Waconia Surges to Convincing Win at Boys' Preview at Edinburgh; Labrador Earns Top Individual Honors

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. – Trailing the defending Class AAA state team champions from Maple Grove by two strokes entering Saturday’s final round of the 2019 Boys’ High School Preview, Waconia fired a team total of 291 to cruise to an 18-stroke victory at Edinburgh USA.

The Wildcats prevailed from a difficult section to reach the state tournament last June before falling flat, eventually finishing sixth at Bunker Hills, 17 shots behind the state champion Crimson. Despite a rocky start to the 2019 season, Waconia overcame a two-stroke deficit Saturday by posting one of its best rounds of the season to cruise to victory in one the strongest fields of the year.

“We’ve been pretty sporadic our first four or five meets—we’ve had some good nines, but we just couldn’t put it together,” Waconia head coach Don Skerik said following his team’s win Saturday. “Finally, today we put it together."

“[Last year] we came out of sections and we were so dang happy and we got to state and, we didn’t play bad, but we didn’t play like we were hoping to. It was a good lesson and I think the boys are really determined and they worked hard over the winter.

Entering Saturday’s final round two shots back of Maple Grove's Joe Adams, St. Michael-Alberville sophomore Christian Labrador birdied his opening hole and was helped by four birdies over his final nine holes to finish in a two-way share of the lead with Adams. Labrador prevailed in a four-hole scorecard playoff.

“I didn’t think about the competition too much. I stuck to my plan and played against Edinburgh golf course. I haven’t started that well this year, but I’m not too mad because I’m just trying to improve and shake off the rust. This win means a lot and once I shake off the rust, it’ll be a good season,” Labrador said.

For the full story and complete tournament results, go to: http://www.mngolf.org/News/Waconia_Comes_Surging_Back_to_Convincing_Win_at_Boys_Preview_at_Edinburgh