Redskins edge Tigers for key MAC win

CARTHAGENA - St. Henry was just a group of young golfers when the season started.

They've grown up fast and turned into one of the best teams in the area.

On Monday, the Redskins edged the Versailles Tigers 176-181 in a marquee MAC match that featured two out of three first-place teams at the Mercer County Elks. St. Henry (7-1) and Parkway (6-1) are the last two left standing in league play with one loss.

"We had about 8-9 guys that played 4-5 days a week during the summer, so I knew we were going to be better than what most people would expect out of a freshman and sophomore varsity team," explained St. Henry coach John Dorner, "but to actually challenge for the league, I did not expect that."

Jack Romer led the way for St. Henry with a 41, Kyle Naumann (43) and Ryan Grieshop (44) were right behind and Seth King carded a 48. Rylee Deitsch (51) and Lucas Grieshop (53) rounded out the scores.

The Tigers, a team composed of primarily upperclassmen, received a medalist round of 42 from Nicholas Stonebraker. Griffen Riegle was next with a 44, Kyle Cotner shot a 46, while Jacob Watren and Michael Hemmelgarn added matching 49s.

"I'm thrilled that we kept our composure, you know, being a young team like we are, being in a crucial match like this, it would have been easy to fold the tent and struggle out there," Dorner said. "We had some guys who had some tough holes, but we rebounded from those tough holes. We played pretty close to our average, and fortunately for us tonight, Versailles had a tough round. They had some guys get into trouble, and I think they started to feel a little bit of the pressure."

The Redskins have one dual match remaining in conference play against New Bremen on Sept. 21 at the Elks. The Panthers and Tigers still have to play each other on Sept. 22 at Stillwater Valley Golf Course. The MAC title will ultimately be decided by what happens at the conference tournament on Sept. 26 at Arrowhead Golf Course.

"There's still the MAC tournament in a couple of Saturday's, and no matter where you finish in the league matches, if you have a bad day then, you drop down in the standings," Dorner added. "At least we've put ourselves into a position to where we can challenge for a league title."

In other action on Monday at the Elks, Coldwater defeated Fort Recovery 173-178, behind a medalist round of 37 by Jarren Kunk.

Also for the Cavs, Tyler Kanney fired a 41, Andrew Fisher shot a 45, Ben Meyer a 50, Trey Wolters a 51 and Ben Schmitmeyer a 54.

Jackson Hobbs was the top Indian with a 39. Chase Bruns shot a 44, Micaiah Cox added a 46 and Nick Litmer shot a 49. Colt Grieshop (50) and Calvin Rammel (57) rounded out the scores.

Up the road on State Route 127 at Deerfield Golf Course, the Parkway boys beat Minster 183-192.

Match medalist honors went to Connor Morton, who shot a 43. Clayton Agler fired a 45 for the Panthers, Hayden Lyons a 46, David Gause a 49, Cole Schoenleben a 50 and Ashton Hamrick a 51.

Adam Knapke led Minster with a 47, Brett Hoelsher and Logan Lazier each had 48s and Jordan Brackman added a 49. Ben Stubbs (51) and Connnor Tumbusch (61) finished off the Minster scores.

Marion Local 186, New Knoxville 210

Derek Platfoot's score of 41 gave him medalist honors and the Flyers cruised to a win at Arrowhead.

Jordan Heitkamp shot a 46, Collin Fleck a 49 and Mitch Rethman a 50. Matt Tangeman (51) and Jacob Zizelman (55) rounded out the scoring for the Flyers, who improved to 3-5 in MAC play.

New Knoxville was paced by Hunter McMurray's 46. Robert Egbert shot a 53, Nick Thobe a 54 and Ray Newtown a 57.

All county teams will return to the Elks on Saturday for the annual Jordan Moeller Invitational.
GIRLS GOLF
Fort Recovery 204, Coldwater 247

Fort Recovery shot its best team score at the Elks in a win over Coldwater.

Trisha Thien was the top performer for the Indians with a 50 and Tori Vaughn and Elli Keller were right behind her with matching 51s. Cori Stone (52), Emily Bruns (56) and Eryn Litmer (72) rounded out the Indians' scores.

Coldwater's Amanda Schmitmeyer was match medalist with a 48. Logan May (58), Payton Kunk (70) and Alexis Muhlenkamp (71) rounded out the scoring.   
Versailles 196, St. Henry 213

The Redskins were defeated by the Tigers in key MAC match at Stillwater Valley Golf Course.

It was the first MAC loss of the season for the Redskins, who dropped to 6-1. Versailles equally has one loss.

Versailles' Madison Covault fired a medalist round of 43 and Lauren Heitkamp added a 47.

Jessica Clune shot a St.-Henry best 50. Lauren Grieshop shot a 53, Haleigh Staugler a 54, Kaitlyn Clune a 56, Karlee Staugler a 57 and Carina Clune a 62.
Minster 193, Parkway 268

Alli Fischer and Hannah Koenig had matching medalist rounds of 47, Hallie Sherman shot a 49 and Sarah Huwer a 50 as the Wildcats defeated the Panthers at Arrowhead.

Taylor Hesse (58) and Haylee Stukey (64) were the top performers for the Panthers. Liz Dellinger added a 71.