver was atrocious. I was behind a lot of trees but my putting saved me."Bellevue's Sam Cooper, a junior who played in only a few varsity matches last year, shot a 72 and finished in second place by winning a scorecard tiebreaker with Clyde's Josh Swartz, who also carded a 72.After a full summer of working at his game, Cooper arrived on the area golf scene with his 1-over-par round."To be honest, I was hoping to break 80," said Cooper, who lives near Tiffin. "I was trying to do my best to place. I didn't have high expectations for myself after last year. I know I've put in a lot of effort."Cooper helped Bellevue finish second in the 19-team field with a score of 321.Blake Sutherland and Tyson Baptista — the only senior on the Redmen roster — each shot 80 and Preston Spurlock carded an 89 to complete the team scoring.Cooper played football growing up and spent his freshman year on Bellevue's football team before the former quarterback switched to golf.Last year was his first year playing the sport."I was terrible. I couldn't get lower than 43," Cooper said. "The best I had last year in JV was a 44."He took lessons from Old Fort coach Matt Combs and began to see improvement."Just cleaned up my swing," he said. "(Combs) helped out a lot and I had a better mindset going into the season."Cooper was using a new driver, a Ping G430. He broke his TaylorMade driver while playing on the golf simulator at the Tiffin YMCA last Friday."It just sounded off," he said. I checked the face and there was a big dent in it."A quick trip to the Dick's Sporting Goods in Findlay replaced the void in his bag."I haven't hit more than 50 shots with it," Cooper said. "It's been nice."Clyde's Josh Swartz tallied a 72, while Nico Carroll added an 84, Brayden Olson shot an 85 and Gavyn Boggs ended with an 89.Calvert's Kevin Ardner led the charge with a 79. The Senecas also got an 85 from Blake Coleman, an 86 from Liam Herbert and an 87 from Weston Burns. Gavin Wagner (88) also played.Old Fort's Ryan Adelsperger carded a 79, while Evan Combs tacked on an 86, Colten Hoerig had a 91 and Grady Eakin produced a 93. Cole Bender finished with a 101.Mohawk was paced by Hunter Haynes with an 84, while Lance Frankart was right behind him with an 85, Brady Hannam posted a 96 and Braylan Mullholand ended with a 97. Cohan Rhoad ended with a 114.H-L's Cohen Sendelbach fired an 86 to lead the Chieftains. They also got a 92 from Caiden Helms, a 94 by Tyler Foos and a 95 from Colton Savidge. Wade Kreais shot a 97.Finally, Lakota was led by Alex Specks' 96, while Carter Myers posted a 99, Jack Reyna carded a 102 and Grant Scherger shot a 111. Matthew Travis (174) also competed.Team scores1. Columbian, 307; 2. Bellevue, 321; 3. Madison, 327; 4. Norwalk, 329; 5. Clyde, 330; 6. Calvert, 337; 7. Perkins, 339; 8. Old Fort, 349; 9. Margaretta, 350; 10. St. Mary CC, 356; 11. Mohawk, 362; 12. Willard, 362; 13. Hopewell-Loudon, 367; 14. St. Paul, 367; 15. Lake, 370; 16. Woodmore, 379; 17. Fremont SJCC, 392; 18. Lakota, 408; 19. Port Clinton, 457Top 25 individuals1. Jace Riesen, Columbian, 69; 2. Sam Cooper, Bellevue, 72; 3. Josh Swartz, Clyde, 72; 4. Blake Finneran, SMCC, 74; 5. Logan Smith, Columbian, 75; 6. Nick Maglott, Madison, 76; 7. Avery Scheel, Norwalk, 77; 8. Cohen Stull, SJCC, 78; 9. Ryan Adelsperger, Old Fort, 79; 10. Brayden Boes, Columbian, 79; 11. Stephan Lukac, Norwalk, 79; 12. Kevin Ardner, Calvert, 79;13. Blake Sutherland, Bellevue, 80; 14. Tyson Baptista, Bellevue, 80; 15. Kyle Schaefer, Perkins, 81; 16. Mason Dawson, Willard, 81; 17. Max Hartman, Margaretta, 82; 18. Josh Maglott, Madison, 82; 19. Keiygan Morris, Margaretta, 82; 20. Liam Stone, Madison; 21. Jaxson Bohn, Margaretta, 83; 22. Dylan Pigman, Norwalk, 83; 23. Nico Carroll, Clyde, 84; 24. Eli Snyder, Columbian, 84; 25. Hunter Haynes, Mohawk, 84