CLARION COUNTY, Pa. — The Clarion Bobcat boys golf team had a very good week, posting a five-player score of 192 to win the first KSAC Mega Match of the 2023 season, the team’s 19th consecutive conference victory dating back to the first contest of 2021.
(Pictured above: Moniteau’s Mariska Shunk.)
Clarion junior Kam Kerle grabbed medalist honors, shooting a 33 (1-under) on the 2,541-yard front nine in Kossuth.
The win was Kerle’s sixth straight going back to the middle of last season. He carded two birdies and six pars on the loop.
Cayden Baker, a senior at Cranberry, and Keystone freshman Sean Karg tied for second, coming home two strokes behind Kerle with 35 (1-over).
Baker’s round featured an eagle, birdie, and four pars. Karg finished with two birdies and five pars.
Karns City Chloe Frisch (36), a junior, was fourth with a score of 3-over.
Kam Kerle
Cranberry sophomore Dalton Wenner, Keystone freshman Talon Wilson and Moniteau junior Connor Ealy ended up in a three-way tie for fifth, each shooting 37.
Rounding out the top-10 were A-C Valley/Union’s Joe Rapp (38) and Cranberry’s Dane Wenner (38) tied for eighth and Clarion’s Tanner Miller and North Clarion’s Ethan Carll, knotted with 39 in 10th place.
In addition to Kerle and Miller, Clarion’s winning score included rounds by Devon Lauer (40), Lucas Mitrosky (40), and Avery Kline (40).
Cranberry (203), the runner-up, finished 11 strokes behind Clarion. Ethan Merryman’s (45) and Landon Baker’s (48) scores were included in the team’s tally along with the cards of Cayden Baker, Dalton Wenner, and Dane Wenner.
Taking third was Keystone, with a team-total of 208.
In addition to Karg and Wilson, Braydon Baker (40), Eli Nellis (46), and Jonathan Shultz (50) were part of the Panthers’ total.
North Clarion took fourth, the Wolves’ shooting a 212. Carll paced the team, with contributions also coming from Mason Shaftic (40), Connor Slicker (43), Jack Buckley (44), and Kelton Stitt (46).
One stroke behind North Clarion in fifth was Moniteau (213). Contributing with Ealy were Chason Delarosa-Rugg (41), Dawson Wallace (44), Landon Kelly (45), and Carson Minear (46).
Clarion-Limestone (223) was sixth with Nick Aaron’s 40 the low score for the Lions.
A-C Valley/Union (236) seventh, Forest Area (248) eighth — Keyon Custer (43) its low man — and Karns City (253) ninth.
The next KSAC boy’s Mega Match is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 28, at Slippery Rock, with another scheduled later that week at Hunter’s Station on Thursday, Aug. 31.
Girls
The KSAC girls’ teams started their season at the 2,533-yard Aubrey’s Dubbs Dred Championship Golf Course in Butler on Monday, Aug. 15.
Moniteau not only put up a three-player team score of 142 to win the event by 72 strokes, but also placed seven players in the top 10, including a near sweep of the top-five.
Warrior golfer Mariska Shunk won the opener with a 43, followed by teammates Kendall Sankey (47) in second, Jessie Stocks (52) third, and Taylor Voloch (53) fourth.
Moniteau’s three-person team total was based on the scores of Shunk, Sankey, and Stocks.
Tying for fifth were Moniteau’s Sophee Hazlet and Ruby Watson of A-C Valley, both carding 58s.
The remainder of the top 10 included Lily Nicewonger (60) of Keystone in seventh, Cranberry’s Mallory McMasters (62) eighth, Moniteau’s Riley Ealy (63) ninth, and her Warrior teammate, Cara Roxbury (64), 10th.
Cranberry (214), which fielded only three golfers, was second in team scoring. In addition to McMasters, the Berries’ score included rounds by Kelsey Hanna (75) and Kayla Hanna (77).
Likewise, AC Valley (228) only had three golfers participating in the contest, with Rayanne Sherry’s (84) and Laurel Regester’s (86) scores counting with Watson’s toward the team total.
Keystone one had one player, Nicewonger, and was, therefore, not eligible to participate in the team competition.
On Wednesday, August 16, at Foxburg Country Club, Mallory McMasters of Cranberry put together a 49 (+14) on the 2,215-yard course in Foxburg to
earn medalist honors in the season’s second Megamatch.
Mallory McMasters
McMasters’ score was one stroke lower than runner-up Mariska Shunk’s (50) and two lower than third place Sophee Hazlet’s (51), both from Moniteau.
Moniteau’s Kendall Sankey (52) was fourth, with Ruby Watson of A-C Valley (53) and the Warriors’ Jessie Stocks (53) tied for fifth.
The remainder of the top-10 were Moniteau’s Taylor Voloch (56) in seventh, Cranberry’s Reagan Best (58) and Kennedy Sullivan (58) tied for eighth, with Kelsey Hanna (59) of Cranberry and Moniteau’s Gabriella Shearer (59) sharing 10th.
Moniteau won the team competition with a three-person total of 153, the product of rounds by Shunk, Hazlet, and Sankey.
Cranberry (175) edged AC Valley (177) by two strokes for second.
The Berries only had three players–McMasters, Kelsey Hanna, and Kayla Hanna (67)–all their scores counting in the team race.
Of the four AC Valley players, the three whose scores counted in the team competition were Watson, Best, and Rayanne Sherry (66).
Keystone did not have enough golfers to be eligible for the team competition.
The next girls Mega Match is scheduled for Monday at Hi-Level Golf Course.
