CANEY — Humboldt’s Ryan Sellman’s fantastic freshman campaign will conclude with a trip to the state tournament.
“It is exciting because at the beginning of the season that was my goal and I achieved my goal,” Sellman said.
Sellman shot a 89 at the regional tournament hosted by Caney Valley which earned him sixth place and put him into the state tournament field.
With rainy conditions and a wet course, Sellman said the scores were affected by the weather. Play was delayed for 30 minutes in the middle of the round due to lightning in the area.
“It impacted my score a lot, because the ball wasn’t rolling very well and it stuck 90 percent of the time in the fairway,” Sellman said.
Sellman looks up to his brother Robbie, who also qualified for the state tournament as a freshman. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to improve on what his brother was able to accomplish.
“It means a lot to follow in my brother’s footsteps,” Sellman said. “He is the one I look up to and I want to do better than he did at state as a freshman.”
Robbie finished 63rd at state as a freshman.
“I have to work on my short game,” Sellman said. “Hopefully I can get that down and I think I can do well at state.”
Ryan credits first-year coach Eric Sparks with helping him develop this year.
“We have grown together a lot in his first year as a golf coach,” Sellman said.
Fredonia and Caney Valley finished as the top two teams in the tournament and earned the right to send their entire teams to state.
Caney Valley’s Troy Watson won the tournament by shooting a 71.
The state tournament begins on Monday in Salina.
