When senior Campbell Wagener stepped into ETHS, golf wasn’t on his radar. Now, Wagener will go down as one of the more successful Evanston golfers in recent memory, as he is a two-time state qualifier, the last Wildkit to do so since Evan Ter Molen in 2012 and 2013.

“Golfing at ETHS just started as a hobby for me,” Wagener said. “In the summer going into junior year, I realized it was something more than just a hobby and really stepped up my game.”

Wagener’s game certainly stepped up, allowing him to qualify for state competition in both his junior and senior seasons. Although there will be no state competition this year due to IHSA’s COVID-19 safety precautions, Wagener couldn’t be happier.

“Qualifying for state once again was my number one goal coming into the season. I knew it was going to be a wacky one, and just having the opportunity to play at all was special to me in these times,” Wagener explained.

Wagener shot a 79 in the sectional competition, earning him 13th place, which would have resulted in him making the drive downstate in a normal year. For Wagener, his sectional performance was actually worse than his average round, as he was shooting around 76 shots per 18 holes during the regular season.

In order to qualify for state, Wagener had to place in regional competition first, where he and senior Jacob Lipman shot 75 and 76 respectively to advance to sectional play.

Lipman and Wagener weren’t the only seniors to end their golf careers with the strange season this year presented, as the Kits’ roster of 14 was led by 11 seniors.

Although the season wasn’t what anyone would have expected it to be when last season ended in mid-October, Evanston made the best of it, and Wagener earned himself a spot in ETHS’ history books.