Jerome, New Albany lead at state golf tournament

Albany a 300 and a five-shot lead over Centerville.

“It definitely played pretty tough today, but we stuck in there,” Wagner said. “The greens were tough. They were pretty firm and pretty fast. If you were above the holes, it was hard to even have a two-putt.”

Ethan Snyder (80) was next for the Celtics, followed by Tyler Groomes (82) and Ryan Miller (87).

“It was a mixture of our mindset and experience that allowed us to put up good numbers with the conditions we had,” Jerome coach Taylor Harle said. “Going into this weekend, we knew the weather wasn’t going to be perfect because it’s October and it changes quickly. It’s something we all have to play through.”

Cincinnati St. Xavier and Mason are tied for third at 323, Massillon Jackson is fifth with a 333 and St. Charles and Akron Hoban are tied for sixth at 334.

Oliver Mauntel led St. Charles with an 80, followed by Michael Shyu (84), Vince Campagni and Evan Yakubov (both 85) and Jason Zehala (86).

St. Xavier’s Oscar Zimmerman shot par 72 to lead the field of 72 golfers. Olentangy Liberty’s Grant Smeltzer shot a 79 and is tied for 11th, and Central Crossing’s Caleb Davern carded an 81 and is tied for 20th.

In the girls competition, after New Albany, Centerville shot a 305, followed by Ashland (309) and twotime defending champion Olentangy Orange (310) to round out the top four.

“The girls really handled themselves well out there,” New Albany coach Rich Ritter said. “A couple of them did not get off to the best starts or have the best front nines, but we closed very well. We have been working on that all year, closing out the last five holes strong. That’s a tough thing here; (Nos.) 16 and 17 are tricky holes, but we came through very well.”

Also scoring for New Albany on a cool and slightly breezy day were Kary Hollenbaugh (76) and Anna Ritter (77).

“I have been practicing a lot into the wind recently, so I didn’t think it was that bad,” Pankow said. “I missed a lot of shorter putts but came back with some longer ones. Overall, I thought it was a very good round.”

Ashley Au’s 70 and a 71 from Riley Dean led Orange, which also got an 80 from Natalia Sompolvorachai and an 89 from Natalie Au.

Olentangy Berlin junior Leila Raines shot a 69 and shares the individual lead with Centerville’s Marissa Wenzler, a Kentucky commit. Upper Arlington junior Emily Hummer is in a three-way tie for fourth with a 71.