St. Al’s Riveros, Curtis are guardians of a dynasty

For a decade, St. Aloysius has been the preeminent power in Class 1A golf.

Seven team state championships in eight years. Four state titles in a row. Five medalists since 2005. All are numbers that scream dominance.

The root of the success has always been a stacked roster with two or three top-flight players, from former Delta State golfer Chase Smith to two-time state medalist Nick Mekus.

Now, it’s Channing Curtis and Gabriel Riveros’s turn to carry the torch.

The teammates and best friends will lead the Flashes into the 2015 Class 1A tournament Wednesday and Thursday at Natchez Trace Golf Club in Saltillo. They’ll both be looking for their first individual state championship, and to continue a school tradition that has become as routine as the warming weather in early May.

“We’re really proud of having it going. We don’t want to lose it,” Curtis, a sophomore, said of the team’s championship dynasty. “It’s kind of a burden to win it and keep it going. You want to carry it on. We talk about it a lot. From when school starts to when it ends, the state championship is the main one we want to win.”

Curtis and Riveros have already led the team to one state title. They finished second and fourth, respectively, at the 2014 state tournament at Clear Creek Golf Course as the Flashes won the team title by five shots over Ingomar.

They were also both part of the 2013 championship team. Riveros, now a junior, finished third in the individual standings.

This is the first time, however, that they’ve largely had to power the team by themselves. Both players normally shoot in the 70s, but the rest of this year’s young roster has often struggled to break 95.

The two veterans are well aware of the challenge they’ll face this week, and the threat of the dynasty ending — or at least taking a pause — on their watch.

“It’s probably been a lot more difficult this year because we’re one and two, and the other guys are new. There’s more pressure on us to make up for the other guys,” Riveros said. “In eighth and ninth grade we were winning by 50 strokes. This year, a lot more than ever, we’re not as good as we used to be and other teams are getting better.”

If the Flashes win this year, it almost certainly won’t be by 50 strokes. Probably not even half that, which is something that has ticked Curtis off a bit.

Curtis has a pair of gaudy purple golf pants he’s wanted to wear on the course all season, but coach Mike Jones has forbidden it unless the team is ahead by 25 strokes entering the final round of the state tournament.

“I might wear them anyway,” Curtis said with a mischievous smile.

If not, he might get another chance next year.

Both he and Riveros will be back, and their third man Brandon Teller is only a sophomore. A seventh-grader, Wilson Palmertree, has played well this season and is a dark horse to make a leap at the state tournament.

Curtis said some fifth- and sixth-graders are also showing promise on the junior level and should be poised to pick up where he and Riveros leave off in a couple of years.

So if any rivals are going to rise up to knock the Flashes off their perch, now is the time. They might not get a better chance for a while.

“It is a rebuilding year,” Curtis said, “But we should be a lot better next year.”