Despite not having its best showing at the district championships, the Bellevue boys golf team will have an opportunity to repeat as 3A state champions in May.

At the 3A Sea-King District Tournament on Oct. 22, the Wolverines finished third with a score of 297, only one stroke behind champions O’Dea and Mercer Island, who both had a 296. Senior Ian Siebers had the best score for the team, finishing sixth with a 72, and senior Dylan Bear finished seventh with a 73.

Head coach Erik Monahan said they are a program with high expectations, so they are disappointed not to win, but the team still qualified for the state tournament, which was their main goal.

“We ended up losing by a stroke, which is a good opportunity for us to talk about what it takes to win and what we need to do as a team to prepare,” Monahan said. “I know it’s one stroke, they were bummed and they weren’t too excited about losing, but it was a teaching moment.”

With a seven-month gap between districts and the state tournament, Monahan said he hopes the team relaxes and resets after grinding hard for the last three months.

“The kids are great, they know what to work on,” Monahan said. “I don’t have to ask them to work hard. The only thing that I ask of them is, when spring comes, we reset and we realize that, although we did win state last year, we are beatable.”

The Wolverines were undefeated in league play for the third-straight season and finished second behind Mercer Island at the KingCo 2A/3A Medalist Tournament on Oct. 14 at Snohomish Golf Course.

A big reason for the success of the team this year has been the play of Siebers, who finished second at the state tournament last year.

“Ian sets the standard for our team,” Monahan said. “Golf comes easy to the kid, he’s obviously naturally talented. He’s a decorated and accomplished golfer.”

Siebers was named to the first-team all-KingCo team and teammates Bear and Christian Lee both were named to the second team. Monahan said they are a very talented team that will compete with each other for the spots on the team in the spring that competes at the state tournament.

“We have kids in our six-eight range that would be in most teams top five,” Monahan said. “Having more competition and more talent only pushes kids to be more prepared and ready to post a good score.”