Keyser wins state golf tournament; Broadwater takes individual title

Oct. 6—WHEELING, W.Va. — For the first time in 20 years, Keyser will head back to Mineral County as the West Virginia state golf champions.

After back-to-back fourth-place finishes at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia, the Golden Tornado bested Winfield by three strokes to take the Class AA title — their third ever.

Noah Broadwater became the first golfer in Keyser history to be the low medalist at states, and Drew Matlick was named first-team All-State by finishing seventh in the class.

"The work ethic for this team, I know everyone says they deserve it, but this team has put in a lot of hard work," Keyser head coach Josh Blowe said. "Third time's the charm. We finished fourth the last two years, and today we came out on top.

"I couldn't be prouder. They put in all the right work, made all the right decisions and they earned it."

Keyser previously won the Class AAA state championship in 1992 and the Class AA crown in 2002.

The Golden Tornado had a four-stroke lead over Winfield after the first day with a 247, and they shot a 248 on Wednesday to end with a 495 overall to Winfield's 498.

"Yesterday was big to put yourself ahead by four," Blowe said. "If you tie you win. We were real loose and relaxed last night. Our focus was the same: No matter what happens, focus on the next shot. That's all you have to do."

Broadwater shot a 75 both days to end at 8-over 150, eight strokes better than the closest Class AA golfer (Tanner Vest of Shady Spring), and was just one stroke back of Class AAA low medalist Gavin Goodrich of Wheeling Park for the best score of the tournament out of 120 golfers.

"It feels pretty good," Broadwater said. "That's all I wanted to do, win as a team. ... My approach was to try to stay in the 70s both days and give the team a shot at winning."

"He was loose all week," Blowe said of Broadwater. "He felt really dialed in. His driver was good. He was the longest hitting in all of AA. Hit his wedges really well.

"His key was to hit the fairway, and then wedge onto the green. Birdies were really hard to come by on that course. He hit a lot of crucial putts and pars that were clutch for us."

Matlick shot an 83 on the first day and an 86 on the final day to come in seventh at 27-over 169.

With Winfield slotting three golfers in the top eight (Jackson Woodburn, Stephen McDavid and Andrew Johnson), Matlick's performance and that of Keyser No. 3 Owen Sweitzer, who finished tied for 12th, were crucial to keep pace.

"At states the last two years, he really struggled up here," Blowe said of Matlick. "He felt like he let the team down, even though he didn't. He's our captain, and was our No. 1 all season, so it was great to see him perform well."

Sweitzer shot an 89 the first day and an 87 the second to shoot a 34-over 176.

"Owen Sweitzer did exactly what we asked him to do," Blowe said. "He wasn't happy with his score, but on that course, 87 and 89, I couldn't have asked for anything better from him."

Keyser's fourth score was from Evan Ack, who shot a 69-over 214 to finish 36th.

The state championship was just the latest in a line of accolades for Keyser, which won 16 of 18 local matches — besting 73 of 75 regular-season opponents — another Potomac Valley Conference title and a region crown.

After three straight years of coming up short in Wheeling, Keyser can finally say they won the last one.

"To come here and win states, that's something this team can remember for the rest of their lives," Blowe said. "They'll always be state champions."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.