The Eagles were in cruise control on Saturday, flying with a 10-stroke lead and only four holes to play at the MHSAA Division 1 golf state finals at Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Course. But Catholic Central hit some big shots, closed the gap and ended up not only catching Skyline but overtaking them to earn the D-1 championship.
Skyline, the defending state champs, had a strong first round on Friday and were playing very well on day two. But Catholic Central, led by Peter Stassinopoulos (70), Liam Casey (71), Neil Zhu (72) and Julian Menser (73), turned in a strong finish on the back nine to finish with a team score of 587. CC shot 301 on the first day and 286 on day two.
Skyline shot 296 on the first day and actually dropped three strokes on the second day to finish with a 589. The top four golfers from each team are added up for the final score.
Brighton was a distant third (629), followed by Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (630) and Muskegon Mona Shores (641). Dexter shot a team score of 721 to finish 18th overall.
Skyline sophomore Ieuan Jones won individual medalist, after a runner-up showing last year as a freshman. He shot 69-69-138 to win by six strokes over Brighton junior Andrew Daily. Skyline sophomore Vibhav Alokam tied for sixth overall (146) and junior Mitchell Strickland was ninth with a 149. Junior Hank Roebuck shot a 156 for the Eagles and junior Andrew Slade carded a 160.
“I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get it done as a team, but I’m happy I left everything out there,” Skyline’s Jones told MHSAA after the tournament. “I was making sure that I stayed focused on every single shot. I knew the team scoring was going to come down to some pretty close numbers, so I was making sure I did what I could.”
Dexter senior Dom Sortor went 84-88 to lead the Dreadnaughts with a 172. Senior Allen Labadie carded a 191 (92-99); junior Niko Michos shot a 180 (96-84); senior Dylan Hutchison shot a 180 (93-87); and senior Corey Burga carded a 203 (106-97).
Huron senior Brendan Baidel shot a 78-81 to finish with a 159.
PHOTO courtesy MHSAA.com
