Trevians golfers come back to clip Wildkits, win tiebreaker and win state

The full strength of New Trier golf shined bright at the state championships Friday-Saturday, Oct. 10-11, at The Den at Fox Creek in Bloomington.

Participating teams put six golfers on the course each of the two days, and the Trevians’ depth made the difference as they erased a five-stroke deficit on Day 2 to claim their third IHSA Class 3A championship in four years.

It wasn’t that simple, though. New Trier and Evanston tied for the top tournament score (each team tallies its top four scores from a six-golfer lineup) with 589 strokes, but the Trevians won the tiebreaker with a better fifth score: 157 (scored by both Ezra Primosch and Elias Weidemanis) to 166.

“It’s a team effort,” Trevians coach Pete Drevline said. “You’re playing an individual sport that you want to play as a team. You count all six guys and every guy is as important. If you ask me, guys one through six, each guy is capable of winning state and putting a great score up, which they did. We could not have won state championship without our depth.”

In another show of depth, New Trier got an All-State performance from its sixth-seeded entry, sophomore Jack Gill, who finished 1-over par (145) over the two days.

Leading the way for the Trevians was junior Liam Kelly, who tallied a 3-under 141 on the weekend to place third overall. Evanston’s Lester Low was the individual state champion at 7-under (course-record 65-72).

Kelly, who was the individual state champ a year ago, was even par after the first day and then birded two of his final three holes to help New Trier even the score.

“He loves being in the spotlight, but you can never tell,” Drevline said of Kelly. “He is so easygoing. His pulse rate must be super low. He loves competition, but you can’t tell if he just had a birdie or a bogey. He is well beyond his years with maturity in the game of golf. He’s fun to be around and likes a challenge.”

Senior Logan Keeter finished in 18th place with his 6-over (75-75), followed by Primosch and Weidemanis in 42nd at 13-over, and Jake Douglass in 67th (+19).

As the Trevians chased down the Wildkits, five of their six entries shot 75 or under on Saturday, Oct. 11.

The dramatic finish gave New Trier a bit of revenge after the Trevians finished just one stroke behind the Wildkits and Hinsdale Central tied for the top team spot at the 2024 state finals. It also marked the second straight year the Wildkits lost the team championship to a fifth-score tiebreak.

“There was definitely a chip on our shoulder from last year, just being out of the title after winning the two previous years,” Drevline said. “It’s hard to put into words. Winning a state championship is special, but it’s how we did it. The guys competed the right way, they represented our school, their families and themselves with class every single day. That’s really our goal — not just to win but to do things the right way.”

The result marked the seventh state championship and 26th state trophy (top 3 finish) for New Trier boys golf — 12 of those trophies coming in the 16 state tournaments under Drevline.

But the longtime golf coach passed much of the credit to assistant coach John Nasshan.

“Ever since he came around, he took us to another level,” Drevline said. “He’s the glue to our team. He’s one of the guys the kids look to on Par 3s and throughout the day.”

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