If you look at any team that wins multiple championships, there is a player,” Paul Meyer said. “I had a player on all of those teams. Ava is that player for Prescott. Any great team has at least one stud that is in the running for an individual state championship for three or four years.”

In the more than three decades of high school golf in Pierce County, only two local programs have ever built dynasties.

The River Falls High School boys’ golf team won three WIAA Division 1 state championships between 2002 and 2005, and finished runner-up or better five consecutive times at the state tournament from 2001-2005.

Prescott’s girls’ golf team became the first public school in WIAA history to win the Division 2 state championship when it defeated The Prairie School by 19 shots in the fall of 2020. The title was the first of three consecutive for the Cardinals, which made them just the fifth program in state history to win three or more titles in a row.

The two stretch runs are seemingly quite different. River Falls built a D1 boys dynasty in the early aughts and Prescott’s girls are still amid one of the best public school runs in WIAA history. However, the two dynasties are more interconnected than meets the eye.

For Paul Meyer, who coached the River Falls High School boys’ golf team from 1996 to 2007, every high school dynasty shares a couple of imperative characteristics. One of them is having an all-time great player that leads the charge.

Programs can pop up and get hot for a year and claim one state title. But to win multiple championships consecutively – something his Wildcats and the Prescott Cardinals both did – there is one player at the core of the program’s run of success.

“If you look at any team that wins multiple championships, there is a player,” Meyer said. “I had a player on all of those teams. Ava is that player for Prescott. Any great team has at least one stud that is in the running for an individual state championship for three or four years.”

Ava Salay was that and then some during her tenure at Prescott. When the Cardinals won their first state championship in 2020, Salay’s sophomore year, she finished runner-up and missed going to a playoff for the individual title by just one stroke.

Salay led Prescott to two more consecutive state championships in 2021 and 2022 and posted rounds of 148 and 149 respectively, which earned her back-to-back individual state titles. Salay’s excellence paved the way for what was – and is – one of the most dominant runs in history.

Ava Salay is to Prescott’s dynasty what Tyler Obermueller was to River Falls’ historic run in the early 2000s. Obermueller, who was on the team between 2002 and 2005, was the only player in River Falls history to be a starter on three state championship teams.

As a freshman in the spring of 2002, Obermueller led the Wildcats to their first state championship in school history. Because of treacherous weather, the second day of the tournament was canceled.

Obermueller’s two-under par round of 70, which tied then-teammate Travis Meyer for the low round of the day, netted him a co-individual state championship in his first high school season.

After a runner-up finish in 2003, River Falls won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005, which cemented the Wildcats’ dynasty. Obermueller earned another individual championship with his medalist score of 141 in 2004.

“Tyler had an outstanding career as an individual in WIAA golf,” Meyer said. “He won two individual titles and finished runner-up twice. He was the solidifier for us. When Tyler got down to the state tournament, that was his golf course.”

River Falls and Prescott each had one true thoroughbred that led the dynasty. Additionally, their championship rosters featured something that few other programs ever find: a combination of great players and unique camaraderie and chemistry that takes the team to another level.

For River Falls, that core group of players between 2002 and 2005 included Tyler Obermueller, Tim Schultz, Andy Rauscher, Travis Meyer, Josh Wells, Aaron Nelson, Brad Obermueller and Ryan Foley.

Prescott’s dynasty was largely because of Ava Salay, Rhi Stutz, Liz Rohl, Maddie Reiter and Jess Heinsch, all of whom played integral roles in the first two state championships. Now, Jeanne Rohl and Gabbi Matzek, who were on the 2022 title team, are the future of the Cardinals’ program.

For Prescott head coach Chad Salay, the talent he had on those early state championship rosters paired perfectly with an everlasting camaraderie between the girls that turned the Cardinals into one of the most dominant teams Wisconsin has ever seen.

“I never really knew how important team cohesivity was in golf until I saw it with those girls,” Chad Salay said. “I just don’t know if it will ever be matched. They just had a connection and certain aspects that most teams don’t have the advantage of having.”

When Ava Salay, Liz Rohl, Stutz, Reiter and Heinsch joined Prescott’s golf team, it was nothing more than a middling program that couldn’t fathom competing for a state title. That group, under the direction of Chad Salay, turned Prescott into a perennial powerhouse known statewide.

“Those five individuals are the ones we can single out and say that they put their stamp on the program,” Chad Salay said. “They were the leaders of what has become a powerhouse program. I still use Jess and Liz’s numbers to show our new players how good they can be.”

Prescott’s five core girls from the dynasty may have posted strong scores, but their impact goes well beyond numbers. Their leadership and work ethic have been ingrained deep in the fibers of the program.

“I feel like those girls did a great job of setting the standard for this program,” Chad Salay said. “They set the leadership standard for the next generation of girls’ golf. We’re confident in what our younger leaders learned from the great players and people that those five were.”

The camaraderie and leadership in Prescott directly correlate with that of River Falls’ dynasty in the early 2000s. The Wildcats unquestionably had a dynamic roster chock-full of talent. But it was those special bonds between teammates and best friends that elevated it further.

Paul Meyer will never forget raising those three River Falls state championship trophies at University Ridge in Madison, but he’ll also remember the van rides, the hotel room conversations and the pure joy he experienced with those players.

“They were all close friends and it 100% made a difference,” Meyer said. “I had guys that played hard, but they were just so much fun. That group from 2002 to 2004, they were so close. Three of them played basketball together, some were best friends and they just did everything together.”

Although the two dynasties happened nearly two decades apart, River Falls and Prescott’s success at the state level was in large part because of their unique talent and dynamic chemistry which made them two of the best dynasties in state history.