Holton Golf Preview

In preparing for his 32nd year of coaching Holton High School’s varsity boys golf team, Don Swisher said he’s looking at a team that’s “somewhat experienced, but also somewhat inexperienced.”

But Swisher noted that several of the 17 young men comprising the Wildcat golf team this year have the potential to lean the team more toward the former classification than the latter — particularly two-time state golf qualifier AJ Haus­sler, who’s only halfway through his high school golf years.

“We’re actually waiting to get into that first competition and see how we stand,” said Swisher, who noted the Wildcats’ first golf com­petition will be held Friday, April 7 in Hiawatha.

Last year’s Wildcat golf squad marked the final year for four high-ranking senior players, Hayden May, Brian Nelson, Brandt Rose and Kaden Brandt, but with Haus­sler coming up through the ranks, Swisher is confident that the junior golfer may well be looking at an­other trip to the state tournament at Wamego in May.

“He’s progressively gotten better every year,” Swisher said of Haus­sler. “He’s probably going to be our number one golfer and the one that we’ll be counting on to lead us through this season.”

Two recent additions to the team that Swisher said bring high ex­pectations are seniors Austin and Riley Shepley, who joined the Holton team last year after spend­ing their first two high school years with Big Seven league foe Nemaha Central.

“They were our fourth or fifth men on the varsity team, so they have the experience that we’re looking for,” Swisher said. “With AJ and the Shepley boys, if we can find a fourth, fifth and sixth person to complement them, by the end of the season we’re going to have a pretty nice team.”

Swisher said the Cats have a good set of younger golfers coming up through the ranks who could fill out a team rather nicely. Sopho­mores Ryan Taylor and Drew Morris, he said, are two such play­ers, both of them doing well in junior varsity play last year.

“Ryan progressed rapidly through the JV season, and he gained confidence and experience, so I think he’s going to be able to help us,” Swisher said. “And we’ve watched Drew a little bit, and he’s been striking the ball pretty well. We’re hoping that he can continue to come along and help us out.”

Other golfers looking for a good season, he said, include Rafe Folk and Ethan Teter.

As for Big Seven League com­petition, Swisher said he expects to see heavy competition from league foes Nemaha Central, Jefferson West and Sabetha.

“Nemaha Central’s going to have a pretty strong team, and Jeff West is always there, too,” he said. “Sa­betha’s also looking like they’re going to be strong this year. You take those three teams, throw us in that group, and it’s going to be a pretty competitive season.”

Swisher said he’s proud to be joined by assistant coach Kurt Haussler, who’s in his third year of coaching Wildcat golfers, but longtime assistant coach Dennis “Teg” Tegethoff will not be re­turning for another season with the boys team.

“Dennis has been at it for quite a few years. He’s got girls’ golf in the fall, and with basketball season being as long as it is and having him come back in the spring, he felt he needed a little time off,” Swisher said. “We understood that, and we miss not having him here, but we know where he’s coming from.”

That said, Swisher said he and the elder Haussler feel they’re up to the task of bringing out the best in this year’s golf team.

“I think we’ll be able to take care of what needs to be taken care of,” he said.