WAVERLY - Warren Elementary put the exclamation mark on a magical golf season by capturing the Wood County Middle School League tournament championship for the first time in program history Thursday afternoon at Golf Club of West Virginia.
Three members, including co-medalist Kyler Dennis, earned all-tournament honors as Warren (358) won by 20 strokes over runner-up Blennerhassett (378).
There were several additional firsts for the Warriors. For starters, they secured the regular season title by finishing 13-0 and placed first at the league's scramble event.
Article Photos
Photos by Kerry Patrick
A total of 11 golfers secured a spot on the Wood County Middle School League’s all-tournament team Thursday at the Golf Club of West Virginia. Pictured in the front row, from left, are Caleb Moore (Spencer), Isaac Prine (Jackson), Whitney Milhoan (Jackson) and Austyn Chen (Marietta). Back row: Charlie Fetzner (Blennerhassett), Nick Ward (Warren), Max Hapney (Warren), Kyler Dennis (Warren), Logan Plummer (Belpre), Drew Yanok (Blennerhassett) and Chance Shears (Edison).
Warren coach Terry Reiter had plenty of reason to smile after each of his five golfers signed a 'goal' sheet following yesterday's awards ceremony.
"I had some scary good kids," Reiter said after completing his third season with the program. "They went beyond my expectations to the point that we set a pretty aggressive goal this year."
Dennis and Jackson's Isaac Prine each carded an 84 for the low individual round. Also competing for the Warriors were Max Hapney (85), Nick Ward (89), Josh Jankauskas (100) and Aaron Fetzner (106). Hapney will return for his eighth grade year next season, while the remaining four will join the high school ranks.
Fact Box
Wood County Middle School League
Golf Championship
At Golf Club of West Virginia
Team scores: 1. Warren 358; 2. Blennerhassett 378; 3. Marietta 384; 4. Jackson 384; 5. Spencer 388; 6. Ritchie County 398; 7. Edison 400; 8. Hamilton 425; 9. Williamstown 458; 10. Belpre 458; 11. Marietta St. Johns 467; 12. VanDevender 495; 13. Parkersburg Catholic 503; 14. Marietta St. Marys 514
Co-medalists: Isaac Prine, Jackson, 42-42-84; and Kyler Dennis, Warren 43-41-84
Warren: Kyler Dennis 43-41-84; Max Hapney 45-40-85; Nick Ward 47-42-89; Josh Jankauskas 51-49-100; Tanner Proctor 54-53-107
Blennerhassett: Charlie Fetzner 46-43-89; Drew Yanok 45-47-92; Logan Clegg 50-46-96; Kyle Houdyshell 51-50-101; Aaron Fetzner 55-51-106
Marietta: Austyn Chen 43-47-90; Heath Hill 47-48-95; Caleb Scharff 48-48-96; Matthew Earley 55-48-103; Jared Hollister 56-56-112
Jackson: Isaac Prine 42-42-84; Whitney Milhoan 43-43-86; Max Hughes 46-47-93; Justin Standley 59-62-121; Cameron Astorg 65-59-124
Spencer: Caleb Moore 44-44-88; Dalton Simmons 46-47-93; Hunter Thompson 50-48-98; Drew Kinder 49-60-109; Aaron Simon 69-59-128
Ritchie County: A.J. Collins 46-47-93; Tristen Wright 55-45-100; Sydney Brill 50-50-100; Dylan Beall 54-51-105; Emily Bishop 63-64-127
Edison: Chance Shears 44-48-92; Bryce Eagle 46-51-97; Dalton Wiggins 53-50-103; Chase Dilliner 52-56-108; Dominic Collins 53-58-111
Hamilton: Luke Schenerlein 51-50-101; Kyle Goodwin 49-55-104; Ryan Cosner 53-54-107; Jackson Devol 56-57-113; Jacob Filizof 65-64-129
Williamstown: Boston Carruthers 53-50-103; Chase Smith 57-57-114; Siara Deem 60-56-116; Colton Kendall 66-59-125; Tyler Dotson 62-65-127
Belpre: Logan Plummer 44-46-90; Brice Ferrell 49-49-98; Brittany Shaffer 67-67-134; Jeff Meredith 71-65-136; Nate Godfrey 71-68-139
Marietta St. Johns: McKenzie Dietz 54-57-111; Hannah Duff 55-60-115; Travis Pottmeyer 60-59-119; Richard Canterbury 59-63-122; Haley Duff 65-63-128
VanDevender: Matt Bunner 57-60-117; Carter Stone 59-60-119; Kortney Custer 65-60-125; Jeremy Moore 69-65-134; Aaron Marshall 70-68138
Parkersburg Catholic: Bryce Moore 54-57-111; Ty Sturm 61-62-123; Bailey Glodkowski 67-62-129; Joe Aleska 72-68-140; Ryan Hayes 71-70-141
Marietta St. Marys: Corbin Brooker 57-59-116; Yogi Tomasch 66-64-130; Gus Thompson 69-63-132; Colston Durban 70-66-136; Matthew Martin 72-70-142
All-tournament: Kyler Dennis (Warren), Isaac Prine (Jackson), Max Hapney (Warren), Whitney Milhoan (Jackson), Caleb Moore (Spencer), Nick Ward (Warren), Charlie Fetzner (Blennerhassett), Logan Plummer (Belpre), Austyn Chen (Marietta), Drew Yanok (Blennerhassett) and Chance Shears (Edison)
"Usually I give a most improved golfer award - I can't do it this year," Reiter said. "Everyone showed great improvement. From my first person to my 15th person, whoever that may be, they showed great commitment. It was a very special group."
Contributing to Blennerhassett's efforts were all-tourney members Charlie Fetzner (89) and Drew Yanok (92). Austyn Chen, one of five seventh graders representing Marietta Middle School, also made the 11-member all-tourney squad after shooting a 90.
Also making all-league were Jackson's Whitney Milhoan (86), Spencer's Caleb Moore (88), Belpre's Logan Plummer (90) and Edison's Chance Shears (92).
Marietta and Jackson tied at 384, but the Tigers won the tiebreaker for third place by virtue of their fifth-person score.
Even though trees interfered with a few of his shots on the back nine, Dennis was able to make two birdies on the front side stand up and clinch a spot on the all-league team for the second consecutive year.
"My driver was kind of off today, but I made up for it with my short game," Dennis said. "This was actually one of my better rounds of golf I've had."
Playing in the same foursome as Dennis, several birdie putts lipped-out for Prine. Otherwise, the seventh grader enjoyed a successful afternoon striking the ball and made amends for last year's middle school tournament when he took more than 100 strokes to complete his round.
"Today was one of my best days hitting the ball," Prine said. "I just concentrated a lot more than I have been."
