Three strokes were all that separated the Whittell golf team from a trip to state, but luckily the Warriors were on the winning end.

Only the top three regional teams advance to state, and Whittell locked up that final spot by three strokes on Wednesday. The Warriors snagged third place at the Northern III regional tournament at Ruby View Golf Course on Wednesday. Whittell’s 456 barely edged North Tahoe, which took fourth with 459.

Incline claimed the overall regional title, firing a collective 433, followed by Battle

Mountain in second with 444.

The field for that final state spot was close. Behind North Tahoe, Wells was five strokes off Whittell’s third with a score of 461. Sierra Lutheran notched a 517.

“You look at the team scores and it was just so close,” Wells coach Bob

Woolsey said. “We had a lot of out of bounds penalties, and that’s the difference on the day.”

Whittell’s Steven Beeler led the Warriors with an 83. Anders Chaplin added an 84, Zoe Bertz a 91, Derek Heldt-Werle a 99, Colin Buchholz a 99 and Spencer Buchholz a 102.

The top five golfers from non-qualifying schools also earned state invites. The invites went to Mineral County’s Mavro Viani, Wells’ Cameron Huff, Sage Ridge’s Grant Gabriel, Wells’ Andrew Woolsey, North Tahoe’s Justin Fenley and Sierra Lutheran’s Carson Iverson.

Whittell will host the state tournament at Genoa Lakes Course on Tuesday and Edgewood Golf Course on Wednesday.

Elko Daily Free Press sports editor Martin Harris contributed to this report.