Check out how Centre County golfers fared during the 2022 PIAA golf championships
After State College won last year’s AAA state championship, no Centre County teams finished with the title this season, but golfers still made their schools proud while playing in less than ideal weather conditions.
Battling chilly temperatures and rain this week at the Blue and White Courses in State College, Devon Prep’s Nick Ciocca (-6) won the AA boys state title, Warrior Run’s Hannah Rabb (E) won the AA girls state championship, along with Cedar Crest’s Dylan Ramsey (-4) and Lower Merion’s Sydney Yermish (-5) won the AAA boys and AAA girls individual titles, respectively.
Central Catholic (+11) won the boys AAA team championship, Lake Lehman (+8) took home the boys AA title, Phoenixville shot +24 to win the AAA girls championship and Hickory’s (+20) girls team won the AA team title.
Here’s how Centre County’s golfers performed in their respective matches:
AA Boys Individuals
T-22 Tim Peters, Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy
Peters ended his career at Saint Joseph’s Catholic by finishing tied for 22nd in the AA championship. The senior held himself to a high standard and looked to win in front of a home crowd with friends and family watching his every move. While Peters didn’t come away with the victory that he desired — shooting +13 on an 83 on Monday and bouncing back by shooting 74 on Tuesday, Saint Joseph’s Catholic head coach Chad Walsh was impressed by his poise.
“Day 2, we had a discussion before the round started (I said), ‘Go out there and do whatever you can and try to play aggressively. Make some aggressive decisions off of the tee, make some putts. Just see if you can climb back into the medal contention with a really aggressive game plan,’” Walsh said. “He started the day with two birdies and it looked like he would be able to maybe climb back in and prepped the whole day. Some things worked and some things didn’t.”
T-46 Issac Bloom, Bellefonte
Bloom finished shooting +22 with a total gross of 166 to finish tied for 46th. The Bellefonte golfer shot 80 on a par 72 on Monday and followed up by shooting 86 on Tuesday.
T-49 Davis Corman, Bellefonte
Bloom’s teammate, Corman, finished tied for 49th in the AA championship. He shot +23, shooting 82 on Monday and 85 on Tuesday for a total gross of 167.
AAA Boys Individuals
T-23 Max Wager, State College
Wager finished shooting +7 on a par 7 in Monday and Tuesday’s AAA boys event. He began on Monday by shooting 77 and ended Tuesday finishing two strokes over par for a 151 total gross.
“I don’t think Max had his best stuff today,” State College golf head coach Greg Wilson said Wednesday. “He played really well in individuals yesterday and had a strong finish in the second round. He went out and had a great under par start and then I think the conditions — it was cold, and he just couldn’t get a putt to fall. He was hitting fairways, hitting greens, just putts weren’t falling for him.”
T-57 Joey Sabol, State College
Sabol shot +17 to finish tied for 57th in the event. While he shot 81 on Monday and finished shooting 80 on Tuesday, his head coach was pleased with his progression the following day.
“Joey really played well today,” Wilson said. “He picked it up and he shot 75 played pretty steady all day, got down a little early and then really picked it up, I had a couple of birdies and he finished strong.”
AA Girls Individuals
T-6 Maddie Koshko, Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy
The first-year Saint Joseph’s Catholic standout had a strong start to her high school career. At 14 years old, Koshko shot +14 — beginning with a 74 on Monday and an 84 on Tuesday for a total gross of 158.
Not only were Wednesday’s temperatures near freezing, but Koshko stayed cool on the courses herself. The young golfer stayed even-keeled, even in the face of immense pressure with older players, families, friends and officials surrounding her. Her face rarely showed signs of being affected by a misplaced approach on the green, which was rare.
She just went out and played how she and Walsh expected she would.
“Maddie finished Day 1 in third place,” Walsh said. “I think she was like two strokes off of the lead in the final group with all upperclassmen and never ever looked out of her element — calm, cool and collected. She’s going in and she has three more years to compete. She’s played a ton of competitive golf at a young age. She’s cool with that. She’s cool under pressure.”
AAA Boys Team
State College
The Little Lions finished fifth in the AAA boys championship, shooting 312 for a +24. Wilson’s team, despite not winning the title for a second year in a row, impressed him with the ability to return to Pennsylvania high school golf’s biggest stage.
“It felt good to get back to the States,” Wilson said. “We talked to the guys after and I explained to them, ‘Only six AAA teams in the entire state make the ... state championship and we made it back-to-back years as one of those top-6. It wasn’t the consolation they were looking for, but I think they played well. We just got beat by better teams. Our top four guys were all in the 70s. We played pretty well for the conditions, we just got beat by better players.”
