Northwestern's Alesxon wins HON golf title, Dinkle finishes second

Northwestern High School’s Justin Alexson snuck by teammate Gabe Dinkle to win the overall Heart O’ North individual golf championship during Thursday’s conference meet at the Spooner Golf Club.

Alexson’s 82 on Thursday gave him 65 conference points, enough to pass Dinkel, who finished second with 63 points.

“For the day, Gabe shot better with a tournament second-place score of 76, but Alexson had a few extra points in the bank to draw on,” NHS coach Gary Swanson said. “It was a very exciting day and as usual it all came down to the last few shots.”

Hayward won Thursday’s event with a score of 326. Cumberland finished second with a 327 and Northwestern was third at 336.

Hayward and Cumberland ended up tied overall to share the title of HON Co-Conference Champions.

Hayward’s Ian Hansen was the meet medalist with a 75. Dinkel was second with a 76, while Cumberland Tim Scheff shot a 78 and Travis Lehman a 79.

“I was really happy for Justin,” Swanson said. “We’re pretty sure this is the first time a Northwestern golfer has taken the honor of player of the year, and as a sophomore, Justin will have two more chances to repeat.

“But not if teammate Gabe Dinkel has anything to say about it. Both golfers had great success this season and to have two of your players finish 1-2, respectively, is pretty special.”

Other scores for Northwestern were Ian Lattery and Peter Lindsay, 89s; and Ryan Garay, 90.

“As a team we ran out of gas on the back nine,” Swanson said. “We stayed close on the front but I think the guys got a little tired down the stretch. I'm not sure it was a good idea to play our practice round the night before the competition. My bad.”

The Tigers are back in action at Tuesday’s WIAA regional meet at Ashland.

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