KC Nickel is money as Waunakee senior delivers winning putt to end historic day and give Warriors first state title (2024)

KOHLER— As he approached the 18th green Tuesday evening on the Meadow Valleys Course at Blackwolf Run, KC Nickel tried to get a read on his Waunakee boys golf teammates and the importance of the 30-foot putt in front of him.

That was the first time the senior shot a look to the guys who had positioned Waunakee one shot ahead of Eau Claire Memorial. The next time Nickel turned to face the rest of the Warriors, after cleaning up a tap-in putt for par, they were rushing toward him in celebration of the program's first WIAA Division 1 state championship and the ultra-dramatic fashion in which it was won.

Nickel's par not only gave him his second consecutive 75 and a T-6 showing, but it preserved the final stroke of what had been a six or seven-stroke lead when Eau Claire Memorial's Will Schlitz— the 2022 Division 1 state champ— had finished the final round of his prep career in the final group of the first wave of teams off No. 1. A closing 308 gave Waunakee a 619 total and the smallest margin of victory in Division 1 since 2015 when Arrowhead (Hartland) edged Notre Dame (Green Bay) by one shot at University Ridge in Madison.

For Nickel, whose 150 total was five shots behind medalist Cody Schmidt of Germantown, what was about to unfold on the 18th green was a full-circle moment similar to one he faced asa freshman when Waunakee needed a par out of him to force a playoff for the final state berth with the host school at the Madison Memorial sectional. He made bogey.

"I was thinking 'I hope I don't miss this,'" Nickel said with a laugh about his chance to deliver such a magic— and historic— moment for Waunakee before heading off to Siena College (N.Y.) this fall to play NCAA Division I golf for the reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions. "No, I was thinking about celebrating with the team. That's all I was thinking about after that."

Nickel, whose back-to-back birdies at Nos. 15 and 16 had helped the Warriors extend their lead on Eau Claire Memorial to three strokes, had no idea that teammate Brady Piazza had double-bogeyed the 383-yard 18th hole with the forced-carry approach shot over the Sheboygan River. He hadn't looked at the team leaderboard since No. 14 and was oblivious to the one-shot margin.

As he waded through the golf bags parked behind the 18th green, Nickel shot his teammates a glance to see if he could get a read on the situation.

"I didn't know Brady had doubled it until I finished," he said, explaining the first glance. "I was looking to see their body language. They looked pretty relaxed so I knew we probably had a couple of strokes to play with, even though it was only one stroke. They looked pretty relaxed to me so that relaxed me."

After his playing partners had finished the hole, Nickel had the honor of hitting the final putt of the 2024 boys golf season. As it fell into the hole, he turned toward his teammates one more time to determine exactly what it meant.

"I did need verification, yeah," Nickel said through the shine of a brilliant smile while describing the golden moment he was swallowed up by teammates and coaches in celebration of the program's first title in its third state appearance. "That was fun. I'll never forget it. They're the whole reason that we won; it wasn't just me."

Indeed, on this day Waunakee also counted a 76 from Brady Piazza (T-16) and a 77 from Peyton Albers (T-16), but still needed a fourth score of 80 or better to stay on the right side of the math against Eau Claire Memorial. The Warriors got it from an unlikely source— junior alternate Peter Wangerin, whose 80 in his sixth 18-hole round of the season per iWanamaker tied his season-low.

"We had AJ (Ziegler) play (Monday) and my goal was to have Peter play (Tuesday)," said Waunakee coach Betsy Zadra, whose program had more than 80 golfers in it this spring and an army of volunteers to help coach them. "I thought Peter could come out and maybe shoot a low number that would help the rest of the team and take a load off of them. It worked out perfectly."

To hear Wangerin describe it, it was better than perfect.

"I wasn't expecting very much," Wangerin said after making two birdies, seven pars, eight bogeys and one double-bogey in his third career round on the Meadow Valleys Course. "Typically, these four guys ahead of me play pretty well. I knew I just had to go out there and post a score that I, personally, would be happy with. ... I realy wasn't nervous throughout the round. It felt very, very comfortable for me. I made a bunch of putts and played probably better than I have in my life, so it was really fun."

But fun didn't begin to describe what it was like for Wangerin to watch Nickel finish what he started by nearly holing his 30-foot putt for birdie on the final hole.

"I had a putt similar to that on 18 for myself so I knew what kind of putt it was," Wangerin said. "I had full confidence in him. He's like one of the best players I've ever seen and I knew that he would be able to put it close and make the next putt."

Nickel shot a glance toward Wangerin while talking to a reporter after the awards ceremony when it hit him that an alternate had paved the way for his moment in the spotlight an hour later. "Peter did count. He shot 80 today, which is a great score. And he was a huge reason why we get to (celebrate) and we all knew he could do it, too."

As he got set to walk into the darkness that was beginning to envelop Blackwolf Run, there was one final question to be asked of Nickel. After all of the highs and lows of his career, what did it mean to make the winning putt and hoist the gold trophy?

"I don't know," Nickel replied after taking a few seconds to ponder the moment. "I know that I made history; that's what it means. And it means ... it's really sweet. It's a really sweet ending to my high school career.

"It means a lot to Waunakee. It means a lot to me. And I'm glad we could make our city proud."