CC faces a difficult decision

Tri-State Sports & News Service

It didn’t take long after Central Catholic had won the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf title that Corey O’Connor came to the realization that he had quite a few difficult decisions to make before his Vikings made the trip to Heritage Hills in York for the state finals.

Maybe the toughest will be to tell one of his six players that he is going to be sitting in the clubhouse on Wednesday while the other five of his teammates compete to bring home the school’s first PIAA title since the state began recognizing team golf in 2006. In the WPIAL, six players compete and only the top five count toward the final score. In the state finals, it’s five golfers with just the top four being tallied.

“That’s the toughest part and I think that shows how great and deep the WPIAL is … then when you have to get rid of your one player, it’s really hard,” O’Connor said. “It’s going to be tough, but we’re going to make a rational decision and we’ll see what happens.”

Two Central Catholic players who will likely make the cut are senior Matt DelRosso and sophomore Jimmy Meyers, who finished in the top 12 in the PIAA Western Region finals Monday at Tom’s Run Golf Course and will play in the two-day individual championships Monday and Tuesday.

Meyers qualified as a freshman last year and finished tied for 32nd, while DelRosso will be making his first appearance in the finals.

Sophomore Brady Pavarnik of Latrobe will also be making his second visit to Heritage Hills, but he’ll do so this year as the medalist from the west after shooting a 2-under 70. He came in ninth last year, seven shots behind the leaders.

Reigning WPIAL champion Gregor Meyer, a sophomore from Fox Chapel, finished tied for 14th and missed moving on by four strokes.

Class 2A

Sewickley Academy is more intimately familiar with Heritage Hills than any other boys golf team in the WPIAL.

That’s what happens when a team wins three consecutive WPIAL titles and is the defending PIAA 2A champion.

Now that the Panthers have made it four in a row, the expectations are much higher. This time, they will find out what it’s like to have the added pressure of repeating as a state titlist rather than just scrabbling for the top.

Then again, if the way they played during the regular season is any indication, they might just be bringing another gold medal back with them this year.

“We’re right there in the 70s and 80s every time and we have that consistency,” Sewickley Academy coach Win Palmer said.

Sewickley Academy also did something difficult when three senior golfers, Will Nocito, Ryan Gex and Jason Li, all finished in the top 22 at the regional qualifiers to push through to the state tournament. Li was the 2014 state champion as a sophomore and finished third, five shots behind Wyomissing’s Nate Menon.

Evan Long of Laurel, who had the low round of the day at the WPIAL 2A team finals at Cedarbrook last week, won a one-hole playoff against Quaker Valley’s Chris Tanabe for the Western Region title. WPIAL champion Skyler Fox, a freshman from Riverside, was tied with Gex and Li three shots behind the leaders.

Girls Class 3A

Peters Township senior Mia Kness wasn’t exactly thrilled when she finished one shot behind North Allegheny sophomore Caroline Wrigley in the WPIAL Class 3A individual finals at Treesdale Golf & Country Club.

Then again, like so many golfers say, it’s really about moving on to the next round. And that’s something Kness will be doing on Monday.

Kness, a Seton Hall recruit, tied Pine-Richland sophomore Lauren Freyvogel with a 1-under 71 at Tom’s Run and took home the Western Region title on the second hole of a playoff. Kness tied for fourth last year and is the highest finisher returning for the tournament.

Girls Class 2A

Olivia Zambruno is on a mission.

After losing by two strokes to Central Valley sophomore Kiaria Porter in the WPIAL 2A individual championships at Treesdale, the Greensburg Central Catholic senior and Penn State recruit has refocused and is on a mission to become the first WPIAL girls golfer ever to win three consecutive state titles.

She was the only girls golfer to break par when she shot a 2-under 69 at Cedarbrook when she led the Centurions to their second consecutive team title. She was medalist at Tom’s Run in the state qualifier with a 3-over 75 for a 1-shot win over sophomore Tatum McKelvey of Sewickley Academy.