Waterloo, Garfield dominate at MVAC golf championships
Tournaments dominated the high school golf schedule last week as conferences wrapped up their seasons in preparation for the OHSAA postseason.
The Waterloo Vikings and Garfield G-Men competed in separate tournaments at Salem Hills Golf Course in Salem for the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference championships.
The MVAC declares league champions following the regular season matches and has tournament champions and names their first team and second team all-league golfers from their finish at the league tournaments.
The Waterloo boys, already the league champs following a 13-1 MVAC season, earned second place at the MVAC-Scarlet Division tournament by virtue of the fifth-man score.
Tied with McDonald following regulation holes with a score of 347, McDonald’s fifth man fired a 99, topping Waterloo’s fifth score, carded by Drew Flarida, by one shot.
Three of the Vikings were in the top 10, including Trevor Simons, runner-up with a score of 80, and Jackson Eichler and Noah Hughes with a pair of 87s good for seventh place.
Simons was only four strokes shy of medalist, Jackson Ensley of Springfield Local (76).
In the Gray Division, the Garfield G-Men bested the seven-team conference for the tournament title, firing a 365 to top Champion’s 370.
Danny Ensinger, a senior, fired an 86, good for runner-up medalist behind Ken Williams of Champion (83). Landon Gedeon (92) and Dillan Paul (92) finished in the top nine golfers for the champions.
The G-Men girls combined for a 451 score to finish second in the MVAC tournament behind Champion.
Garfield’s Madison Woconish finished with an 18-hole round of 102, good for fourth place in the event behind champion Kennady Grace of Champion (97).
Aurora invitational is canceled
Coaches have talked often about the beautiful weather golfers have enjoyed this fall with very few tournaments suffering rain delays or seeking the need to cancel.
Unfortunately, one of the first casualties of weather this season was the Greenmen Invitational on Sunday at Barrington Golf Club in Aurora.
The 14-team tournament included Portage County teams Kent Roosevelt and the host Aurora Greenmen.
Following 11 holes of play there was possible lightning in the area as the rain was sheeting across the fairways of Barrington.
A decision was made to have all golfers tally their first nine holes played and give their score to compile and determine the winners.
When everything was tallied, Walsh Jesuit earned the tournament championship and Jackson finished as the runner-up.
An all-tournament team was named. Liam Curtis of Kent Roosevelt totaled a 1-under par over nine holes, and Jude Abbass of Aurora, was in the top eight, playing his first nine holes to 1-over par.
Portage Trail Conference wrap-up
It is worth noting the solid, season play of Dillon Pendergast during the PTC season.
Named second-team all-state in 2021 at the OHSAA State Tournament, Pendergast continued his outstanding play this season, maintaining a perfect individual record in the PTC, winning all 10 matches and the tournament. It was the first time in the history of the PTC, part of the golfing landscape in northeast Ohio since the 2005 golfing season, that a golfer completed a perfect season.
Pendergast has verbally committed to play for the Cleveland State Vikings in the fall.
The Portage Trail Conference allows golfers to earn their way onto the first team and second team of the conference. Points are awarded for each individual player’s placement in each match and the conference tournament. The player with the most points is named player of the year.
This week
OHSAA sectional tournament play begins for Portage County teams on Wednesday at five sites: Division II boys at Windmill Lakes (Field, Garfield and Streetsboro) and Div. III boys at Riverview (Rootstown, Southeast, Waterloo and Windham) and Salem Hills (Mogadore), and Div. II girls at Punderson (Garfield, Ravenna, Rootstown and Southeast) and The Pines in Orrville (Field and Waterloo).
Ravenna will compete in the Div. II boys sectional at Bunker Hill on Thursday.
Roosevelt and Aurora will compete in the final girls Suburban League tournament on Thursday at Goodpark.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Portage County high school golf news and notes
