Michael Reece and Tague Conrad of Larned High School will represent their school in the Class 4A state golf tournament on Monday.
Reece, a sophomore, won a regional championship with a 1-under-par 69. He won a playoff to beat Trevor Torgerson of Buhler.
“Michael, I’ve been waiting for him to bust loose and win a golf tournament all year,” Larned head coach Mike Seeman said. “He was there a couple times. He had it wrapped up at the Highlands and gave it away in the last three or four holes.
“Then to pick 4A regionals to win, I don’t know where that comes from.”
Seeman said that Reece will have a lot to deal with at the state tournament.
“He’s going to be in the last group,” Seeman said. “He’s going to have some big names playing with him. He’s going to have that big gallery. He’s going to have the TV cameras, the media with him from start to finish.
“It’s going to be a lot of pressure on him for his first trip to state.”
Reece said that he expects nerves to bother him early, but not the entire tournament.
“I need to keep doing what I’ve been doing,” Reece said. “That’s about it. I need to play like I know how to. There will be some nerves at the first tee, but afterwards, it should be OK.”
Conrad has been to a state tournament before. The junior has competed in a state tournament all three years, though this is the first year that Larned has been classified 4A.
“Tague has been very good for a very long time,” Seeman said. “He’s been playing for a long time. He’s had some success in junior golf and KJGA. High school golf was just a small step above that for him.
“With him, he’s probably the one that will go up there and be more relaxed for two reasons. One, he’s been there, and No. 2, he feels pretty fortunate to be there this year because he did not play well at regionals.”
Conrad finished 11th in Larned’s regional tournament.
“I know what to expect when I get there,” Conrad said. “The nerves aren’t going to be as bad. I’ve kind of been in this position before.
“I just need to play as best as I can, and hopefully it will be good enough to be at the top.”
Seeman said that he expected the pair to qualify.
“That was my expectation at the beginning of the season,” Seeman said. “Hosting regionals, obviously, we thought we had a chance to qualify the team, but we’re pretty young. I new it was going to be difficult, especially in 4A.”