After he lagged his putt across the 18th green on the 54th and final hole of the Class 2A state golf tournament, Asher Schieber quietly pumped his fist.

Moments later, the Okarche junior tapped in his par putt at KickingBird Golf in Edmond. He walked off the green with his arms raised and was mobbed by his teammates as they emptied their water bottles on him - and each other - in celebration.

Five Warrior golfers were realizing a dream of a state championship as Okarche made history with the program’s first title in dominant fashion.

While historic, it was also a familiar feeling for Okarche fans and, especially, two of its golfers.

The championship was the fourth in athletics for Okarche this year.

The Warriors won the Class A baseball state championship back in the fall, then a third straight championship in basketball in the winter.

On Saturday, May 16, Okarche became just the third team to ever complete the fall baseball-basketball- spring baseball triple crown as the Warriors downed Dewar 8-3 in the Class A-I state championship.

In that game, senior Lane Rother started in right field, went 1 for 3 at the plate and scored a run.

Freshman Cy Collamore, who got the win in the semifi nals, recorded the final out on the mound.

The very next day, they were marching up and down the hills of Kicking-Bird in the rain while playing a practice round as they prepared for the state golf tournament.

By Tuesday afternoon, the duo had claimed their second state championship in 72 hours - third if you count Okarche’s academic state championship in baseball.

“It is truly just surreal,” Rother said. “I can’t really describe it in many more words than that.

“I never dreamed of winning all these championships.”

•••

The baseball and basketball titles were no surprise for Okarche, if not expected.

However, few pegged the Warriors as a true contender entering this golf season.

Last year Okarche did shoot the second-lowest final round at Oakwood in Enid en route to a fifth-place finish.

Schieber, Rother and Hudson Mueggenborg returned from that team.

However, Okarche was also losing Hunter Mueggenborg, who earned All-State honors.

Rother said last year’s finish did give the team some form of boost.

“I think the confidence came from our last day at state last year,” he said. “So we knew that as long as we worked hard through the offseason, we definitely had a shot.”

During that offseason work, coach Adam Wilczek kept getting reports from his team.

“Several of the golf kids kept coming by and telling me that over the summer, Cy was shooting low,” Wilczek said. “They said he was shooting even at Hefner and under-par at Kingfisher.”

That’s when Wilczek himself had the seed of belief planted.

“I remember telling my wife, Rachel, that if we could get three players to shoot in the 70s and a couple in the low 80s, we will be in the hunt to win it all,” Wilczek said.

Fast forward to spring and it was difficult to see it materializing.

Baseball was a priority for Rother and Collamore. There’s also the busy FFA season and a number of other events during the spring.

That made it difficult for Wilczek to field what would be his best team at most tournaments.

The first time it did happen was the Dover Small School Invitational at Kingfisher.

Okarche was the runner- up behind Oklahoma Christian Academy, a team that finished fifth in the Class 3A state tournament.

Collamore finished fourth and Schieber fifth individually.

A little later, that same group won the small-school tournament at Elk City.

Others were taking notice.

“During our tournament at Clinton, I remember one of the Clinton coaches telling me we had a good shot,” said Wilczek. “Throughout the season, it was in the back of my mind.”

Still, it wasn’t easy. “It was pretty tough trying to make it to golf tournaments around baseball games,” Collamore said. “But I made time to practice golf in my free time, whether it was practicing by myself or going to play with some of my buddies.”

Rother said he prioritized baseball.

“So if we had a game on the same day as a golf tournament, I would skip the golf tournament and go to baseball,” he said. “If I could I would go to golf, then make it back in time to get ready for our baseball games.”

On days when there was no baseball game or golf tournament, the baseball practices usually went to about 4:30 p.m.

“Then I would either go play at Kingfisher or I would go home and hit in the net in my barn,” Rother said.

Wilczek said sharing athletes never was an issue between himself and baseball coach Ryan Beaman.

“Coach Beaman and I don’t have to spend much time talking about sharing athletes because we trust each other to do what’s best for the kids,” Wilczek said. “We both put their priorities first and we trust our athletes to make the right decisions for themselves.”

The programs were also aided by the fact there was no overlap in postseason play. Regional and state baseball were Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Regional golf was on a Monday and state golf a Monday and Tuesday.

At the regional, Okarche made its first true noise when it claimed a championship at Jimmie Austin Golf Club in Seminole.

Others were seeing what some of the Warriors already knew.

“We knew we definitely had a chance,” Rother said.

Added Collamore: “From the first time we played as a group I believed we had a good shot at winning it even though we didn’t have the best scores or weren’t ranked the highest. I knew if all of us showed up at the state championship and played solid, not many other teams could compete with us.”

He was right. The first day of the state tournament featured a grueling 36 holes.

Schieber led Okarche’s charge in that round with a 4-over-par 74.

Collamore finished with a 79 while Mueggenborg fired an 81, Rother an 83 and McIlvain a 90.

Okarche’s team total of 317 saw the Warriors leading the field as Velma-Alma lurked in second with a 322 and Wilburton third with a 329.

Hobart (339) and Summit Christian (345) were further back.

That first round score proved to be Okarche’s worst.

It also proved to be better than any other team’s best round in the tournament.

The Warriors shot a tournament- best 309 in their second round on Monday.

Collamore carded a 74, Schieber a 79, Mueggenborg an 81 and McIlvain an 84.

Then there was Rother. On the fourth hole in his opening round, Rother sprayed his drive into the trees on the ride side of the fairway.

Once he saw his situation, Rother decided his play was to punch it under the trees and back into the fairway.

The plan was to go left of a tree that was about 10 yards in front of him.

That was the plan. “When I hit the ball I pushed it to the right and it hit the tree dead on,” Rother said.

It got worse. The ball ricocheted back to Rother and struck him in the head at the end of his left eyebrow.

“My ears started ringing and my eyes went blurry for a little bit, but then I went back to normal,” Rother said.

The ball bounced off his head and back into the fairway and Rother eventually bogeyed the hole.

“I had a headache for a couple of holes, but took some ibuprofen and I was good after that,” he said.

He was really good in the second round.

Rother - who typically turned in scores from the mid-80’s to the low 90’s during the season - fired off a 75.

It was the first of Okarche’s scores turned in for the round.

“That score is really what set us up for the win,” Wilczek said. “Because I knew everyone else was going to do their part.

“I could not have been more proud of him.”

Okarche got better in the second round, but the other contenders shot worse or were too far behind to make a charge.

The Warriors’ total in the round was 16 strokes better than anyone else.

They would enter the final day with a 24-stroke lead over second-place Velma- Alma.

“I knew I needed to keep the team grounded, but I wasn’t sure how to say it,” Wilczek said. “After a long, sleepless night of thinking, a text from my brother-in-law stood out.

It read: “All you can do is shoot great scores tomorrow. Leave no doubt.”

“That’s what I told the boys Tuesday morning,” Wilczek said. “And they went out and did just that.”

It became apparent from the early parts of the round that nobody would catch Okarche.

The Warriors stayed steady.

Rother finished first and turned in an 87.

Next came McIlvain and his 84.

Then came Mueggenborg. His card read 79.

Collamore was next. He shot a 75.

Schieber and his 77 rounded it out.

All five parred the final hole as a gallery stood by to watch the finish.

All five had at least one score count during the tournament.

“Every player on the team contributed to our state championship win,” Wilczek said.

Collamore finished with a three-round total of 228, which tied him for sixth overall.

Schieber’s 230 tied him for ninth.

Both earned top 10 medals.

Mueggenborg shot a 241, Rother a 245 and McIlvain a 258.

They were all champions.

Two were celebrating for the second time in three days.

“Cy and Lane are two incredibly hard-working student- athletes as they both do well in the classroom as well,” Wilczek said. “They stay after school every day working on baseball and I can’t remember a time that I’ve been to the Kingfisher Golf Course that I didn’t see one or both of them there.”

Wilczek noted that they both played baseball games last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, walked the golf course for a practice round Sunday, walked 36 holes Monday and another 18 Tuesday.

“There aren’t many athletes who could compete at that level in two sports back-to-back the way they did,” Wilczek said.

Rother graduates on top. Overall, he won four state championships his senior season: fall baseball, spring baseball, spring baseball’s academic title and golf.

Collamore was a part of those as well. He doesn’t know what the future holds for the rest of his Warrior career, but he does know this: “It felt great just watching all the hard work pay off,” he said. “Those will be two days that I’ll never forget.”