Cleveland boys golf closes memorable 2025 season at state tournament

Published 11:03 pm Tuesday, May 20, 2025

By Austin White

While a 12th place finish as a team might not normally be big news, Cleveland High School boys golf finishing there at the 2025 state boys golf tournament is quite significant.

Only nine months ago, the Warriors lost their head coach and long-time Cleveland athletics supporter Casey Dyer who passed away in September of 2024.

With a senior-laden crew that had Dyer as their head coach for their three previous years, the news was devastating as they looked ahead to the spring season.

With a “CD” patch on each of their white golf shirts, the Warriors battled throughout the spring and took home the PIL title to earn a bid to state.

And at the OGA Golf Course in Woodburn, the Warriors made Dyer proud with their 12th place finish, headlined by senior Jack Robertson finishing with a 9-over 153 two-day score for 22nd.

“I think we just wanted to win the league for (Dyer) and go out here and have fun,” Robertson said. “I wish he was here, it would have been a lot of fun if he was here.”

The Warriors were still able to put together a fun couple rounds as a group, taking the advice Dyer had coached into them over the years.

Robertson had the best tournament of his high school career as he entered state as the No. 4 seed on the squad. He fired off a 2-over 74 in round one to vault him into one of the two final groups for round two on Tuesday, May 20. He finished the tournament off with a 7-over 79 in round two.

“It was a great day, I didn’t really hit many bad shots, everything was just going where I thought it was,” Robertson said. “I (double bogeyed) the last hole which was unfortunate, but it was overall a good round, had a lot of birdies.”

Fellow senior Sam Faherty wasn’t far behind, finishing in 26th with an 11-over 155, shooting 81 on day one and 74 for day two.

Junior Riley Mortola was next in 45th with a 17-over 161, followed by senior Will Paulus in 75th with a 31-over 171.

Seniors Calvin Souther and Brady Ryan split the fifth spot for the Warriors with Souther shooting a 21-over 93 in round one and Ryan shooting 20-over 92 in round two.

While the Warriors didn’t walk away from this tournament with a trophy, the group still had a blast for the 2025 season.

And most importantly, the effort they put forward all season to make state and continue to shoot low rounds would have certainly made Dyer proud of his first class of golfers.

“It’s been really nice, we didn’t quite (win the PIL) the last couple years, so it was really nice to get it done in my senior year,” Robertson said. “It’s been a really good experience, especially this trip. It’s been fun to all be together for a couple days.”

More PIL results

While Cleveland was the only PIL team to qualify for state, three more players represented the city at state down in Woodburn.

Leading the charge was two-time PIL individual champion Quinn Hefele, a senior from Lincoln. He finished in a tie for 10th at 5-over 149 after shooting a 6-over 78 in round one and a 1-under 71 in round two.

Up next was Hefele’s teammate in junior Ethan Chang, who finished in a tie for 34th. Chang shot a 9-over 81 in round one and a 4-over 76 in round two to finish with a 13-over 157 score.

The last PIL golfer in the field was Ida B. Wells senior Otto Laprete who took home a tie for 57th. He shot a 14-over 86 in round one and an 8-over 80 in round two, finishing with a 22-over 166 score.

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