Golf dominates the early going in area high school sports

With high school fall sports in question as school draws near, there are some high school sports that have gotten off and running because they are outdoors.

Anyone wondering about Hiland High School golf team’s ability to step up and try to defend its Div. III state championship belt need look no further than Friday, Aug. 7.

Hiland traveled east to Black and Gold Golf Course, home of the Garaway Pirates, where the Hawks posted a winning score of 302 to capture the title over runner-up Garaway at 309.

This one truly was a two-horse race with the Hawks and Pirates, both early-season favorites to challenge each other for the Inter-Valley Conference title. Third-place New Philadelphia was far back at 341 in the field of 10 teams.

The Hawks got strong play from their triumvirate of talented juniors. Carter Mishler boasted an even-par 72, Brookston Hummel carded a 73 and Kenny Weaver notched a 77. Garret Shoup tacked on an 80, and varsity newcomer Nathan Kline carded a 91 to round out Hiland’s day.

The Pirates got a co-medalist round of 71 from one-man Zehnder Gibson, who tied Sandy Valley’s Conner Ritter for top honors.

The Pirates hung with Hiland all day, and Rendall Weaver had a nice day with a 74, followed by Michael Blauch’s 81, Charles Beachy’s 84 and Emmett Troyer’s 94. Shad Kinely led New Philadelphia with an 80 while teammates Jacob Hootman and Sydney DeVore added scores of 84 and 86, respectively.

Tri-Valley’s Drew Johnson carded a 74, Tusky Valley’s Connor Gardner shot an 84 and Indian Valley’s Rafe Bonifay carded an 83 to highlight the top scores on the day.

The two rivals were far from done battling for the week.

Next up was the Warrior-Jaguar Classic, another golf tournament featuring a strong field of big schools and talented programs at the difficult track at Northstar Golf Course in Sunbury.

Both schools were in the hunt to win it, but eventually Hiland placed third at 309, two strokes behind winner Columbus Academy and one shot behind runner-up Kettering Alter’s 308. The Pirates placed fourth with a 314.

In breaking down the competition into Div. II and Div. III schools, the Hawks actually placed first in the smaller school division.

Leading the way in a consistent effort was Mishler with a 75, followed closely by Hummel’s 76 and Weaver’s 78. Shoup was right behind with an 80 while Kline added a 92.

Garaway got a medalist score of 72 from Gibson, who has been on a torrid pace early in the season. Weaver was next in line with a 74 while Beachy and Troyer added scores of 83 and 85, respectively. Gibson’s even-par score tied him for runner-up medalist honors, tied with Worthington Christian’s Sam Evans. Both were two shots off the medalist pace of 70 set by Carsten Judge of Wellington.

At the Saint’s Golf Invitational at Union Country Club on Aug. 5, the West Holmes Knights got off to a flying start by placing fourth in the 10-team field. The Knights were led by one-man Hunter Ellis, who led the team with a score of 81. That score marked one of the top efforts of the day, and it could have been even better.

“I played great, and my score really could have been better, but I bogeyed three of the last four holes,” Ellis said.

Head coach Mike Molnar said Ellis played inspiring golf all day long up until that point. Following Ellis was fellow junior Brice Hunter with a 90, and freshman Grady Toye showed promise with a 94, as did classmate Trey Baker, who added a 96.

West Holmes placed 10th at the Newark Catholic Invitational on Aug. 10. Ellis came through again, this time firing an 82, good for 13th place overall at Moundbuilder’s Country Club in Newark. Hunter followed with a 92 while Baker and Toye posted scores of 95 and 101, respectively.

The Polar Bear Invite, hosted by Jackson High School, boasted some terrifying competition for the Pirates and Hawks from some big Div. I schools. While Hoban posted a winning score of 294, followed by runner-up Stow at 297, Garaway placed third at 303, nipping Jackson’s 304, and Hiland and Lake tied for fifth at 306 in the field of 18 teams that saw 14 teams go under 330.

The Pirates were led by Gibson’s score of even-par 72. Weaver added a 75, Beachy carded a 77 and Blauch added an 80.

The Hawks were paced by Brookston Hummel, who matched Weaver’s 71. Mishler fired a 74, Kenny Weaver posted a 79, Kline came through with an 82 and Shoup carded an 85.

At the Lady Pirates Invitational, Tusky Valley claimed the top spot in a seven-team field with a 323, followed distantly by Indian Valley at 357 and Garaway at 377.

Sydney Clements of Tusky Valley earned medalist honors with a 75 while her teammate Susan Thompson was the only other player to break 80, firing a 78. Next in line was Garaway’s Sydni Prisi, who carded a score of 80, while teammates Sammy Miller shot a 90, Mikayla Miller fired a 95 and Brooklyn Numbers added a 100. Leading Indian Valley was Jamisyn Hartzler, who carded an 85.

In tennis the West Holmes girls team fell to Cambridge 4-1. The second doubles tandem of Rosanna Miller and Sydney Rolince recorded the lone victory for the Lady Knights, taking home a 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 win.

Falling at first singles was Aniston Gallion. At second singles Jessie Zheng fell 6-2, 6-2, and Callihan Tennant lost at third singles. The first doubles duo of Maggie Taylor and Madison Baker fell 6-2, 6-2.

The Lady Knights rebounded with a 5-0 win over Central Christian on Aug. 11. Taylor defeated Katherine Jones 6-2, 6-3. Baker dealt a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Sadie Meidel, and Rosanna Miller won 6-1, 6-3 over Kailyn Peck in the three singles matches.

In doubles action Morgan Heflin and Gallion defeated Joy Li and Hannah Hulton 6-1, 6-1. At second doubles Zheng and Genna Miller won by default. West Holmes now stands at 1-2 on the year.