Varsity/College Division
Kicking Competition
Jake Koehnke (La Costa Canyon) who holds offers from both Army and Navy, came out on top of a very talented group of 30 kickers to claim the title at the 10th Annual Head to Head Kicking Competition. The field was so good and so deep this year that Koehnke had to qualify to the Elimination round as a Wild Card. Koehnke knocked off Griff Amies (OCC) in the Final, who was poised to capture his 2nd Head to Head title in 3 years before losing in Sudden Death from 52 yards. Koehnke is now eligible to be nominated for the WCKA Hall of Fame once he graduates High School.
The group stage was extremely competitive and it took consistency in all 3 rounds to advance to the elimination portion.
Group Stage Winners:
Kyle Coale (Palos Verdes) - #1 Seed
Trevor Bowens (Redondo) - #2 Seed
Daniel Bjurman (OCC) - #3 Seed
Eli Deeb (Mater Dei) - #4 Seed
Sam Loy (Santa Margarita) and Chase Berman (San Clemente) – Tie
Clay Eggeman (Capo Valley)
Evan Michelson (Foothill)
The Semi Final paired Griff Amies (2012 High School All American) against Kyle Coale (Palos Verdes), who has won 3 college kicking competitions in the past few weeks and is considered one of the best 2016 kickers in California. In a match that it looked like would never end… Amies was able to knock through a 52 yard tie breaker for the win. The other Semi Final matchup paired Koehnke and Clay Eggeman. Eggeman was on a mission throughout the competition. He won his group by beating two future college kickers (Valerio, Washington and Matlin, Chapman) as well as one of the better Orange County kickers for the class of 2016 Jason Neiger (CDM). Eggeman went on to beat Bjurman (OCC) another college bound kicker. Koehnke was too much though as his pursuit for the title would not be stopped.
Other notables who reached the Qtr finals were Seniors Ben Filipek (Fountain Valley), Evan Michelson (Foothill) and Sam Loy (Santa Margarita).
A few guys that were impressive throughout the competition but were knocked out early:
Josh Davey (Mission Viejo)
Hayden McGinnis (Tesoro)
Trevor Bowens (Redondo)
Chase McGrath (Mater Dei)
Jack Montgomery (San Juan Hills) – Most makes without advancing to Elim. Round
Biggest leg of the competition:
Dominik Eberle (Utah State/Redondo)
