DODGE CITY – Drew Heinz could savor every last bit of his breakthrough championship moment.  

The Class 2A tournament at Mariah Hills quickly became Heinz’s to lose after the Ellinwood senior rode a blistering start Monday to a 66 and five-shot lead. 

That lead was never in jeopardy on Tuesday, with Heinz keeping the door slammed on all other contenders and capturing the title by eight strokes with a two-day total of 140. 

“I tried to take it all in, on the back nine,” Heinz said. “It was nice seeing all my family and friends watching too.”

Heinz, runner-up in each of the two previous years, delivered the low round for the second straight day, shooting a 3-over 74 in windy conditions. 

After sleeping on the five-shot lead, Heinz said he tried not to alter his approach. He maintained a comfortable cushion against Sacred Heart’s Michael Matteucci, who was runner-up with a 148 after entering as the defending champion. 

“Just hitting greens and two-putting was my goal, and I kind of did that. Putting was not very nice to me on the back nine, but I got it done,” Heinz said. 

Heinz had two birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey on Tuesday. On Monday, he set the tone by going 5 under on the front 9.

“I kind of got lucky a little bit, but I hit a lot of shots close, made the putts and rode it in to the clubhouse,” Heinz said. 
 

Matteucci shot six-over on Tuesday after shooting an even-par 71 in better conditions on Monday. He played in Heinz’s group for the second straight day. 

 “(Heinz) was just playing consistent golf,” Matteucci said. “It was actually fun to play with him both days. I was just trying to take it shot by shot and gain any strokes that I could.”

Heinz's best two rounds of his high school career have come at Mariah Hills, a good omen for him as prepares for his college career at Dodge City Community College. 

“I’m excited,” Heinz said. “I think playing this golf course every single day will make me a lot better. It challenges you every single shot. I think I’ll improve a lot and compete with the guys out here.”

Matteucci was joined in the top five by Sacred Heart teammates Luke Newell and Walker Tuttle. Newell finished with a 150 to take third and Tuttle had a 153 to tie with Oakley’s Easton Fink for fourth. 

The rest of the top 10 was comprised of Cair Paravel’s Rich Helmbold (sixth, 154), Garden Plain’s Tate Nelson (seventh, 158), Hoxie’s Noah Dowell (eighth, 159), Valley Heights’ Jayden DeWalt (ninth, 160) and Sacred Heart’s Hunter Newell (10th, 161).
 

Nine times! Sacred Heart extends state-record streak

Sacred Heart coach Patrick Newell knows the Knights’ unprecedented run of consecutive team championships will inevitably come to an end at some point. 

But his senior-laden team made darn sure it wouldn’t be this year. 

Sacred Heart rolled to its state-record ninth straight team championship, winning the 2A tournament by a whopping 57 strokes over second-place Ellinwood. 

 “Each year, everybody knows (about the streak) on the team, and everybody younger knows about it,” Newell said. “It’s expected that you’re going to do your best and you’re going to try to keep winning. You don’t want to be the ones that end the streak, but the streak’s going to end some time.”

The Knights took a lot of the pressure off by delivering their best round of the season on Monday with a 9-over par 293 to open up an insurmountable 38-stroke lead. They carded a team score of 319 on Tuesday to finish with a two-day total of 612. 

Sacred Heart placed three in the top five and four in the top 10, led by senior Michael Matteucci’s runner-up showing. Matteucci, the 2023 champion, finished with a two-day total of 148, eight shots behind winner Drew Heinz from Ellinwood. 

“Nobody wants to be the class to end (the streak),” Matteucci said. “We all have fun with it and push each other to play the best we can. We’ll all enjoy it together.”
 

Junior Luke Newell (150) was third and senior Walker Tuttle (153) tied for fourth while senior Hunter Newell placed 10th with a 161. 

“Mikey is Mikey,” Coach Newell said. “Mikey is always solid. We can always count on him. Luke kind of struggled this year but he’s come on the last couple tournaments. Walker’s been real solid this year as well, and Hunter has been playing solid, too. 

“They’re all really right there together. And if somebody played bad, then (Dominic Matteucci or Jason Marrs) would come in and have a good round. We have a pretty good top four, and then the other two, our 5 and 6, come in and help out if we need it.”

The Knights played a tough schedule this season, loading with up meets against 6A and 5A competition. 

“We played against pretty much the big dogs,” said Patrick Newell, who has coached the Knights the last four seasons. “It was fun to see what we had against them. We usually took fourth, or fifth or sixth, and people thought: Where’s Sacred Heart this year? Then we came out in the 2A tournament and showed what we had. It was a lot of fun.”

The Knights will have to reload next year in order to push the streak to 10, losing four seniors off the state team. 

“Next year will probably be stressful,” Coach Newell said with a chuckle. 

Ellinwood’s second-place finish was fueled by Heinz’s individual title and a top-15 showing from Mason Moore (166). Luke Heinz’s 178 and Braden Lewis’ 185 also counted toward the team scores for the Eagles. 

“(Winning individually) was awesome, and it was even better getting second as a team,” Heinz said, noting Ellinwood’s program was just re-launched four years ago. 

Cair Paravel, led by Rich Helmbold’s sixth-place effort with a 154, took third as a team with a 682.