PANORA - The Bishop Garrigan boys golf team handed head coach Dean Capesius a going-away present on Saturday.
In Capesius' sixth and final season as the Bears' head coach, Garrigan claimed the Class 1A state championship. It was the second title in three seasons for the program, which has been to state in four of the last six seasons under Capesius.
"Going into the postseason, we were trying to find our way,'' said Capesius, who is resigning after this season. "We started believing we had a chance to move on and we kept advancing."
Garrigan used a final-day 341 to hold off Treynor and capture gold. The Golden Bears carded an opening-day score of 346 to lead the field, then did just enough to hold off Treynor and Belle Plaine.
Treynor was second with a 694, followed by Belle Plaine and Mason City Newman.
"The course was playing well enough for low scores, so with a 12-stroke lead heading into the final round, I freed them up a little and told them just to go out there and play as well as they could,'' Capesius said. "This was a true team effort. In every round of the postseason, the person we had shoot low was different every day.
"They believed in themselves and the team and that's what it takes.''
Brandon Schiltz led Garrigan with a 164, placing him sixth overall. The senior fired rounds of 78 and 86 in the tournament.
Billy Schiltz, a senior, carded a 171 (93-78), as did classmate Eli Marlow (83-88).
Sophomore Michael Berke chipped in a 181(92-89) for the Golden Bears, and ninth-grader Jess Marlow had a 197 (101-96).
Carson Barron of Don Bosco won the individual title with a 151, one-stroke better than Levi Fink from Valley Community.