PORTSMOUTH — Westfall’s time in second place in the SVC golf standings was short-lived as the Mustangs bounced back from Wednesday’s defeat to claim both sides of the final league match and claim their first league title in more than two decades.
The Mustangs needed a fifth-score tiebreaker to claim match No. 7 (the font nine at the Portsmouth Elks Country Club) over Piketon and posted a 171 to beat Unioto by two strokes in Match 8 (the back nine).
“It was a beautiful day for golf and I am so proud of my team for coming through on the final day,” Westfall coach Todd Rhymer said. “Our last two matches we haven’t finished very well, so on the front nine we tied with Piketon for first place and won the tiebreaker with our fifth score. Then on the back nine it came down to our final player, Ian Camden, who finished with a 44 to bring our team score to 171 to beat Unioto by two strokes.”
That helped the Mustangs to their first league title since 2001.
Brendan Biegler led the Mustangs in both matches shooting a 42 on the front and a 41 on the back. Jacob Hicks had a 42 on the back and his 47 on the front was the crucial tiebreaker.
Camden shot 43 on the front, Dalton Bush shot 44 and Colton Brungarth had a 45. Isaac Stevens had a 55.
Bush and Camden shot 44 on the back to round out Westfall’s scoring while Brungarth had a round of 50 and Stevens shot 51.
“Brendan and Jacob have been our leaders all year long, but Dalton, Colton, Ian and Isaac have all stepped up in key situations to get us to this point,” Rhymer said. “Senior Jasiah Story has been coming to our matches and walking around with the boys for the last two weeks after cutting two fingers requiring stitches and showing great support for his teammates after his injury.”
Unioto’s Charlie Lewis and Southeastern’s Brayden Popp were co-medalists on the front as they each carded a 37. Lewis was the medalist on the back nine with a 39 and was named the SVC Player of the Year.
In Match 7, Westfall took first, Piketon second and Zane Trace topped Unioto with a fifth-score tiebreaker as well.
In Match 8, The Mustangs were first to Unioto’s second-place finish while Piketon was third and Zane Trace fourth.
Final SVC standings: Westfall 59, Unioto 56, Zane Trace 47, Piketon 42, Adena 32, Southeastern 23, Huntington 21. (Paint Valley did not have enough golfers for team scores.)
Vikings claim MSL in last go-round
GRANVILLE — Teays Valley shot a 331 today, 19 shots better than Bloom-Carroll, to secure the Mid-State League Buckeye Division golf title at Denison Golf Club.
It was the last Mid-State League match for the Vikings as they join the Ohio Capital Conference next school year.
Circleville was fourth (363), Logan Elm was fifth (367) and Amanda-Clearcreek was seventh (461) on the day. This also was their order of finish in the league for the season.
TV’s James Bush and Caden Sherman shared medalist honors with Fairfield Union’s Isaiah Delong as they each posted a round of 82. Noah Hilgenberg and Vance Hanger rounded out TV’s scoring with rounds of 83 and 84, respectively. Carter Hutchison and Branson Crabtree each had rounds of 99 for the Vikings.
Reid Seimetz led Circleville with an 86, Michael Fernandez had an 88, Brady Reuter had a 92, Jude Blair shot 97, Liam McConnell had a 102 and Andrew Siembida shot 111.
Grant Cline led Logan Elm with an 88, Parker Calder had an 89, Will Higginbotham shot 94, Graham Williams shot 96, Mason Gentry had 97 and Judson Pollock had a 101.
Caiden Riddle led AC with a 103, Breece Stone shot 114, Ashden Vanscoy had a 119, AJ Moyer shot 125 and Will Francis shot a 146.
Final league standings: Teays Valley (21-3), Bloom-Carroll 20-4), Fairfield Union 17-7, Circleville (12-12), Logan Elm (10-14), Liberty Union (3-21), Amanda-Clearcreek (1-23).
