Led by TJ Quinn’s 69, Minooka golfers capture first regional title since 2002

MORRIS – The last time the Minooka boys golf team won a regional, TJ Quinn wasn’t born.

But the senior made sure Wednesday to put his stamp on Minooka golf history. He won the individual championship and led Minooka to the team title at the Class 3A Lockport Regional at Nettle Creek Country Club.

It was the first regional championship for Minooka since 2002.

“We have a super solid team,” Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic said. “It starts at the top. It helps when you have a player like TJ, who shoots par or better almost every day. But we also have our other guys who are consistently in the 70s.

“Plus, we had Keegan Reilly step up for us today. It’s a really good team, top to bottom. We’ve [finished] first or second in every tournament this season.”

Quinn shot a 2-under-par 69 to edge Joliet Township senior Mitchell Fulayter by a stroke. Lockport junior Zachary Skrzypiec shot an even-par 71 to place third. Minooka (301), Lincoln-Way East (310), and Lincoln-Way West (313) were the top three qualifying teams that advanced to the Decatur MacArthur Sectional on Monday at Hickory Point Golf Course.

“I’ve been on the varsity four years, and we really deserve it after how hard we’ve worked,” Quinn said. “There’s three of us back from last season’s [state qualifying team], and the younger guys this season have really stepped up. Our goal is to make it back to state.”

For Quinn, a 69 is very good – but he’s done better. Last week he shot a season-low 67 (par 71) at Inwood in Joliet in the Southwest Prairie Conference Tournament. Last year he had a 64 (par 72) at Ruffled Feathers in Lemont.

“This is my first individual regional title,” Quinn said. “I started fast. I was 4 under through the first five holes. I was just hitting it close and putting it well.”

Reilly shot a 76, while fellow senior Luke Purcell and junior Ethan Walsh each carded a 78 for Minooka.

A consistent effort helped Lincoln-Way East advance to the sectional, as all six players were between 73 and 81. The top four scores were junior Tyler Rea (73), senior Rory Moran (78), junior Carmine Moccio (79) and junior Nico Mancini (80).

“We feel very fortunate to get out as a team,” Lincoln-Way East coach Jim Nair said. “It’s a loaded regional and there are some very good teams here. There was a lot of fluctuation and Tyler really stepped up. Our depth has helped us the whole year. Anyone of our guys could lead us.”

Lincoln-Way West edged Lockport (314) and Lincoln-Way Central (315) for the final team qualifying spot. The top four for Lincoln-Way West were juniors EJ Dwyer (74), and Colin Ladd (79), along with seniors Logan Knedlik (80) and Charlie Stream (80).

It’s the first time the Warriors have advanced to a sectional since they won a regional title six years ago to the day in 2018.

The 10 individual sectional qualifiers were Fulayter (70, Skrzypiec (71), Lincoln-Way Central sophomore Brody Wall (72), Sandburg juniors Michael Boll (75) and Quinn McElligott (77), Andrew senior Aidan Penoyer (80), Lockport junior Hayden Gusias (80), Lincoln-Way Central sophomore Connor Kelch (80), Lockport senior Alex Hareza and Lincoln-Way Central senior AJ Ackerson (81).

It’s the third straight season that Fulayter has advanced to the sectional.

“I feel like I had no other choice,” Fulayter said of moving on to the sectional. “It’s senior year, and I knew that I could do it. I had four birdies, three bogeys and the rest par. The 70 ties my best score of the season, which I got last week at the SPC Tournament. I want to do the same thing next week. I know I can, I just have to do it at the right time.”

Lockport failed to win a regional for the first time since 2019. It also ends a streak of six straight seasons that the Porters qualified or would have qualified (2020) for the state finals. But three individuals will vie to represent Lockport at state.

“I’ve just been getting better and better and everything has come together,” said Skrzypiec, who was the SouthWest Suburban Conference individual champion last week. “[At the regional] I had a bogey, a double bogey and three birdies. Coach [Matt Eber] just makes sure we’re doing things right, and I’m pretty happy.”