BOWLING GREEN – The storybook season of the North Central golf team unfortunately did not have the happy ending the Eagles had hoped for in their quest for the school’s first ever team trip to the OHSAA Division III State Golf Tournament. Despite a valiant effort, North Central was unable to overcome some impressive scores put together by some of the area’s best teams.
Making their second consecutive trip to the District Tournament, the Eagles finished 9th out of the 18 qualifying teams with a score of 344. Juniors Branden Turner and Dylan Hutchison led the way for North Central with rounds of 84. Senior Kole Peterson shot an 87, while classmates Clayton VanDeVoorde and Cameron Cochran closed out their high school careers with scores of 89 and 93 respectively.
Although falling short of the team goal of a trip to State, the Eagles had a record breaking season compiling an overall record of 97-16, and finished undefeated in both the BBC (5-0) and all quad, tri, and dual matches (18-0). The team took first at Sectionals as well as the Edon Invitational, while finishing second in the Defiance and Stryker Invites.
Stryker, who was seeking back to back trips to State, shot a team score of 383. Tanner Clingaman posted the low score for the Panthers with an 87. Hunter Clingaman closed out a fine career with a 92, as did freshman Chad Ruffer. Nick Fox finished at 112 and Nathan Yoder 118 for the Panthers.
No area individuals or teams advanced to the Division III State Tournament. The top four teams qualified for next week’s event which will be held at NorthStar Golf Resort in Sunbury.
1, LIMA CENTRAL CATHOLIC 308. 2, OTTAWA HILLS 318. 3, ASHLAND CRESTVIEW 320. 4, VAN BUREN 332. 5 (tie), KALIDA & PARKWAY 333. 7, WOODMORE 340. 8, FREMONT ST. JOSEPH 342. 9, NORTH CENTRAL 344. 10, MINSTER 347. 11, ALLEN EAST 351. 12, WAYNE TRACE 354. 13, NEW RIEGEL 358. 14, OTTOVILLE 361. 15 (tie), NORWALK ST. PAUL & WYNFORD 362. 17, PATRICK HENRY 382. 18, STRYKER 383.
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