Cason Bekemeier brought home Republic’s first boys conference golf championship in 31 years, and Porter Bollinger joined him as a medalist at the Central Ozark Conference West Division Tournament in Carl Junction Monday.
Bekemeier shot a 75 to win the individual title, one stroke ahead of Neosho’s Jaxon Ertel. He sealed his victory in dramatic fashion on the final hole after Webb City’s Jackson Lucas chipped in for eagle on the 17th to pull into a tie. Lucas bogeyed the final hole to finish third, two strokes back.
As a team, Republic finished second with a 315, just two strokes behind champion Neosho (313). Willard took third (326), followed by Joplin (342) and Webb City (343).
Bollinger tied for fourth with a 78, giving Republic two golfers in the top five. Luke Heavin added an 80 to tie for ninth, and David Hayes shot an 82 to round out Republic’s team score, finishing 13th overall. Ryder Edmonds shot a 92.
Neosho placed four golfers in the top 10 to secure the team championship, with Camp Ramsey (78) joining Ertel in the top five.
Bekemeier’s win is the first conference golf championship for the Republic boys team since Ryan Harrington won back-to-back COC titles in 1993 and 1994. Katie Hamilton won a COC girls title in 2015.
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