2026 Clutch Sports Media Boys Golf All-Area Teams: 44 Central Illinois golfers earn honors

Central Illinois showed off its depth in boys golf in 2026 with firepower and familiar names, plus many individuals and teams who could challenge them on any given day.

Four area teams qualified for state, including Delavan and first-time qualifier Brimfield in Class 1A, plus Normal U-High and Dunlap in Class 2A. Illini Bluffs, Washington, Dunlap, Normal U-High and Peoria Notre Dame won regional titles as well.

Several area stars closed out their careers, including top-of-the-leaderboard fixtures such as Peoria Notre Dame’s Jack Coulter, Dunlap’s Nolan Eccles and Illini Bluffs’ Crew Fortin. But the future of golf in the area is in good hands with young talent such as Richwoods sophomore Shane Cunningham, Morton sophomore Lee Bolliger and many others.

All of those players and more are represented on Clutch Sports Media’s second annual Boys Golf All-Area teams, which highlight 44 of the top golfers in CSM’s 39-school coverage area surrounding Peoria and Bloomington/Normal.

Clutch Sports Media will also have a Boys Golfer of the Year and Coach of the Year which will both be announced shortly. All of the All-Area selections below are listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Clutch Sports Media All-Area First Team

Jack Coulter, senior, Peoria Notre Dame

Coulter has been a fixture in Central Illinois golf and fittingly capped his career with a third place finish at the Class 2A State Finals. He shot a 137 at state, the lowest state score in PND program history, with a two-under 69 in the first round and a three-under 68 in the second. The senior, who was a CSM First Team All-Area selection in 2025, had two other podium finishes in the postseason, carding a 72 to take third at the Class 2A Quincy Notre Dame Sectional and winning the Class 2A Galesburg Regional with a 70. Coulter, who had an 18-hole average of 70, led an Irish squad that won the Big 12 Conference Tournament and a regional title before falling one stroke shy of advancing to state. Coulter was the conference runner-up (71) but won tournaments at Oswego, Geneseo and Champaign Central and nabbed many other top 10 finishes, including at the PND Invite, Pekin Dragon Classic and Metamora Redbird Classic. 

Shane Cunningham, sophomore, Richwoods

Cunningham highlighted his sophomore campaign by winning the Big 12 Conference championship, in which he fired a 69. He placed fourth at the Class 3A Normal Community Sectional with a 73 and carded a 77 at the Class 3A O’Fallon Sectional, falling one stroke shy of a playoff for the final state qualifying spot. His regular season accolades included winning the PND Invite, taking second in the Pontiac Scramble, third at the Mia Memorial Classic and Monmouth-Roseville Invitational and placing in the top 10 at the IVC Invite, Limestone Invitational, Metamora Redbird Classic and Unit 5 Invite. Cunningham, who was a CSM First Team All-Area selection in 2025, put up an 18-hole average of 72.15 and won Big 12 all-conference honors.

Nolan Eccles, senior, Dunlap

Eccles closed out his prep career with a top-20 finish in the Class 3A State Finals after winning the state title in 2025. He shot a five-over 77 in his first round at state and heated up with an even-par 72 to help him tie for 18th overall. Eccles, who recently committed to Southern Illinois University, took third at the Class 3A O’Fallon Sectional (72) and won the Class 3A Normal Community Regional with a 69 shortly after taking fourth at the Mid-Illini Conference Tournament (75). The first team all-Mid Illini pick and 2025 CSM First Team All-Area selection won the IVC Invite for the second consecutive season and also notched strong finishes at some of the area’s biggest tournaments, including the Pekin Dragon Classic (T-2nd), Limestone Invitational (2nd) and PND Invite (3rd). Eccles led a Dunlap squad that won a regional title and placed ninth at state in its first time competing in Class 3A at state.

Crew Fortin, senior, Illini Bluffs

Fortin won regional and conference championships and made his fourth trip to state in his final high school season. The Tigers veteran won the Tomahawk Conference Tournament with a 74 and took third at the Inter-County Conference Tournament (78) before winning the Class 1A Illini Bluffs Regional with a 72 and leading Illini Bluffs to a regional title as a team as well. He finished 9th at the Class 1A Peoria Christian Sectional with a 79 before turning in rounds of 85 and 72 at state to tie for 25th. Fortin, who was a 2025 CSM Second Team All-Area selection, posted an 18-hole scoring average of 74 and a 9-hole average of 36 and finished third at the Canton Classic, third at the Gary Saunders Macomb Invitational and fifth at the IVC Invite. 

Dawson Freeman, junior, Normal U-High

Freeman helped power Normal U-High to another strong season and posted top 10 finishes in his final four tournaments of the year. The junior shot 71-75 at the Class 2A State Finals to finish eighth and help the Pioneers finish seventh in state as a team. Freeman, who was a 2025 CSM Second Team All-Area selection, was the runner-up at the Class 2A Effingham Sectional with a 72 and placed third at the Class 2A Mahomet-Seymour Regional with the same score. He took fourth at the Central State Eight Conference Tournament with a 76 and won the Mia Memorial Classic and Ottawa Invitational during the regular season. On top of that, he shot nine rounds under par, had an 18-hole scoring average of 71.7 and had a long list of top-10 finishes, including the Bloomington/Normal Intercity (2nd), Metamora Redbird Classic (3rd), Dick Gerber Invite (5th), Edwardsville Tiger Den Invitational (5th) and Pekin Dragon Classic (7th). 

Jack Quinn, junior, Normal U-High

Quinn dominated throughout the season and was a lock to compete for the title in every tournament. He finished fifth at the Class 2A State Finals with under-par rounds of 70 and 69 to propel him to his best state placement of his career so far. Quinn was the Class 2A Effingham Sectional champion with a 71 and took second at the Class 2A Mahomet-Seymour Sectional, also carding a 71. He matched that same score previously to win the Central State Eight Conference Tournament. Quinn, who was a 2025 CSM Second Team All-Area selection, was under par in 17 of his 20 rounds and averaged 69.65 in his 18-hole rounds. His other titles this season included the Bloomington/Normal Intercity Tournament, Metamora Redbird Classic, Livingston County Invitational and Limestone Invitational and runner-up showings at the Pekin Dragon Classic and PND Invite.

Clutch Sports Media All-Area Second Team

Lee Bolliger, sophomore, Morton

Bolliger was a consistent performer for the Potters, who tied for seventh in sectionals. The sophomore finished in third at the Mid-Illini Conference Tournament with a 74 and earned first team all-conference honors. He took 10th at the Class 2A Decatur MacArthur Regional with a 76 and finished 23rd at the Class 2A Effingham Sectional with an 80. Bolliger, who was a 2025 CSM All-Area Honorable Mention selection, frequently went toe-to-toe with the top players in the area and posted an 18-hole scoring average of 74.9 and a nine-hole average of 35.5. His top finishes during the season included third at the Metamora Redbird Classic and Canton Classic, plus a fourth-place showing at the Limestone Invitational.

Court Bohanon, senior, Washington

Bohanon won the Mid-Illini Conference Tournament to highlight his senior year as he shot a 73 and won in a playoff. He went on to shoot 72 and place fourth individually and lead Washington to a win at the Class 2A Decatur MacArthur Regional before taking 29th at the Class 2A Effingham Sectional with an 81. The first team all-Mid Illini selection and 2025 CSM Second Team All-Area pick added third-place finishes at the Limestone Invitational and Mia Memorial Classic, plus a T6 showing at the PND Invite.

Grady Burrell, junior, Delavan

Burrell was the top golfer for a Delavan squad that finished sixth at the Class 1A State Finals and notched his highest state finish yet. The junior carded rounds of 76 and 74 to tie for 12th at state, a showing that came on the heels of a runner-up finish at the Class 1A Peoria Christian Sectional (74). Burrell, who was a 2025 CSM Second Team All-Area pick, also took second at the Class 1A Petersburg PORTA Regional with a 71 and second at the Tomahawk Conference Tournament with a 74. The Panthers’ ace averaged 74.6 strokes for 18 holes and 35.4 in his 9-hole rounds and won the Ray Toland PORTA Invitational, took second at the Bulldog Invite and tied for eighth at the IVC Invite.

Colin Kemp, junior, Pekin

Kemp had to get through a playoff to advance to the Class 3A State Finals as an individual, but parlayed it into a T30 finish with rounds of 71 and 81. Kemp, who was the Mid-Illini Conference runner-up in a playoff, placed 15th at the Class 3A Normal Community Sectional with a 77 and tied for 17th at the Class 3A O’Fallon Sectional with a 76. The first team all-Mid Illini Conference pick and 2025 CSM First Team All-Area selection added top-10 finishes at the Limestone Invitational and Dick Gerber Invite. 

Michael Ocheltree, senior, Normal U-High

Ocheltree added to Normal U-High’s incredible depth by contending for several tournament titles out of the Pioneers’ No. 3 spot. He tied for 44th at the Class 2A State Finals with rounds of 81 and 76 to help Normal U-High take seventh as a team. All three of his postseason finishes were personal bests as he tied for 23rd at the Class 2A Effingham Sectional (80) and placed fourth at the Class 2A Mahomet-Seymour Regional with a 75. Ocheltree, who was a 2025 CSM All-Area Honorable Mention pick, fired his way to a runner-up finish at the Central State Eight Conference Tournament and Ottawa Invitational and added several more top-10s at the Livingston County Invitational, Metamora Redbird Classic, PND Invite, Normal U-High Invite and Limestone Invitational. He had eight rounds under par and averaged a 74.3 score for 18 holes.

Carter Senko, senior, Fieldcrest

Senko was one of the top small-school talents in the area and ended his career with an all-state finish. The Knights senior led all area Class 1A golfers at state by tying for eighth, thanks to rounds of 76 and 73. He won the Class 1A Streator Woodland Regional with a 73 to advance individually to the Class 1A Peoria Christian Sectional, where he moved on after tying for 12th with a 78. Senko, who was a 2025 CSM All-Area Honorable Mention selection, finished fourth at the Heart of Illinois Conference Tournament (81), won several matches throughout the year and had top-five tournament showings at the Streator Invitational, Livingston County Invitational and Eureka Birdhouse Open. 

Clutch Sports Media All-Area Honorable Mention

Elijah Ackerman, junior, Peoria Christian

Ethan Barnes , senior, Olympia

Jackson Bevard, junior, Metamora

Will Brown, sophomore, Pekin

Jacob Cooper, sophomore, Metamora

Colin Cunningham, freshman, Richwoods

Cam Durham, freshman, Limestone

Russ Erwin, sophomore, El Paso-Gridley

Isaiah Farraher, junior, Metamora

Aiden Foster, senior, Washington

Gage Garrison, junior, Washington

Sean Graham , senior, Peoria Notre Dame

Paxten Heinold, freshman, Washington

Nick Herget, senior, Dunlap

Tyson Hernandez, senior, Normal West

Luke Holland, junior, Peoria Christian

Chase Hopper, senior, Morton

Chase Javoronok, senior, Bloomington

Trace Kight-Garlisch , junior, Delavan

Alex O'Leary, junior, Peoria Notre Dame

Pierce Patterson, senior, Tremont

Caden Rassi, senior, Delavan

Jacob Schulz, senior, Eureka

Jacob Shelby, sophomore, Dunlap

Austin Siliskie, freshman, Olympia

Dash Simpson, junior, Tri-Valley

Westin Smith, junior, Brimfield

Will Snyder, sophomore, Brimfield

Gavin Spohn, senior, Richwoods

Ayden Trease , junior, Normal U-High

Kayden Turner, junior, Peoria High

Jack Westerberg, sophomore, Richwoods