BLOOMINGTON (WCIA) — Setting the goal to return to state after finishing first overall last year, St. Anthony head coach Phil Zaccari was emotional after back-to-back team titles in the IHSA Class 1A Boys Golf State tournament.

“It comes down to the kids. It’s a pay off of hard work,” Zaccari said. “I get a little emotional, but I’m really happy.”

“I’ve known coach for a long time so it’s good to get a couple state championships under his belt,” Bulldogs senior Lane Ludwig said.

“Especially coming in last year knowing, ‘Hey we can win this,'” junior Joey Trupiano said. “It was great to pull it off and it was awesome.”

Making this Zaccari’s sixth State title with the Bulldogs, last year’s individual winner, Trupiano, now tied his teammate Ludwig in 11th place.

“Last year I didn’t really have that high of hopes,” Trupiano said. “I was just like, ‘I’m going to win it for my team.’ Obviously this year I did try to win it for my team, as well, but knowing that deep down if stars line up I could maybe win it and that put a little bit of pressure on me.”

“This is my last year playing high school golf, so I can’t ask for a better end to the season,” Ludwig said.

At 2A, Sacred Heart-Griffin paced the field as the Cyclones won the State title as well. SHG’s effort was led by Cal Johnson, who fell one shot away from tying for the individual lead.

The SHG girls finished runner-up as a team, but Izzy Hassebrock got the job done on the individual side. The junior finished three-over for the tournament to become the school’s first State champion.