By Reagan Hoverman

Three high school student athletes from Pierce County including two from River Falls and one from Ellsworth traveled to the boys’ 2022 WIAA State Tournament in Kohler, Wis. on Monday, June 6, and Tuesday, June 7.

River Falls junior Matthew Marsollek earned a T 14 finish with rounds of 77 and 75. Senior Trey Timm earned a T 50 finish with rounds of 80 and 83 in the Division 1 wave. Ellsworth junior Ethan Oricchio earned a T 12 finish with rounds of 81 and 78 in the Division 2 wave.

The Wildcats of River Falls sent the two best golfers on their team, who qualified as individuals with scores good enough to make the cut at the sectional tournament at Wausau West, where Timm was a medalist with a round of 73 and Marsollek shot an 80.

The state meet, held at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, was a tale of two days. On the first day of the tournament, both Timm and Marsollek began play in tough conditions which included heavy rain for the first several holes of the round. River Falls head coach Tim LaVold spoke about the conditions throughout the tournament.

“Monday started with rain so I was a little surprised we didn’t have a delay in starting the round,” LaVold said. “It was raining pretty hard for the first three holes and that made it tough to get off to a great start.”

It was a slow start for both Marsollek and Timm, who dealt with ad verse weather conditions. On the third hole of Marsollek’s opening round, he hit an errant drive that everyone watching thought would be a lost ball. River Falls managed to find the ball and save Marsollek a couple of strokes. LaVold spoke about how that gave Marsollek a jumpstart to the round.

“We found it in play and he really settled down after that and hit the ball very well,” LaVold said. “He finished his round with birdies on his 17th and 18th holes.”

Marsollek settled into his round nicely and posted a first round 77 which put him in 19th place going into Tuesday morning. While he settled into his round after finding a ball that could have been lost on the third hole, Timm couldn’t quite do the same.

According to LaVold, Timm just couldn’t get anything going his way. However, he battled, scrambled as well as he could and salvaged a round that could have easily gotten away from him. LaVold provided analysis on Timm’s opening round 80 (T 35).

“What he did well on Monday is scramble,” LaVold said. “He put him self in tough positions off the tee and his score could have been much higher than it was. He did a wonderful job of scoring from some tough spots and he hung in there and battled the whole day.”

The second day was more of the same for each of the athletes from River Falls. Marsollek continued to play well and even made a couple of splash plays to move up the leader board, which included chipping in for an eagle on his seventh hole of the Tuesday round.

“Matthew continued his solid ball striking,” LaVold said. “He just does n’t make many big mistakes. He chipped in for an eagle 3 on his seventh hole and that was a big moment as he had struggled to score before that and he really settled into the rest of his round from there.”

While Marsollek had success on the second day, it was again a battle for Timm. He had played objectively great golf all season and was in a position to have a great two days at state. Despite not having his best stuff, he battled. LaVold spoke about Timm’s adversity down in Kohler.

“Trey had another day when just nothing went right for him,” LaVold said. “He had such a great season and I know he wanted more at State. The coaching staff and team are just so proud of how he conducted himself all season and the amazing round he played at Sectionals to earn the right to go to State.”

The course presented unique challenges on both days of the tournament. On the first day, it was a windy, cold, rainy event that pushed even the gram, Timm concluded his senior season with that second round 83 at Blackwolf Run. For LaVold, the aspect of Timm that stood out was his dedication to preparation for each tournament.

“Trey’s ability to prepare for an event is second to none,” LaVold said. “He puts together a game plan for each event and then goes out and executes to the best of his ability. The younger players can learn so much from watching him.”

Both Marsollek and Timm have paved the way for a new generation of River Falls golfers to carry on a rich tradition. Although Marsollek has an other year left in the program, he and Timm’s process of preparation and summer programs will impact the program for years to come.

“Both players also showed what it takes to play at the highest level in the state,” LaVold said. “They both play in a lot of summer tournaments and they both play and practice all the time. We hope our younger players will follow in their footsteps.”

LaVold finished his reflection on the season by speaking about the sea son goals, which included getting golfers to state and trying to get the team through to state for the first time in many years.

“I think this season met our goals from the start of the year and in some ways exceeded our team goals,” LaVold said. “We knew we had a great chance to get two players to state but at the start of the year, we didn’t know how close we could get with the team. River Falls has always had good golf and this year the tradition continued.”

Ellsworth’s Ethan Oricchio

Ellsworth junior Ethan Oricchio was the third and final golfer from Pierce County to qualify for the state tournament in Kohler.

Oricchio’s run to the largest golf stage in the state began at his Division 2 sectional meet at the Bass Lake Golf Course in Antigo. Oricchio strung together 18 solid holes of golf and posted an 80 (T 4), which qualified him for state the following week.

Once Oricchio got to state, he continued his solid play, despite the ad verse weather conditions during the Monday morning round at Blackwolf Run. His first round 81 positioned him T 18 going into the Tuesday round of competition.

Oricchio fired off a second round 78 to move up to T 12 on the leaderboard, one shot out of a top ten finish in the Division 2 WIAA State Golf Tournament. He finishes his junior campaign with a lot to build on after a successful 2022 season.

River Falls High School Wildcat golfers Trey Timm (senior, left) and Matthew Marsollek (junior, right) enjoy time together at the 2022 WIAA Boys’ State Golf Tournament at Blackwolf Run in Kohler on Tuesday, June 7.Photo courtesy of River Falls High School boys’ golf