By From staff reports
newsroom@dailystandard.com The Wildcats, in eighth place after the first day of the two-round event with a 343, shot 338 on the second day to finish fourth in the state meet with a two-day total of 681.
The Wildcats' Saturday round was five shots better than Lima Central Catholic, which charged out on Friday to shoot 325 and held on to capture its third state title in four years with a two-day total of 668, three shots better than Zanesville Rosecrans..
The Wildcats came though with a solid showing in their second appearace at state since 1998.
"Fantastic!" said Wildcat co-coach Aaron Homan, who took the girls team to state several years back, assesment of the weekend for the Wildcats. "It was a wonderful experience for the guys.
"Friday was a key day," said Homan in a phone interview coming back on Saturday. "I told the guys we can't lose the title on Friday, but we can't win on Friday either. (Friday) was the first time we played at the course. It's possible we were a little nervous. We came out Saturday and played well. We had the lowest score of the day. We beat the state champs on Saturday. It's a world of experience for the team." Minster junior Jimmy Stechsculte was the solid force behind the team all weekend. Stechschulte shot 81 on Friday and was in ninth place on the individual leaderboard. An 81 on Saturday boosted him up to fifth, earning him First Team All-Ohio Honors. Ottoville's Nick Miller captured the state title with a two-day total of 155 (76-79).
"It's a great feeling," said Stechschulte. "I hit the ball a lot better on Saturday. I wasn't nervous coming back on Saturday.
"We (the Minster team) were the underdogs coming into the tournament. We had nothing to lose."
Matt Purpus missed out on the top 10 after shooting a 82 on Saturday to round out the tournament with a 166 in a tie for 14th but just two shots off a tie for ninth place. Max Phlipot shot an 85 on Saturday to finish at 169. Adam Borges shot a 97 on Saturday to finish at 191 with Evan Lee shooting a 90 on Saturday to finish at 190.
St. Henry's Jay Woeste completed his first appearance at state with a 92 to finish at 184.
Lehman finished sixth in the team standings, losing a tiebreaker with Johnstown-Monroe when both teams finished at 683.
The Western Buckeye League brought home a state golf title as Bath won the Division II state title, edging out Wyoming 638-641 for the team title. |
