Tyler Engel certainly didn't receive the star treatment after winning the Class 5A Metro-East golf tournament at Meadow Hills recently.

First of all, Engel's result, along with his Regis Jesuit teammates and those of Cherry Creek, mistakenly were omitted from the newspaper. Then, when the scores were published, it indicated Engel shot an 88 and finished 23rd instead of his actual 68 and first-place triumph, because of a smudged result sheet. The final insult was having his name misspelled in the state pairings by the Colorado High School Activities Association, which runs the state tournaments.

Those problems (now corrected), along with Engel only being a sophomore, might have him with the lowest profile of all the regional champions in 5A, 4A and 3A. Being under the radar could prove to be an advantage, though, as Regis Jesuit came in last year with a lofty reputation and the Raiders flopped, finishing second to last in the team competition.

"We all played consistently well during the season, and when state came, nothing really clicked for us," Engel said. "It was tougher (than a regular- season tournament). There are plenty of excuses, but we just didn't play good. It's motivation (for this season).

Raiders coach Craig Rogers lost a couple of seniors, but Regis Jesuit still won another Continental League championship, despite capable competition from Douglas County and Highlands Ranch.

"We brought two newer guys, but we still got a team that did even better than last year, when we had a great team," Engel said.

Engel's journey toward becoming a state golf contender was a difficult one. He was a standout in baseball and tennis, while golf was more of a sideline.

"Tennis used to be my main sport," he said. "I was top 85 in the country and got hurt (with a torn elbow tendon) playing baseball at nationals."

Forced to sit out tennis and baseball for three months, Engel still somehow managed to hang onto golf.

"I could take a full backswing and still get down to impact without too much pain," Engel said. "It hurt if I hit it fat. I still try to avoid that."

He's now happy that the injury forced him into choosing one sport, one at which he's doing well.

"It's quite nice, makes you feel like you made a good decision," he said. "We're going to go down there and play well. But there are 83 guys who did good work to get here, too."

The state tournaments next week are split into three divisions. Class 5A will take place at the Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy, 4A will be at Yampa Valley in Craig and 3A's inaugural tourney will be at Spring Valley in Elizabeth.

Fairview is the defending 5A champion, and the Knights lost only one senior from their team last year. Brennan Dolan is Fairview's top golfer, but the rest of the team - Scott Schultz, Sam Rock and Will Skinner - all qualified and make the Knights strong contenders.

Douglas County (Derek Fribbs, Cody Kent, Bryan Fickle and Taylor Wild) has one of the most talented squads around, along with Cherry Creek (Alex Gutesha, Jack Farrow, Taylor Bolton- Haney and Kevin Koelbel).

Some of the top golfers in 4A include Nick Umholtz and Parker Edens of Greeley Central, David Oraee of nearby Greeley West, Brenden Beeg and John Ahern of D'Evelyn, Branden Walters of Montrose and Brendan Connolly of Rock Canyon.

Umholtz, now a senior, won state as a freshman and hasn't been out of the top six state finishers since. He won the Northern Regional at Fort Morgan Golf Course by shooting 69, one shot better than Oraee and two lower than teammate Edens.

At 6,505 yards, Yampa Valley is the shortest of the three state courses and will play at a par of 70.

In 3A, the Metro League contingent appears to be the most potent. Kent Denver and Holy Family have battled all season, and being league champion, Kent Denver, a two-time state champion in 4A, has a slight edge.

Holy Family beat Kent Denver in the last league tournament of the season and brings in junior Will Roth, medalist in the windblown Metro regional tournament at Murphy Creek. Roth shot 4- over 76 that day. Tigers coach Will Wilson also will count on Austin Lucero, Nick Bovine and Sean Urban.

Roth has another advantage besides winning the toughest 3A regional. He also won a tournament hosted by Grandview on that same Spring Valley course.

In addition to Holy Family and Kent Denver, St. Mary's also looks good. The Pirates had outstanding regional rounds from Andrew Cornella (a 3-under 69 at Hollydot) and John Hong (70).