Marion County Invitational highlights busy week

Aug. 26—FAIRMONT — Last Saturday's Marion County Invitational was the blast-off point for a packed week of golf for area teams, with each of the three Marion County squads getting in multiple matches of work over the past seven days.

Playing at Green Hills, 15 schools made up the field, with Cabell Midland taking home first place for the second straight year at the annual event — only a single stroke ahead of Wheeling Park.

The five top performers from Saturday's outing were Justin Doerr from Wheeling Central, Gavin Goodrich from Wheeling Park, and Noah Broadwater from Keyser all tied up at 73, Wheeling Park's Campbell Koegler shot a 74, and Jack Michael from Cabell Midland shot a 77.

Michael and North Marion's Will Lemasters both finished the day with a 77, triggering a single-hole play-off for the fifth medal spot. After playing to a draw the first go-round through the hole, Michael overcame his counterpart in their second time through.

Lemasters, playing on his home field, continued to play well for the Huskies, as he has finished tops on his team for the majority of their matches.

"I felt like I played pretty good today, some stupid mistakes at a couple points, but overall pretty good," Lemasters said after the day's events.

"[Familiarity] plays a big part," he said of playing at Green Hills. "You get shots where you know what is safe, how to play it safe, and where you can get some good bounces."

Also for North Marion, Brady Anderson shot a 98, and Spencer Parrish carded a 111.

For East Fairmont, Blake Hunt led the Bees with an 86, Greyson Stewart finished at 92, and Tanner Bartholow carded a 93.

Fairmont Senior enjoyed a well-rounded day from their group, with three golfers in the low-to-mid 80's as the Polar Bears finished tied for sixth. Caden Musgrove shot an 82, Landen Barkley shot an 84, and Logan Huffman shot an 86.

"Today we played solid," Fairmont Senior head coach Luke Corley said Saturday. "But we're not where we need to be at this point right now. We just need to keep fighting, and try to stay on the same trajectory. Keep improving after each golf match, and hopefully by the end of the year we can meet our goals."

Cabell Midland ultimately prevailed over the rest of the pack with a 233 total score. Wheeling Park came in second at 234. Wheeling Central finished third with 242. Morgantown finished fourth at 243. Keyser finished fifth at 247.

University and Fairmont Senior tied for sixth at 252. St. Marys and Herbert Hoover tied for eighth with 256. East Fairmont finished 10th with 271. Grafton finished 11th with 272. Parkersburg finished 12th with 275. North Marion finished 13th with 286. Roane finished 14th at 291, and Frankfort finished 15th at 296.

Fairmont Senior played amid a three-team field on Tuesday at Tygart Lake, taking to the greens with Grafton and Elkins.

Grafton narrowly bested Fairmont Senior as a team, with a total of 165 to Fairmont Senior's 166. Elkins finished with 193 as a unit.

Fairmont Senior's Landen Barkley and Grafton's Dustin Keener shared medalist honors with 38's.

For the Polar Bears, Tristan Wolford carded a 40, Logan Huffman a 42, and Caden Musgrove a 46.

North Marion also saw action on Tuesday, sharing a match with Bridgeport, Philip Barbour and Lincoln at Bridgeport Country Club.

Bridgeport placed first with a team total of 161, North took second with 178, Philip Barbour placed third with 185, and Lincoln brought up the rear at 203.

Bridgeport turned in a good performance off the back of Jayden Gregory and Brayden Stutler both carding 39's.

Will Lemasters led the Huskies with a 42 on the day; Spencer Parrish was close behind at 44.

On Wednesday, the Bears had a face-off against Parkersburg, and once again narrowly fell out of first, with Parkersburg taking a 174 total against Fairmont Senior's 178.

Landen Barkley continued his stellar week with another medalist performance, shooting a 42.

Logan Huffman shot a 44 for Fairmont Senior, Tristan Wolford shot a 45, and Caden Musgrove shot a 47 to wrap up the team scores.

North took to Green Hills once again Wednesday, hosting University, Preston, and Liberty — though Liberty did not have enough golfers to qualify for the team score.

University finished first at 166, buoyed by a medalist performance by Briar Manko, who shot a 37. University's Daniel Grabo and Liberty's Jace Lancaster shot 39's at the course.

For North, Will Lemasters and Spencer Parrish both carded 43's, while Garrett Stanley carded a 44.

Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548, on Twitter @nfhenthorn_135 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.