By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
PETTISVILLE – It was a highly successful boys golf season to remember for Pettisville, and in the Division III boys state golf tournament on Monday and Tuesday, October 13-14 at North Star Golf Club in Sunbury, the Blackbirds did themselves quite proud, finishing as state runner-up behind eventual state champion Warren Kennedy.
There was plenty of motivation involved this time around for the Blackbirds, who were making their third trip to state over the last five years and were coming off a disappointing state tournament performance a year ago when they finished 11th out of 12 teams.
“The kids did a really good job all year putting all the work in this,” said Pettisville head coach Mike Zimmerman. We were really consistent across the five, six, or seven guys who played all year for us.
“We knew we had a shot to go down there and maybe place, but the guys went out and executed. When it mattered, they took care of business.”
Led by a pair of returning seniors, Jack Leppelmeier and Creighton Aeschliman, the Blackbirds weren’t denied an opportunity to do something quite special this season.
Aeschliman led a balanced effort for the Blackbirds with a score of 156 in the two-day event. Freshman Graycen Osterday was next with a 159 score, followed by Leppelmeier and Rylee Bevard, who both shot 163s, and Gavin Knierim tallied a 173 score.
In a tight battle for the runner-up spot between Pettisville and Berlin Hiland, the outcome was finally decided on the 18th and final hole when Aeschliman successfully hit a 35-yard shot and eventually went into the cup.
“It was in a very, very tricky pin position,” noted Zimmerman on Aeschliman’s 18th hole shot. “He led this team all year long, and for what he already accomplished, it showed up at the state tournament, where he finished 12th overall.
“Just super happy for him. He’s a hard-working kid; he works hard at all the sports he plays around here and in the classroom. For him to go out this way, it was fabulous.”
Another key moment for the Blackbirds occurred when Bevard nailed a putt from about 12 feet and enabled him to save par, which became a huge stroke saver.
“It was more of a match play between ourselves and Berlin Hiland, a little bit at the end,” said Zimmerman. “We had a couple stroke lead, but they (Hiland) hit some good shots, and so did we.”
Warren Kennedy claimed the state title with a 618 score, and Pettisville, which had placed fourth in 2020, ended up with its highest state placement in program history with a 641 score, just edging out Berlin Hiland by two strokes with a 643.
Rounding out the team standings were Youngstown Mooney (648), Mechanicsburg (653), Van Buren (654), Waterford (661), Kalida (665), Botkins (671), Delphos St. Johns (680), National Trail (667), and Mogadore (704).
A huge advantage for the Blackbirds this season was scheduling Division I schools in Perrysburg, St. Francis, Anthony Wayne, and Toledo St. John’s, which has really helped them to become successful.
“There are two things we look for in setting up our schedule, and it takes time to build on that,” said Zimmerman.
“The first is playing competition that we can look across the tee box and feel that competitiveness. Second is playing a course that is going to test our kids’ skills. Those are the two things that we sort of look to and become detail-oriented after that.”
The Blackbirds compiled an impressive 183-7 overall record this year. It included five regular-season invitational titles (Wauseon, Kalida, Edgerton, Port Clinton, and Pettisville). They also finished second in the Woodmore Invitational, the District Preview at Lima Shawnee, and the Up North Shootout in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Pettisville also made it a clean sweep, winning BBC, sectional, and district titles for the second straight year.
Two of their seven losses were against Van Buren, while four losses came against Division I programs, Toledo St. John’s (twice), Anthony Wayne, Perrysburg, and the other to Warren Kennedy in the state tournament.
“We have played in some very tough tournaments,” said Zimmerman. “Most of those losses were to Division I schools.
“But this goes down certainly as our best winning percentage team in the books for sure. The cool part about it was 5 or 6 guys contributed the whole time, and they did it together.”
Pettisville will be graduating a pair of four-year veterans in Leppelmeier and Aeschliman, but return two juniors and a freshman for next season.
“We’re going to enjoy this one for now, but we’ve got our eye definitely on something at the next level,” said the Pettisville coach.
“Each team brings a different character, so we got to mold that into getting back to state.”
DIVISION III STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS (2 day totals)
TEAMS SCORES: 1. Warren JFK (309+309 – 618); 2. Pettisville (320+321 – 641); 3. Hiland (319+324 – 643); 4. Cardinal Mooney (332+316 – 648); 5. Mechanicsburg (326+327 – 653); 6. Van Buren (331+323 – 654); 7. Waterford (335+326 – 661); 8. Kalida (323-342 – 665); 9. Botkins (349+322 – 671); 10. Delphos St. John’s (352+328 – 680); 11. National Trail (353+334 – 687); 12. Mogadore (351+353 – 704)
Pettisville Individual Scores
12. Creighton Aeschliman (78+78 – 156); T20. Graycen Osterday (80+79 – 159); T. 30 Jack Leppelmeier (81+82 – 163), Rylee Bevard (81+82 – 163); T. 46 Gavin Knierim (89+84 – 173)