PIAA golf: Lugiano leads banner day in Class 2A
Oct. 19—STATE COLLEGE — When it came to ball striking, Lake-Lehman's Michael Lugiano was nearly perfect.
Eighteen holes, 18 greens in regulation, and four birdies in bitterly cold conditions.
All that and Lugiano's best wasn't good enough.
That's because Notre Dame-bound Nick Ciocca was just a little better.
The Devon Prep senior made five birdies en route to a 4-under 68, topping Lugiano by two shots to win the PIAA Class 2A Boys Golf Championship at Penn State's Blue Course.
"Nick is a great player," Lugiano said. "He's ranked second in the state. I'm not disappointed at all. I'm happy for him. I'll take third, 100%. I mean, I'm only a junior. I've still got next year so I'm definitely looking forward to that."
Lugiano hit one bad drive and it led to his lone bogey after he had 50 feet left after recovering from a fairway bunker on No. 10.
"Basically I was mistake free," Lugiano said. "Just missed a couple of putts."
Lugiano's performance highlighted a spectacular day for the Wyoming Valley Conference as four of their five qualifiers earned state medals with a top-10 finish.
Wyoming Seminary's Nick Werner grabbed fifth, and Lugiano's teammates, Cael Ropietski and Eli Ropietski, finished tied for sixth and in eighth, respectively.
"It's awesome," Lugiano said. "Just all of us being in the same area and being so good I think we learned from each other. I think we just all help each other out."
It's a sentiment echoed by Werner, a sophomore.
"There's never a moment where any one of us aren't working very hard," Werner said. "I feel like since all of us are very good players, it's interesting to learn and see what shots that we can hit and really push ourselves to try to be better golfers."
The day began with all four in the chase for the title. Just a few holes in, those chances vanished.
Werner played his first 10 holes at 4 over. Cael Ropietski was 3 over through four, and Eli Ropietski started bogey-double bogey.
That left Lugiano as the only hope for the title, and he did everything he could, making birdie on the first hole and again on the fifth to grab a share of the lead.
It wouldn't last as Ciocca and Slippery Rock's Jacob Wolak, the runner-up after a closing 67, moved in front as Lugiano bogeyed No. 10.
"It was definitely my worst driver swing of the day," Lugiano said of his tee ball into a bunker. "So that didn't help, but having only one bogey today, mistake free almost, that's nice."
It looked like Lugiano would cut into the two-stroke deficit on No. 16 when Ciocca had to take a penalty stroke after driving into a hazard and Lugiano split the fairway.
"My ball stream was great today," Lugiano said. "It was a little less windy so it was easier to manage the course, but a couple of shots I kind of forgot to counter the wind because it was not windy at all. So I had a couple like 15, 20 feet past and then not being able to make the putt, just a couple slight mistakes like that. Maybe if I was 5 feet closer, I would have been able to make it and save a couple shots."
Instead it was Ciocca supplying his own dagger, canning a 15-footer to save par.
"That secured him the win," Lugiano said.
Lugiano had one last gasp on 18, but his 30-foot eagle try was just offline, and Ciocca made a 5-footer for birdie and the title.
After his 1-under start, Werner had eyes on the title but his start submarined those hopes.
Still, he recovered to maintain his hold on fifth with a final-round 75, 3-over par.
"Front nine, I really couldn't find the clubface at all," Werner said. "I was hitting it sporadically. I was playing army golf — left, right, left, right."
After a bogey on 10, his card was spotless.
"I cleaned it up with all pars and a birdie," Werner said. "Really came back on the back nine and I'm happy I kept my head up."
Eli Ropietski finally got some good vibes when he stuck a 5-iron to 5 feet on the par-3 fourth.
"Almost dunked it and then missed the 5-footer for birdie, but that was a positive," Eli said.
He followed with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 fifth, changing the tenor of his round.
"That's where I slowly started getting some confidence back," Eli said.
Cael Ropietski's woes came primarily with the putter.
"Couldn't make a putt to save my life," Cael said. "Off the tee I'd say I was really good, into the green I was pretty average, and on the green I was not great."
His final 14 holes saved him as he secured a medal.
"Yeah," Cael said. "I just wish it was gold."
Lackawanna Trail's Gavin June missed a medal by one shot, tying for 11th at 8 over, and Lake-Lehman's Charlie Weidner posted a second straight 79 to tie for 25th.
One other medalist
The only other medal won by a District 2 individual came from Scranton Prep's Gianna Cafarella, who played her final 15 holes at 2-over to shoot 79 and finish tied for ninth in the girls Class 2A competition.
Scranton Prep's Miranda Karoscik carded 85 to finish tied for 17th, and Holy Redeemer's Arden Brunn shot a final-round 102 and finished 30th.
Crestwood's Derek Johnson had 76 to finish at 7 over, tied for 23rd. Teammate Owen Blazick had 79 and tied for 57th. Wallenpaupack's Kevin Wortman shared 39th after his 77, and Valley View's LV Pegula finished tied for 55th after his 78.
In 3A girls, North Pocono's Gwen Powell was 14th after a 78, Honesdale's Kayla Benson shot 82 to tie for 17th, and Tunkhannock's Hallie Brown was a shot back of Benson, tied for 19th after an 81.
Up next
The three-day event wraps up as Lake-Lehman and Crestwood boys will play in Wednesday's team competition, as will Scranton Prep and North Pocono's girls.
"Definitely awesome," Lugiano said. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully we can take home the team win."
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