FORT LUPTON – The Frederick Warriors qualified as a team for the Class 4A state tournament for the first time in program history after finishing in second place at the 4A Region 3 tournament in Fort Lupton on Thursday.
It’s been a process for head coach Chris DeSantis and the seniors on the roster that have been working towards for the past four years.
“This is something we’ve worked four years together for,” DeSantis said. “I was the assistant coach for two years and this is my second year as the head coach. It’s a great accomplishment for the kids. It’s just amazing to have that feeling.”
It was fitting that one of DeSantis’s seniors, Nick Formby, would lead the team with his second-place finish in the event at Coyote Creek Golf Course.
Formby came into the regional tournament looking for a chance to redeem himself following a tough regional tournament last year.
“That was the worst day of my life,” Formby said of the 2018 regional. “I saw two of my best friends qualify for state and I had to stay home. Knowing that as an individual, it was huge for me.”
Teeing off in the third group of the day, Formby knew he had to get past No. 1 unscathed after struggling on the same hole during the team’s home tournament earlier this year. He bogeyed the hole, but from there settled in to score 14 pars and three more bogeys to end his day.
“I’ve been struggling with my driver recently, but I got that figured out,” Formby said. “I was good with the putter. I made six or seven par putts.”
The steady day saw Formby finish at 4-over 75 as there were no golfers under par. Right behind him for FHS was Jake Chesler at 6-over 77 with one birdie and 11 pars. Colton Gabbard was six strokes behind to finish at 12-over 83 and Joe Cartelli finished at 14-over 85.
Frederick finished 22-over-par and one stroke behind Steamboat Springs in the team standings.
“With this group, three of them have been on the varsity team for four years, and that is a hard accomplishment to do in any sports,” DeSantis said. “I think getting that tournament experience, for all of them, was huge. And having Jake as a sophomore who was a state placer last year, that chemistry with the team is amazing.”
The performance on Thursday followed the team winning the Tri-Valley League tournament and performing well at each meet during the regular season. Now, they hope to continue their success at Montrose for state. But before they go, they will enjoy adding a piece of history to their program for years to come.
“There’s not a single thing that’s on our golf banner in the gym,” Formby said. “It’s really special my final year to be able to go to state as a team.”
Seven other individual golfers from five local teams also qualified for state in the regional tournament.
Silver Creek saw freshman Ben Harding come in third place at 5-over 76 and Garrett Stansel was tied for ninth place with a 8-over 79. Niwot saw Christopher Gunlikson finish 12th and Luc Blondeau come in 17th, both securing one of the final at-large bids to state for individual golfers. The top golfer for Longmont, Adam Gannon, also cracked the top 10 on the leaderboard with his 7-over 78 to punch his ticket to state. Braden Caffarelli of Erie was 13th and John Reed of Skyline finished 14th, good enough for both to get to state.
