Some may consider it a mild upset, but no matter, the North Adams Green Devils boys golf team claimed a Division III sectional championship on Wednesday, finishing eight strokes ahead of the second place West Union Dragons. Both squads will advance to district play.

 

North Adams, West Union, pair of Manchester golfers, one from Peebles moving on to district tourney – 

Story by Mark Carpenter – 
Photo courtesy of the NAHS Athletic Department – 

It’s a battle that has been ongoing since the boys golf season started in mid-August and it’s a battle that will now take itself into the Division III District Tournament. Though friendly rivals, the boys golf teams from North Adams and West Union have seen each other on the course over a dozen times this season, the latest of those meetings being in the Division III sectional tournament on Wednesday at the Shawnee State Park Course.
Less than a week earlier, the two teams had completed their battle in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Tournament with the Dragons winning two rounds and the Devils two, but the Dragons winning the tourney by 10 strokes. On Wednesday in the sectional tourney, the results again went the way of the Green Devils, as Coach Ammon Mitchell and his squad claimed the sectional title, downing the second place Dragons by eight total strokes, 320-328. The competition between the two county schools is not over by any means, as by virtue of their finishes, they will both be competing in next week’s Division III District Tourney.
“We are peaking at the perfect time,” said Coach Mitchell. “I have said all year that if I could get both Bryant and Noah Lung to show up at the same time, we would be a really tough team to beat, but today was a great team win. The last time North Adams won sectionals in golf was 2001 and I am so proud of how all of my boys played and showed outstanding sportsmanship through the whole tournament.”
“It shows that hard work and dedication does pay off.”
Coach Mitchell mentioned his two “Lungs” and they were the key to his team’s success in the sectionals win. Noah Lung was the individual champion of the Div. III sectional, shooting a 34 on the front nine and a 38 on the back nine for a total of 72, three strokes better than teammate Bryant Lung and West Union’s Elijah McCarty, who both shot 75.
West Union’s Eli Fuller and Andrew Sapp both carded in at 83, followed by North Adams senior Colt Shumaker at 86. Uriah Hall of North Adams and Carson McFarland of West Union both finished at 87, with the Devils’ Carson Hall shooting 90 and West Union’s Jacob Pell 92.
The top five team from the sectionals advance on to district competition and after North Adams and West Union, that group will include Dawson-Bryant, Western Latham, and another SHAC school, Whiteoak.
Besides the five teams that advance, the top five individuals who were not on those teams also earn the district trip and that included three more Adams County golfers, two from Manchester and one from Peebles. The Indians’ Bostin Robinson will move on to districts after firing an 18-hole total of 85 in the sectional, and he will be joined by Manchester’s Dylan Colvin who shot 88, and the Hounds’ Logan Hayslip who earned his spot by shooting a 91 in a field that included a total of 68 total golfers.
Now, the Adams County golfers turn their attention to the Division III Districts, which will take place on Monday, Oct. 2 at the Portsmouth Elks Course. North Adams and West Union will be in the same grouping, teeing off at 9:50 a.m. The competition will be fierce and intense, as the rules have changed. Last year both North Adams and West Union qualified for the state tournament out of districts, but this season only one will advance along with just one individual not on that state squad.
“It’s nice to be the front runner going into districts,” says Coach Mitchell. “But now we have a target on our backs and we have to go out and show the Southeast District that we can do it again and go back to state.”