By Mark Carpenter
Some of the most exciting stories in sports are of miracle upsets and miraculous comebacks and that certainly was the story on Oct. 5 at the Elks Country Club in Portsmouth. On that day, the Elks hosted the Division III Boys District Golf Tournament, with the senior-laded Crooksville Ceramics, two-time defending district champions, coming in as the heavy favorite to be the team to once again advance to the state tournament.
Only one team from the districts can move to the state and after the 18 holes were played on Oct. 5, that team wasn’t Crooksville. After barely making the districts with a fifth place finish in the sectional tournament, Coach Carl Schneider and the West Union Dragons pulled off one of those miracle comebacks and will be moving on to the state tournament , the eight trip for Schneider’s teams. Crooksville had finished 40 strokes ahead of the Dragons in sectional play, but at the district West Union squad pulled off the miracle, making up those 40 strokes plus two more to edge past the Ceramics and into the state tournament next week.
“Our team played up to their capabilities in the district though they thought they could have played about 10 strokes better,” said Coach Schneider. “We knew we were going to have to play well to beat several talented teams in the field. Crooksville has gone to state the past two years and were led by four seniors, one of whom is First Team All-Ohio. They had a great season and were expected to go back to state this year. We knew we had to be on the top of our game to get past them plus some other solid teams like Manchester, North Adams, and Peebles.”
It takes a team effort to pull off the kind of comeback that the Dragons did at the district tourney, and they were paced by junior Dakota Pell, who went 38 on the front and 38 on the back for a 76, the third best individual score on the day. Senior Clayton Jones came in at 82 (42-40), with junior Jonathan MacDowell at 84 (42-42), junior Derrick Pell at 86 (44-42), and junior Aden Weeks at 94 (43-51).
“We got a solid performance from Dakota (Pell)”, said Schneider. “He has been bothered with a sore foot over the last week but pushed through the pain to post one of his best scores of the year. Clayton (Jones) continued his strong leadership with a seventh place finish and Jonathan (MacDowell) continued his hot streak at the end of the season.”
The Dragons won’t be the only representatives from Adams County as the county also produced a district champion in Manchester junior Daulton McDonald, who shot a 74 for the day, one stroke better than South Webster’s Gavin Baker. McDonald had placed third in the sectional tourney behind a pair of Crooksville golfers, but now will head to Columbus wearing the crown of “District Champion.”
“Daulton has worked extremely hard this past year and over the summer to get to this position,” said Manchester head coach Adam Poole. “He set his goal at the beginning of the season to qualify for state either as a team or individual. Although we fell short as a team, he did not lose his vision.”
According to Poole, the last few holes of the district tournament were quite nerve-wracking, though McDonald may not have been totally aware of that.
“I walked with him over the last six holes, know he had a three-shot cushion,” said Poole. “I chose not to let him know until that cushion was trimmed to one. At that point, I told him on 17 just to par out, still not telling him how close it was. he made a clutch four-foot putt on 17 and came up just short of the green with his approach on 18 after splitting the fairway with his drive.”
“He chipped in to within 10 feet, with probably 85 people watching. At that point I think he knew he had done it,with that shot he was headed to state. Daulton was the SHAC Player of the Year, was third in sectionals, and the district medalist, so there wasn’t much he needed to add to his resume but a state appearance. I feel confident that he will go to North Star and represent himself, his teammates, and Manchester High School with a strong showing.”
The Div. III district tourney was also the end of solid season from the three other county golf teams, all of whom finished in the top six in the district.
Besides McDonald’s championship performance, Manchester got district scores of 78 from Luke Hayslip, 91 from Logan Bell, and 81 from Karson Reaves. the Greyhounds placed third in the overall team standings.
The North Adams Green Devils placed fourth in the district and were led by Junior T.J. Holt, who shot ab 82 (42-40). The Devils also got scores of 85 (42-43) from freshman Ethan Taylor, 87 (45-42) from junior Brady Lung, and 110 (54-56) from junior Jacob Campbell. In his final high school outing, North Adams senior Carson Chaney finished at 88 (44-44).
District play also concluded a fine season for Coach Michael Walls and his Peebles Indians, who placed sixth overall and were led by a pair of departing seniors, Dawson Mills at 87 (43-44) and Oakley Burba at 90 (45-45). A third Peebles senior, Brennan Kyle, finished his career by shooting a 95 (45-50), with Indians’ freshman Keltin Robinson shooting 100 (44-56) and junior Logan Mahan finishing at 101 (49-52).
“It was a great exhibition by all four county teams,” added Coach Schneider. “I think that says a lot about the quality of golf being played in Adams County and the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.”
The west Union boys and McDonald will now set their sights on state championships, heading to the Ohio State University North Star Golf Club on Oct. 16 and 17 to compete with the best high school golfers the state of Ohio has to offer.
Division III District Final Team Standings: West Union 328, Crooksville 330, Manchester 334, North Adams 342, Belpre 343, Peebles 372, Waterford 379,
