Defending champions shooting for another title
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Central Catholic won the 2016 WPIAL Class 3A boys golf title by the slimmest of margins.
This year, though, the Vikings are hoping they can just make it out of their section.
“Itold them the first day of practice, last year was a great ride and it’s something that we’ll always remember as a once-in-a-lifetime moment,” Central Catholic coach Corey O’Connor said. “But our section is really tough and there are some amazing players, some of the most amazing in the WPIAL and, just to get through our section is going to be difficult.”
With eight sections and only two teams guaranteed slots in the WPIAL finals, there will be some quality teams sitting at home once the postseason begins. A year ago, Central Catholic finished 14 strokes behind Section 4-rival Fox Chapel before rebounding with a 378-379-380 victory against the Foxes and Peters Township, respectively, in the WPIAL team finals at Cedarbrook.
“We can’t control what other players do,” O’Connor said. “I did tell them that it’s a new year, people are going to try to beat us and try to make sure we don’t make the playoffs and it’s going to betough.”
Central Catholic will have junior Jimmy Meyers, the WPIAL Class 3A runner-up in the individual finals, back to lead the team this season. But he wasn’t even the best finisher from his section at the championship at Oakmont in 2016 as Fox Chapel’s Gregor Meyer, also a junior this year, fired a 1-under 70 towin.
Another returning junior from Section 4 is Palmer Jackson of Franklin Regional, who finished in the top 10 at the PIAA finals a yearago.
While winning Section 4 will be a challenge for Central Catholic, Section 7 will once again be a battle between Peters Township and Upper St. Clair. The Indians’ second-place finish in the WPIAL was 30 strokes ahead of the sixth-place Panthers, butboth should be in the mix asthe season progresses.
Peters Township also has a former WPIAL champion on its roster as 2015 winner Hunter Bruce is back for his senioryear.
Class 2A
There is little chance Sewickley Academy is going to let up now that the school has four consecutive WPIAL Class 2A titles under its belt.
“The key is that we have a strong junior varsity team and we’ve got guys that worked really hard and played a lot of tournaments this summer,” Sewickley Academy coach Win Palmer said. “It’s going to be an inexperienced team, but I think it’s going to be a strong team.”
Every year it seems like Sewickley Academy doesn’t rebuild, but reloads and this seasonis no different. Maybe it was wishful thinking that the WPIAL inadvertently listed Will Nocito as a senior on the scoreboard at the Class 2A individual championships, but he will be back this year after a 12th-place finishat the PIAA individual finals in 2016.
“He was a terrific player for us,” Palmer said. “He’s our No. 1 player and he’s a good, solid person to start with.”
Though Nocito will lead a team of defending champions, Skyler Fox will have to maintain his crown alone. The Riverside sophomore who won the WPIAL and finished one shot behind Chris Tanabe of Quaker Valley for the individual state title, will be back to continue his reign.
Matt Barto of Leechburg (2012-13) was the previous player to successfully defend inClass 2A.