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'Pretty fearless golf' leads Bloomington South boys back to state

MONTGOMERY — Owen Wisley made all the difference at last year's boys golf regional when his fifth score won a tiebreaker over Jasper's highest score for the third and final berth to state.

The junior was a tipping point again out of the No. 4 spot for Bloomington South at this year's Washington boys golf regional at Country Oaks on Thursday, June 11. Maybe not as dramatic, yet satisfying nonetheless.

This time, he and No. 5 man, junior Easton Bellini shored up a season best team score as Wisley shot a 74 and Bellini a career best 75 to help the Panthers take second with a 295 to trail only No. 5 Castle (291) and top the other state qualifier, Evansville Memorial (299).

Bloomington North was ninth at 315, seven shots better than sectional champ Brownstown Central (322).

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Bloomington South’s Owen Wisley hits a putt during the IHSAA boys’ golf sectional at Cascades Golf Course on Monday, June 8, 2026.

"It's pretty awesome," Wisley said. "Especially for my two seniors (Colton Watson and Carson Gady), they've been my role models the past few years, so for me to help them, it's a great feeling."

"It's amazing," Bellini added. "That's what you hope for. Just do your job, and hopefully you can contribute. And that's what I did today."

Wisley's round included a big shot when he holed out on No. 3 (his 12th) from 130 yards for eagle.

"I had a lesson a couple days ago," Wisley said. "A double lesson and it helped my confidence a little bit. I got a good warm-up and I felt pretty confident. Made a par on the first hole and game over from there."

Bloomington South’s Easton Bellini hits a shot during the IHSAA boys’ golf sectional at Cascades Golf Course on Monday, June 8, 2026.

Bellini's been building his confidence all year. A change in his approach to putting, spending less time hanging over the shot and simply trusting his line and hitting it, made a big difference.

"I've been hitting the ball well for a while now," he said. "I had a bad start to the season, but it's coming together. I finally started making some putts today. Just mentally stayed in it. I think I did a good job of that."

For Bellini, he's sees himself more as an insurance policy, one that the Panthers cashed in on.

"As a 5 guy, I really get to play free," Bellini said. "If I play well, they're probably going to take my score and it'll help. And if I play bad, I know I have four other great teammates that we can fall back on."

Bloomington South’s Carson Gady hits a tee shot during the IHSAA boys’ golf sectional at Cascades Golf Course on Monday, June 8, 2026.

7th heaven for South

Watson (73) and Gady (73), who was six shots better than last year, led the way. Karl Bailey had a 77 in his first regional. It's the best team score South has had at regional since being switched out of the Champions Pointe field in 2023.

It was a much more pleasing effort for their coach after coming in second at sectional.

"It was great," Wisley said. "An off day shows a lot about a team. You know you're a lot better than that. We learned a lot from that off day. So, we came out here and knew what we needed to do and did it."

Every Panther shot a 37 or 38 on their first nine, showing they were locked in as their 150 stood second only to Castle. But four teams were just two back and two more four back, meaning South had to stay focused in the heat of the day as temps soared to 90 degrees.

"I thought it was pretty fearless golf, actually," South coach Dustin Carver said. "We talked about it on the bus. They had it in them. We knew from Day 1 that this team could be pretty special, it was just a matter of this is the one day they all kind of put it together.

"This is the first time all year that all five guys were in the 70s. It's exciting to go back to state and being able to compete. That was one of our goals to start this year."

With Watson a four-year varsity starter and Gady for three years and Wisley his second, that experience had to mean something in the Panthers bouncing back.

"You have that leadership of the two seniors up front," Carver said. "They've been there, done that. They weren't happy about (sectional), but Monday's in the past and today's a special day."

That's now seven state appearances in a row for South (2020 tournament was cancelled due to COVID), second only to the Panthers' run of eight from 1996-2003. Only Carmel and West Lafayette Harrison have more state appearances than BHS/South's 44.

The state meet will be at Prairie View in Carmel on Tuesday-Wednesday, June 16-17.

Bloomington North’s Ryan Decker hits a tee shot during the IHSAA boys’ golf sectional at Cascades Golf Course on Monday, June 8, 2026.

Young and old lead Cougars

Senior Rex Speer and freshman Ryan Decker each had 77s, as did junior Alec Freund to pace the Cougars.

Speer is the only senior in the lineup with four coming back and looking to get North back to state as a team in 2027. Speer struggled in his first nine at sectional and has been more than solid over his last 27. His best shot of the day came on No. 6 (his 15th), where his 3-wood from 270 yards out left him a 20-foot putt.

"I had a rough nine at sectionals and bounced back, so it feels great to come out and here and put a good score on the board," Speer said. "I finished bogey, bogey on 17-18 but just excited to put a good score up."

On the other end is freshman Ryan Decker, who just completed his first high school season at regional.

"I really struggled on the back nine (41), my front nine, but I was really, really proud of myself with how I turned it around on the front," Decker said. "It's just a been a really fun season, great teammates, great coaches.

"Obviously want to do better next year, but happy with the first year."

Zayan Farzad had been playing in the 70s the last month of the season, but fell to an 84 and Foster Larson opened with a 42 but struggled from there to shoot 93.

"I think coming back next year, we'll feel pretty positive about things," North coach Harrison Carmichael said. "They just need to stay with it, stay hungry and just come back wanting a little bit more next year."

"We've got a lot of young talent coming back," added Speer, who is headed to Notre Dame. "I'm definitely excited to follow long and see who they do."

Tournament roundup

Owen Valley senior Jake Cunningham shot just 1-over on each side to finish with a 74, while Bedford North Lawrence's Evan Tillett put himself in position to advance with a 72. Hudson Martin had an 81.

Individual qualifiers were Mason Mills of Boonville (70) with Ben Schreiber of Evansville North and Val Lenninger of Springs Valley also making it with 71s.

Brayden Lamborn of Castle was the medalist at 69.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South boys golf second at IHSAA regionals, advances to state

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