Wildcats come home runners-up

Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry

The Minster boys golf team finished where they started on Saturday at the Division III state tournament.

The Wildcats secured the runner-up trophy after a solid shooting day of 310 at the Gray Course on the campus of The Ohio State University, finishing the two-day event with a score of 631.

As they were on Friday, the Wildcats were tied with Columbus Academy for second with both teams shooting a 310, prompting the use of the tiebreaker. Since both teams' fifth scores were the same for the tournament, the scores from Friday were used. John's Eiting's 85 was two shots better than CA's fifth score, allowing Minster to take home the runner-up title.  

"It was awesome," said Minster co-coach Aaron Homan. "It was mentally taxing and challenging. They played hard."

Johnstown-Monroe, which shot a 310 to lead after the first day, took the state title with a round of 303 to finish the two-day event with a 613.

"We thought we could make up 11 strokes today, but Johnstown Monroe was really well," said Homan. "Columbus Academy was really playing hard as well."

After a rough front nine, Minster came back and made a run to stay near the top in the second round. Eiting, who shot an 85 on Friday, came back and shot the second lowest round of the day for Minster with a 77, going even-par 36 on the back nine after carding a 41 on the front. Senior Evan Lee and Eiting also shot even-pars on the back nine to pace the Wildcats.

"Boys turned it around on the back nine," said Homan. "Brad Borchers shot a 43 on the front nine, then came back and shot a 36 on the back nine. The boys did a fantastic job to close things out."

Lee followed up his 79 on Friday with a 75 on Saturday, shooting a 154 for the tournament and earning Second Team All-Ohio honors. Senior Jimmy Stechschulte shot a 79 on Saturday, finishing with a 155 and also earning Second Team honors. Eiting finished with a 162 with Borchers shooting a 163. Tony Weaver rounded out the quintet with a 165 for the tournament.

"I'm really happy for the team," said Lee. "We were playing for first, but Johnstown shot really well. Second was a nice way to finish the season."

Delphos Jefferson's Dillon Klein captured the Division III individual title, shooting two rounds of even-par 72 to take the title by three strokes over Mogadore's Nathan Tartar.

Over at the Scarlet Course in the Division II tournament, St. Marys finished 10th in its first-ever trip to state. The Roughriders shot a two-day total of 726.

Michael Schmitmeyer led the Roughriders both days, shooting an 87 on Saturday to finish the tournament with a 171, good for 20th in the field. Alex Spencer also had an 87 on Saturday to finish at 177. Adam Kuffner had a 188 (95-93) with Trent Paulus (97-93, 190) and Jason Rader (98-99, 197) rounding out the Roughrider team scores.

Hunting Valley University School captured the team title with a two-round score of 676. Oakwood was second with 685. Defending champion Lima Bath finished fifth in the tournament with a 699.

Justin Lower of Canal Fulton Northwest captured the individual title with a 159. Bath's Thomas Leidy was seventh with a 165.