That run of recognition will come to a conclusion this weekend when seniors Jake Bangasser and Nolan Freeman, the last of their current clans to golf for the Spartans, make their final appearance at the Class 1A State Tournament at Westwood Golf Course in Newton.

Grundy Center head coach Dennis Dirks said it will be bittersweet making one last round on the links with his two senior leaders.

“It’s sad to see it end to be honest with you,” Dirks said. “I’ve had an eight-year run with the Bangasser and Freeman families and I thought about this year at one point in time of the number of combinations of brothers I’ve had over the years. I’ve had like a dozen that have not only played for me but played in the state tournament. Nolan and his brother Jared and Jake and his brother Lane, they’ve all participated at the state tournament.”

Bangasser actually doesn’t know what it’s like not to compete at the state tournament, as this year will be his fourth time competing in the final meet of the season.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be able to play at state for four years and going into this I didn’t want my senior year to be the only time that didn’t happen,” he said. “It was very cool to be able to say I’ve competed in four state tournaments after this week, and I hope that we can go out on top.”

Freeman has been to back-to-back state tournaments and three in his four years at Grundy Center when you include his freshman season. The Spartans have made nine trips in the past 10 years, after all.

Even though the boys returned five of the six competitors from last year’s state team, Freeman said the general consensus was this year’s team was down compared to those of the past, and he was happy to prove them wrong.

“We lost two seniors last year and I think a lot of people thought we wouldn’t be that great, but we’ve shown a lot of progress over the season,” Freeman said. “We haven’t had as good of a season as we thought we could, so we are glad we are really hitting our stride right now before the state tournament.”

Just looking at the team scoring from the state-qualifying meets, the Spartans look like the favorites to come home with a team title. Their team score of 324 was higher than anyone else’s, one stroke ahead of Fort Dodge St. Edmond.

Despite that, Bangasser said watching the scores roll in at the meet and hoping the team would qualify as a whole was excruciating.

“There was about 30 minutes after they got all the scores in that they were writing them up and it was very, very stressful,” he said. “Once those four scores were posted and you see those four scores compared to everyone else, it’s just like the weight off your shoulders. It was a very cool moment.”

Bangasser finished as the meet medalist in the state qualifier with a 5-over-par 75, tied for the third-lowest score out of any of the qualifying sites. He said that’s all well and good, but he doesn’t worry about where his score fits in on the individual side.

“Playing great as an individual is great and all but the reason I want to play great as an individual is for the team so we can succeed,” Bangasser said. “It’s a lot more fun going to state with six guys rather than one. I do love coach Dirks but just me and him isn’t quite as fun as the rest of the guys.”

This is now the 19th team that Dirks has taken to the state meet since 1994, a stunning amount of success when put all together. He said though they have all experienced their own levels of achievement, none of the two teams are quite the same.

“Every year it’s a new, special bunch of kids and this year when the season started, these guys’ expectations don’t change from year to year, they do what needs to be done to give themselves the opportunity to play in a state tournament again,” Dirks said. “This group is a little bit different than some of the other groups I’ve had, five of these guys played last year in the state meet. That experience counts a lot down at the state tournament, knowing what to expect when you get there. They are tournament tested, they’ve been tested throughout the season with 18-hole matches. I don’t think they are intimidated by any means by heading down to Newton.”

While they are experienced in this tournament, the Spartans don’t necessarily boast the same level of experience at Westwood Golf Course.

“We went down there once about two months ago and played it,” Bangasser said. “It’s not really as much of a distance course, it’s more about placing your shots and knowing where you want to hit the ball, which is an advantage for us because coach Dirks does a great job of getting us to think strategically about where we want to place the ball and where we want to hit our next shots from.”

“That back nine has some challenging holes, it has water that comes into play on four or five holes and there are some tee shots that you can’t just hit,” Dirks said. “We’ve played it and the kids liked it, we will get down there on Wednesday night and walk it and they will get one last look at it before we tee it up on Thursday.”

While the two seniors will be playing in their final meets, there are still some juniors who’s scoring will definitely be a factor. Matthew Sternhagen finished as the runner-up in the qualifying meet with an 80 at Nashua Town & Country Club, while Tanner Appel, Andy Cox and Travis Kuester have all contributed throughout the season.

“I think these younger kids have learned a lot from Jake and Nolan and as much as I hate losing those two guys, I think they have had a chance to take a good look at how those two prepare for a golf meet,” Dirks said. “How they come to practice every day prepared to work, and I have some juniors that are ready to take the reigns and continue to build on the foundation that we’ve had for years in the boys golf program.”

Being able to finish off a career in the state meet isn’t something a lot of players get to experience, and Freeman said his goal really is to go out and win one for the people that came before him and for the family that has supported him.

“I like the fact that my family and [Bangasser’s] family and all of the parents on this golf team and the whole community are really involved and support us,” Freeman said. “It’s great to not only play for us but play for the community and our parents too, try to give back everything they’ve done for us.”

The Class 1A State Golf Tournament at Westwood Golf Course in Newton gets underway on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.