Inductees

You look at all of the success over the decades, and it’s hard not to shake your head in awe. After all, the golfers of Helias Catholic High School helped put their school on the statewide sports map.

So, what’s been the secret to the success?

There isn’t one, former longtime coach Ray Hentges will tell you.

“The kids just liked to go out and play golf,” he said.

The Crusaders certainly have been one of the state’s most consistent going back to the late 1950s. In fact, their collective tee shot is now landing in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, which proudly inducted the Helias Catholic High School Boys Golf Program with the Class of 2022.

Helias Catholic has finished among the top four at the state meet 15 times, which is the sixth-best mark in MSHSAA history.

That includes four state championships (1958, 1983, 1993, 1994) and five state runner-up finishes, which cover the years 1984, 1986, 1997, 1998 and 2018. The Crusaders placed third in 1992 and 2021, and were fourth in 1960, 1961, 1982 and 2004.

Individual state champions have been Perry Leslie (1960), John Daly (1983), Ethan Rost (1993) and Connor McHenry (2005, 2006). Leslie and Daly went on to play on the PGA Tour.

Overall, the program has sent 26 teams to the state meet, and now counts 52 All-State finishers.

What a unique story it’s been.

For most of its first five decades, its yearly roster typically featured multi-sport athletes – primarily football players and wrestlers – and a couple of dedicated golfers. In recent years, most Crusaders have focused exclusively on golf.

The school opened in 1956 following the closure of St. Peter High School.

“We had some decent golf in 1954 and 1955 at St. Peter, and that helped give us momentum at Helias,” Hentges said.

The 1958 team edged Parkway Central by one stroke to win the state title behind James Landweher, Tommy Heisler, George Heisler and Melvin Poetker.

The 1983 team won state by eight strokes. Daly had arrived after his dad was relocated to work on a nearby nuclear power plant, and the team included Scott Cassmeyer, Chris Hentges and Brad Struttman.

“John had the best game – short game, long game, it didn’t matter. He was our best player,” Chris Hentges said. “And anytime you are surrounded by a really good player, he brings out the best in you.”

Daly’s family moved back to Arkansas before the next season. Otherwise, many believe Helias Catholic would have repeated. Cassmeyer, Hentges and Struttman were back and added Mike McDaniel. The team finished only four strokes shy of winning the 1984 state title.

The 1993 team’s top five were Rost, Josh Cooper, Matt Padberg, Travis Reinsch and Scott Holdridge. Helias won state by a stroke thanks in part to Cooper’s work on No. 18. His approach landed in a sand trap. Needing to chip to the green and then sink a putt to secure the title for Helias, he did just that.

“We knew what his score was. He didn’t know it,” Reinsch said.

Turned out, Chris Hentges was coach of runner-up Kirksville.

Said Cooper, “It was a little intense there for awhile.”

Rost fired a two-day 148 to share the state title with two others.

In 1994, Rost, Cooper and Padberg returned, with the team adding Tom Rost and Nathan Rowan. They won state by 27 strokes.

“(The credit) goes back to golfers who were older than  us,” Ethan Rost said. “There were always a group of (high school & older) guys at Jefferson City Country Club, and it didn’t matter what game it was, they were always competitive.”

The 1986 team finished 11 strokes shy of winning state. Its 1997 and 1998 teams finished runner-up to red-hot Chaminade Preparatory Academy.

The 2004 Crusaders sent Coach Hentges out on a positive note, placing fourth.

The next two years, the story was on two-time champion McHenry, who remains the youngest (14 years, 4 months) to qualify for match play in the Missouri Amateur.

“His dad was a good golfer,” Coach Hentges said, “and he was a chip off the old block.”

Three members of the 2018 team earned college scholarships. The 2021 team – bumped up to Class 5 because of the multiplier rule – edged Joplin by a stroke for third place behind a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.

“I think the best is yet to come,” coach Jay Higgins said.