Erie County golfers made a gold-medal sweep at the District 10 tournament
MEADVILLE ― It was easy to forget, based on their past success at the PIAA level, that Union City's Josh James and North East's Anna Swan weren't District 10 gold medalists before last week.
They each filled that gap after Saturday's second round of the tournament at The Country Club of Meadville.
James, the reigning Class 2A state boys champion, won the district title with a 36-hole score of 6-over par 150. The senior finished two shots better than Slippery Rock's Jacob Wolak.
More:McDowell, Hickory repeat as District 10 girls golf team champions
James qualified for the state tournament a year ago via an at-large district berth.
Not this time. He'll head to Penn State's Blue and White Courses on Oct. 17 in a bid to become the district's first back-to-back PIAA individual victor since Franklin's Barrett Melvin (1935-36).
“It's a good feeling to start off the (postseason) with a win,” James said. “Last year, not winning here was a little bit of a bummer. It feels good to finally be a district champion.”
Swan's margin of victory in the 2A girls field was even closer than James's. The junior, thanks to a birdie-3 on her final hole, finished at 1-over 145 to 146 for Kate Sowers of West Middlesex.
Sowers, a freshman, was the tournament leader after Thursday's first round at Meadville.
More: District 10 2022 boys, girls golf standings
Swan, who played with Lydia Swan when they helped North East win the PIAA 2020 2A team title, joined her older sister as an individual district victor. Lydia Swan is in her first semester at Oral Roberts University and a member of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, school's Division I women's golf program.
“She knew the importance of what (winning) districts was to me,” Anna Swan said. “I know my phone will be blowing up with her saying, 'Hey, good job!' and then a lot of jokes.”
Cathedral Prep star Breckin Taylor and Erie High's Elizabeth D'Andrea were the district's best male and female Class 3A players for 2022. They're also among its golfers who won't pack up their clubs for at least another three weeks.
The individual portion of the PIAA golf tournament, which is scheduled Oct. 17-18, returns to State College for the first time since 2001. It took place at York's Heritage Hills Golf Resort for most of the past two decades.
More: Cathedral Prep captures District 10 Class 3A boys team golf title
Class 2A boys
James is one of five Erie County golfers who will have tee times at Penn State.
Fort LeBoeuf's Nathan Feltmeyer was the division's bronze medalist at 159. He started Saturday's round one stroke behind James.
Fairview's Will Fessler and West Middlesex's Caden Bender tied for fourth at 160. North East's Owen Kemp (161) was sixth and Andrew Hatton (163) of Iroquois was seventh.
Nick Momeyer sought to be the county's eighth 2A state qualifier. He tied Saegertown's Joe Grundy at 164, which necessitated a playoff for the final berth.
Grundy claimed it when he defeated Momeyer after their two extra holes.
More golf: The late Liz Robinson will be the first Black inductee in Erie's golf halls of fame
Class 2A girls
Tournament Director Mike Ferry had the girls start their rounds on Meadville's 16th hole. That meant all of Saturday's girls competition concluded on the course's par-four, 238-yard 15th.
It was there that Swan, who sensed she was tied with Sowers for the overall lead, said she reached the green with her tee shot. She was well short of the cup on her 60-foot chance at an eagle, but drained a 9-footer for a three and a birdie.
While Sowers parred the hole, she learned back at the clubhouse there would be no playoff for first place.
“To be able to come through with such a hurrah (shot) like that at the end, that was really special,” Swan said.
Swan and Sowers will comprise half of the district's golfers at Penn State. Hickory's Sasha Petrochko, who edged Swan for the 2021 district title, was third at 152. The Hornets' best player also will bid to help them repeat as the PIAA 2A team winners Oct. 19.
Zoe Stern of Reynolds (154) finished fourth Saturday.
Related: District 10 high school sports results, Oct. 1
Class 3A boys
The district's last two tournament victors, Taylor and Erie High's Kyle Westfall, made sure their individual seasons didn't end Saturday.
Taylor, at 1-over 145, was seven shots better than Westfall, who had sought consecutive championships.
It was the second individual district victory for Taylor, who was a freshman when he helped the Ramblers win the 2020 PIAA 3A team crown.
Taylor's first round of par-72 also helped Prep beat McDowell on Friday in the district's one-round team competition. He played the second day of the tournament a year after he'd missed the cut with an uncharacteristic round of 84.
“It feels so good compared to last year,” Taylor said. “It feels like redemption. I've had a really good stretch (of golf) here (at Meadville). I won every mega-match and invitational I played here, so I wanted to keep that streak going.
“If I can keep playing like this at (states), that would be awesome.”
Prep's Trey Thompson (154) finished two behind Westfall in his quest for the district's second PIAA berth.
Class 3A girls
Erie High advanced two golfers to states in the same season for the first time. Elizabeth D'Andrea will travel with Westfall as the district's lone large-school girls participant.
D'Andrea expanded upon her eight-stroke advantage at the start of Saturday's round. The senior's 167 score was nine better than the 176 for McDowell's Alexis Marsh.
D'Andrea was less than thrilled with Friday's opening round of 86, even though she was the only golfer who cracked 90 on slower course conditions.
Knowing that only the district's champ would qualify for states, unlike previous seasons when two went, also lingered in D'Andrea's thoughts.
“That was kind of nerve-wracking, so I'm glad I played well (Saturday),” she said. “I'm glad Kyle and I could (advance) in our senior years, and for our coaches and our school.”
More: Defending state champions among District 10 golfers to watch in 2022
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.
Final results for District 10's golf tournament at The Country Club of Meadville. Golfers in bold automatically qualified for the Oct. 17-18 PIAA tournament at Penn State University's Blue and White Courses:
Class 3A boys
Breckin Taylor, Cathedral Prep 72-73-145
Kyle Westfall, Erie High 79-73-152
Trey Thompson, Cathedral Prep 77-77-154
Owen Blum, Warren 77-82-159
Ryan Eastbourn, Cathedral Prep 83-76-159
Matt Costa, Cathedral Prep 80-80-160
Braddock Damore, Warren 81-79-160
Nate James, Corry 84-80-164
Class 2A boys
Josh James, Union City 76-74-150
Jacob Wolak, Slippery Rock 78-74-152
Nathan Feltmeyer, Fort LeBoeuf 77-82-159
Cade Bender, West Middlesex 80-80-160
Will Fessler, Fairview 81-79-160
Owen Kemp, North East 78-83-161
Andrew Hatton, Iroquois 83-80-163
*Joseph Grundy, Saegertown 79-85-164
Nick Momeyer, Mercyhurst Prep 80-84-164
Jackson Gadsby, Lakeview 84-81-165
Kasen Neely, Titusville 83-83-166
Eli Ellison, Mercer 80-87-167
Chris Mong, Lakeview 83-88-171
Logan Goodrich, Grove City 84-89-173
Trent Nemec, Grove City 83-91-174
Brandon Stubert, Greenville 84-91-175
*Defeated Momeyer in a two-hole playoff for the district's eighth PIAA berth.
Class 3A girls
Elizabeth D'Andrea, Erie High 86-81-167
Alexis Marsh, McDowell 94-82-176
Genelia Kang, McDowell 97-93-190
Analise Wolf, McDowell 103-94-197
Brooke Hamilton, McDowell 103-97-200
Ava Neumeier, McDowell 102-99-201
Sheraden Sears, Erie High 97-107-204
Kelsi Hefner, Meadville 110-98-208
Class 2A girls
Anna Swan, North East 72-73-145
Kate Sowers, West Middlesex 69-77-146
Sasha Petrochko, Hickory 77-75-152
Zoe Stern, Reynolds 76-78-154
Katie Caryl, Mercyhurst Prep 81-83-164
Luciana Masters, Hickory 79-85-164
AnnaMarie Zinram, Cathedral Prep 84-81-165
Ava Liburdi, Hickory 88-79-167
Meredith Thompson, Fairview 90-87-177
Kaitlyn Hoover, Wilmington 89-89-178
Cora Hirz, Fairview 81-99-180
Lia Macek, Mercyhurst Prep 92-89-181
Izzy Barbero, Mercyhurst Prep 89-95-184
Tatiana Llera, North East 95-98-193
Jordyn Seidler, Harbor Creek 97-98-195
Anna Harpst, Reynolds 97-102-199
Ava Miklos, Hickory 97-102-199
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County golfers sweep gold medals at 2022 District 10 tournament
