Pictured above are the 2021 Division III sectional golf tournament, Coach Carl Schneider and the West Union Dragons. (Provided photo)
Manchester, North Adams also qualify for district action
North Adams senior Jacob Campbell shot an 84 in last week’s Division III sectional tournament, helping get the Green Devils one of the team berths in the districts. (Photo by Sharon Campbell)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
You would be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining boys golf rivalry than the one that takes place right here in Adams County. The rivalry has gone from the early season County Cup battle all the way through tournament play, with the top three squads of West Union, Manchester, and North Adams always vying for tourney success that leads into state tournament appearances.
That rivalry was renewed on Sept. 29 at the Jaycees Golf Course as the Dragons, Greyhounds, Green Devils, plus the Peebles Indians gathered to compete in the 2021 Division III Sectional Tournament. Although Manchester had dominated most of the regular season action this fall, the sectional tourney belonged to Coach Carl Schneider and his West Union boys. Success breeds more success and you can’t argue with the success of Schneider’s programs and in last week’s sectional the Dragons added another piece of hardware to an impressive golf collection. By a mere five strokes, West Union edged out Manchester to capture the Division III sectional crown as both teams qualified for district play and the trifecta was completed as the North Adams boys also earned a berth in this week’s district competition. In fact, all four county schools were represented at districts as Peebles senior Logan Mahan claimed one of the five available individual spots.
For the sectional champion Dragons, a team total score of 330 was paced by an 80 from senior Dakota Pell, 41 on the front and 39 on the back. West Union also got a score of 81 from the other Pell twin, Derrick, who went 40-41. Sophomore Chase Taylor carded an 83 (44-39), senior Aden Weeks fired an 86 (44-42), and senior Jonathan MacDowell shot 88 (46-42).
Second place in Division III sectional play went to senior-laden Manchester, led as usual by senior Daulton McDonald, who went 36 on the front and 37 on the back for a 73, which placed him second overall in the individual race, five strokes behind Lucasville Valley freshman Cameron Phillips.
To accumulate their team total of 335, the Hounds also got scores of 86 (45-41) from senior Logan Bell, 87 (45-42) from senior Luke Hayslip, 89 (48-41_ from senior Isaiah Scott, and another 89 (48-41) from junior Karson Reaves.
A clean sweep of the top three team spots in the sectional came when North Adams claimed the three hole with a total team score of 344, led by senior Carson Chaney’s 79 (40-39). The Devils also got 18-hole scores of 84 (43-41) from senior Jacob Campbell, 90 (42-48) from sophomore Ethan Taylor, 91 (49-42) from senior T.J. Holt, and 94 (46-48) from senior Brady Lung.
Though Peebles didn’t qualify as a team, placing ninth overall (426),but sent an individual to district play as senior Logan Mahan took the fourth of the five individual berths, shooting an 87, 47 on the front and then shaving seven strokes off of that for a back nine 40. The Indians had a quartet of other golfers on the course: Keltin Robinson at 97 (50-47), Remington Beckham at 120 (59-61), Jacob Newkirk at 122 (68-54), and Byron Stephens at 136 (65-71).
Mahan and the trio of county teams were in district action at the Elks Country Club in Portsmouth, where it was the Manchester boys bringing home a district championship. Look for a report on that action int he upcoming weekend edition of The People’s Defender.
