Local Golfers in Mix at State Match Play

The first two rounds of matches were completed and eight players remain at the 54^th Nebraska Match Play Championship at Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg, including the No. 1 seed Nate Vontz of Lincoln, who has not cooled off.
Vontz won the first seven holes of his Round of 32 match against Christian Ghilardi of Lincoln. He added a birdie on No. 10 to go 8 up, and closed out the match on No. 11 with a par to win, 8 and 7. He made four birdies and seven pars over the 11 holes.
In his Round of 16 match, Vontz played his best golf yet. He close out the match, 4 and 3 over Christopher Atkinson of Omaha. Vontz was nine-under over the 14 holes.
Bennington’s Johnny Spellerberg will take on Vontz in the Quarterfinals. Spellerberg won his two matches 5 and 3 over Jack Tickle of Omaha and 2 and 1 over Vance Janssen of Blair.
In the next Quarterfinal, Omaha’s Grant Jabenis will face the 2019 Champion Caleb Badura of Aurora.
Lincoln’s Travis Minzel, the 2004 Champion, and Elkhorn’s Danny Woodhead will square up. Both players won 1 up on the 18th hole in their Round of 16 matches.
The final Quarterfinal matchup is a rematch of the 2013 Nebraska Match Play Final. Omaha’s Andy Sajevic and Norfolk’s Lance Lawson faced each other eight years ago at Elks Country Club in Columbus. Sajevic won that match 4 and 2 to claim his only Nebraska Match Play title.
Sajevic made it through the longest match of the day in the Round of 32, defeating Omaha’s Colton Stock in 21 holes. Lawson also had a tough match in the morning, winning 1 up over Preston Carbaugh of Cambridge. Both players closed out their afternoon matches with birdies. Sajevic won 4 and 2 over Mason Hale of Atkinson, while Lawson won 4 and 3 over Brad Rowe of Omaha.
Quarterfinal matches begin at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, followed by the Semifinals in the afternoon.