District golf preview: Dalton and Loudonville enter as state hopefuls

The forecast for this week's Division III Northeast District Tournament at Tannenhauf Golf Club is 72 degrees and partly cloudy skies.

Dalton, and the rest of the local field heading to Alliance, will take it.

After the Bulldogs, Loudonville and local individuals Adam Sibila of Tuslaw and Joe Buchholz of Northwestern advanced from last week's Pine Hills Sectional, battling frigid and wet conditions, a little sunshine will be exactly what the doctor ordered.

"It's tough to go low in those conditions," said Isaac Gessner, who will join the Redbirds in their first district appearance since 2019. "If the conditions were better, I would obviously want to be lower, but with these conditions I was fine with it.

"I'm just exciting getting to go again."

Gessner is the only member of the current Loudonville roster to have played with that district-qualifying team three years ago and won't be the only one happy to not have to battle the unforgiving conditions from a week ago.

A pair of girls will also be taking part in the Sable Creek District in Hartville as Northwestern's Kylee Purdy and Orrville's Abby Ankeman both will compete for state berths.

Hiland and West Holmes golfers competed Monday in the East District tournaments, with the Hawks finishing runner-up in Div. III and the Knights' Trey Baker finishing tied for 15th individually.

Here's a look at the rest of this week’s D-II/III golf districts:

Boys

DIVISION III

Tannenhauf District

When: Thursday, 8:30 a.m.

Where: Tannenhauf Golf Club (11411 McCallum Ave. NE, Alliance)

Local teams: Dalton (Jaden Schlabach, Brendan Lehman, Todd Brahler, Zach Brahler, Isaac Mori), Loudonville (Judah Layton, Isaac Gessner, Gabriel Gerhart, Chandeler Gribble, Brendon Hess).

Local individuals: Joe Buchholz (Northwestern), Adam Sibila (Tuslaw).

What to watch: Dalton is out for its first back-to-back state trips in school history. It won't be easy, however, as this district is loaded with state-tested talented. But the Bulldogs, with three of its five golfers back from a year ago are ready. Jaden Schlabach, Brendan Lehman and Todd Brahler have been steady atop the Dalton lineup all season long and will look to build upon their 11th-place state finish in 2021. But the field at Tannenhauf will provide a challenge for the locals with the likes of Mogadore’s Dillon Pendergast leading the way. The senior tied for sixth individually at the Div. III state tournament last fall. Three other golfers in the field — McDonald's Caleb Domitrivich, Independence's Mark Pillar and Schlabach — were all top-30 finishers at state and come in off of solid sectional performances. Pillar beat Schlabach by a single shot last week at Pine Hills, while Domitrivich fired a 69 in his four-stroke victory at Salem Hills over Mooney's Alex Eckstein. Cole Hostetler of Rootstown is the other sectional champ, taking medalist honors at Riverview. Loudonville comes in after a three-year hiatus and has been led by Judah Layton and Isaac Gessner. Layton was a shot shy of an individual district berth last season, while Gessner was a member of the last district-qualifying team for the program. A pair of local individuals — Adam Sibila of Tuslaw and Joe Buchholz of Northwestern — also will take part. Sibila is making his first district appearance, while Buchholz is back for a second straight season, his first in the Div. III field after competing in Div. II last year.

At stake: Top three teams and top three individuals not on a qualifying team advance to next week's state tournament at NorthStar Golf Club, set to be played on Oct. 14-15.

Girls

DIVISION II

Sable Creek District

When: Thursday, 8:30 a.m.

Where: Sable Creek Golf Course (5942 Edison Street NE, Hartville)

Local individuals: Kylee Purdy (Northwestern), Abby Ankenman (Orrville)

What to watch: Kylee Purdy of Northwestern was the lone local girl to advance to state last fall. Orrville's Abby Ankenman is hoping to join her this time. The two area golfers will take to the Hartville course in a loaded field, all vying for that elusive spot in next week's state tournament. Purdy went on to tie for 14th at state a year ago and comes in with the top score of all of the three sectionals, firing a 74 to take medalist honors at The Pines last week. She's one of the favorites to make it to Columbus and play well once she's there. Hawken's Ella Wong is one of the players that Purdy will be competing with for the district crown. Wong is the reigning state individual champ and won the Punderson State Park Sectional ahead of Laurel's Siena Maschke and Ravenna's Abbie Retherford. Ankenman will look to push for one of the three state individual spots up for grabs after tying for 10th at sectionals this past week. The competition is fierce, however, with Canton Central Catholic's Kristen Belden, a player who tied for 12th at state, standing in their way, along with Raygan Hoover (St. Vincent-St. Mary) and Mati Zines (United) — who won the Pine Lakes Sectional — being players to watch.

At stake: Top three teams and top three individuals not on a qualifying team advance to next week's state tournament at OSU Gray Course, set to be played on Oct. 14-15.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Golf: previewing the Div. III Northeast District tournaments