WHEELING - Roane County junior Alston Spears fired a 3-over par 75 to secure medalist honors and in the process helped the Raiders to the Class AA state golf championship on Wednesday at Oglebay Park's Speidel Golf Course.
The Raiders of head coach Jim Kendall, whose program didn't suffer a single defeat to a Class A or Class AA opponent all year, concluded a dominating season by finishing with a 189-10-1 record and in the process became the first athletic team in Roane County history to claim a state crown.
Although Poca held a three stroke lead (246-249) following Tuesday's first day of action, the Raiders posted a 240 and had a winning effort of 489 while the Dots fired another 246 to finish three strokes off the pace as the state runner-up.
Article Photos
Photo courtesy Wheeling Intelligencer
The Roane County High School golf team won the Class AA West Virginia state championship on Wednesday at Speidel Golf Course at Oglebay Park. Team members are, standing, from left, Alston Spears, head coach Jim Kendall, Nathan Kendall, and kneeling, Forrest Greenlee, Cam Moore, Hunter Simmons and Cole Moore.
"Honestly, we achieved everything we wanted to achieve and it's been an excellent season," said Spears, who had an 81 on Tuesday and finished with a two-day total of 156 to nip Bluefield's Evan Smith (78-79=157) for medalist accolades. "Hopefully, we'll be a better team (next year) than we are now.
"We're looking pretty good. We just have to play good. I played excellent today and only hit a few loose iron shots. I knew if I shot 75 or lower I had a good chance (to be medalist). I just had to play super good today and I executed."
Roane County freshman Cam Moore (83-80=163) also made the all-tournament team and joined with twin brother Cole Moore (85-85=170) to help lead the Raiders to the prize they had been after all season long.
Fact Box
W.Va. State Golf Tournament
At Speidel Golf Course at Oglebay Park (Par 72)
Class A
Final team scores: Charleston Catholic 236-245=481; Madonna 251-251=502; Buffalo 254-249=503; St. Marys 263-259=522; Greenbrier West 275-266=541; Richwood 289-277=566; Notre Dame 300-282=582; Moorefield 294-296-590
Overall medalist: Cory Hoshor (Buffalo) 79-75=154
All-state team: Christian Casingal (CC) 75-81=156; Aaron Persily (CC) 76-81=157; Alex Colantonio (Madonna) 80-78=158; Michael Rogers (Madonna) 82-78=160; Quincy Fraley (Moorefield) 81-84=165; Joseph Deskins (Tug Valley) 82-84=166; Jordan Covelli (CC) 85-83=168
Charleston Catholic: Christian Casingal 75-81=156, Aaron Persily 76-81=157, Jordan Covelli 85-83=168, Jackson Ellis 93/DNP, Allie Persily DNP/100
Madonna: Alex Colantonio 80-78=158, Michael Rogers 82-78=160, Thomas Gianni 89-85=184, Nick Mazur 94/DNP, Matthew Lyons DNP/95
Buffalo: Cory Hoshor 79-75=154, Bradley Harris 92-82=174, Blaik Caplinger 83-95=178, Drew Patton 99-92=191
St. Marys: Coleman Lamp 84-85-169, Drew Wells 90-85=175, Robbie Harper 89-89=178, Josh Richard 103-95=198
Greenbrier West: Justin Estep 94-83=177, Chandler Fitzwater 89-93=182, Austin Ransom 92-90=182, Gus Patterson 104-108=212
Richwood: Ryan Bennett 88-87=175, Braden Johnson 95-97=192, Mason Mullens 106-93=199, Dustin Seabolt 109-107=216
Notre Dame: Philip Wilson 89-92=181, Drew Ridgway 99-86=185, Jordan Brown 112-104=216, Alex DeMary 118-116=234
Moorefield: Quincy Fraley 81-84=165, Colleen Connolly 103-106=209, Tanner Carr 110/DNP, Noah Carr 112/DNP, Garrett Keller DNP/106, Brooke Shockey DNP/120
Individual qualifiers
Tug Valley: Joseph Deskins 82-84=166
Gilmer County: Austin Cunningham 83-87=170
Parkersburg Catholic: Ben Collie 82-90=172
Tyler Consolidated: Corey Wells 83-89=172
Wheeling Central: Thomas Stanley 92-81=173
Montcalm: John Casto 97-92=189
East Hardy: Korey Foltz 96-98=194
South Harrison: Luke Gains 111-108=219
Class AA
Final team scores: Roane County 249-240=489; Poca 246-246=492; Fairmont Senior 257-249=506; Westside 270-246=516; Scott 260-258=518; Grafton 254-268=522; Wyoming East 278-275=553; Lincoln 296-308=604
Overall medalist: Alston Spears (Roane County) 81-75=156
All-state team: Evan Smith (Bluefield) 78-79=157; Travis Covert (Poca) 78=80=158; Nick Sinclair (FS) 81-78=159; Ike Judy (James Monroe) 82-78=160; Sterling Fitzwater (FS) 80-81=161; Sydney Snodgrass (Ritchie) 78-85=163; Cam Moore (Roane) 83-80=163; Drew Ward (Nicholas County) 89-74=163
Roane County: Alston Spears 81-75=156, Cam Moore 83-80-163, Cole Moore 85-85=170, Hunter Simmons 89-86=175
Poca: Travis Covert 78-80-158, Alex Hamrick 83-82=165, Steve Loudermilk 85-84=169, Evan Butcher 86-90=176
Fairmont Senior: Nick Sinclair 81-78=159, Sterling Fitzwater 80-81=161, Gage Hannah 96-90=186, Bailey Mohr 97-96=193
Westside: Hunter Owens 85-81=166, Corey Bowles 91-82=173, Drew Bragg 94-83=177, Kaitlyn Saunders 102-96=198
Scott: Chad Honeycutt 84-82=166, Alex Boggs 88-88=176, Sterling Chafin 88-88=176, Aaron Grant 95/DNP, Matt Dolan DNP/92
Grafton: Mitchell Crutchfield 83-81=164, Lucas Ware 82-91=173, Zac Summers 93-96=189, Zach Musgrove 89-104=193
Wyoming East: Hunter Justus 88-96=184, Dakota Hood 93-93=186, Bruce Staton 97-93=190, Chase Pressley 103-89=192
Lincoln: Ryan Holcomb 90-99=189, Matt Tucker 100-102=202, Mikoyla Prunty 106-107=213, Frankie Spadatore 122-118=240
NOTE: The state championship was the first in any sport in the history of Roane County High School.
Individual qualifiers
Bluefield: Evan Smith 78-79=157
James Monroe: Ike Judy 82-78=160
Nicholas County: Drew Ward 89-74=163
Ritchie County: Sydney Snodgrass 78-85=163
Bridgeport: Marco Oliverio 80-90=170
North Marion: Cameron Wilson 81-85=166
Herbert Hoover: Travis Gibson 87-85=172
Keyser: Matt Landes 98-95=193
Class AAA
Final team scores: University 225-228=453; Wheeling Park 229-230=459; Cabell Midland 235-234=469; George Washington 238-238=476; Washington 243-240=483; Shady Spring 250-249=499; Huntington 248-255=503; Elkins 260-260=520
Overall medalist: Cole Hand (WP) 72-74=146
All-state team: Thadd Obecny (WP) 73-75=148; Eric Wirth (Univ.) 74-74=148; Cale Wheeler (Univ.) 74-78=152; Will Evans (GW) 75-78=153; Trent McPherson (Univ.) 77-76=153; Chris Williams (Winfield) 74-80=154; Jacob Beahrs (CM) 75-79=154; Seth Kinker (CM) 77-77=154
University: Eric Wirth 74-74=148, Cale Wheeler 74-78=152, Trent McPherson 77-76=153, Chase Voithofer 93-91=184
Wheeling Park: Cole Hand 72-74=146, Thadd Obecny 73-75=148, Scott Hand 84-81=165, Dylan Wojcik DQ/DNP, Hunter Bryan DNP/98
Cabell Midland: Jacob Beahrs 75-79=154, Seth Kinker 77-77=154, Mark Wilcox 83-78=161, Hutton Light 88/DNP, Luke Smith DNP/91
George Washington: Will Evans 75-78=153, Kris Webster 80-79=159, Austin Florence 83-83=166, Drew Call 88-81=169
Washington: Robert Fleming 78-78=156, Ryan Mumaw 80-77=157, Dylan Mumaw 85-85=170, Pat Burgess 85/DNP, Jacob Shuff DNP/94
Shady Spring: Ryan Albaugh 81-77=158, Drew Green 84-85=169, Landon Perry 85-87=172, Dakota McComas 87-93=180
Huntington: Thomas Frazier 80-85=165, Fisher Cross 84-82=166, Chase Toppins 84-91=175, Alec Atha 86/DNP, Todd Childers DNP/88
Elkins: Alex Baird 84-86=170, Kolin Hopwood 90-84=174, Braden Hammond 86-90=176, Kelsi Trippett 104-93=197
Individual qualifiers
Winfield: Chris Williams 74-80=154
Oak Hill: Craig Buchannon 76-80=156
Parkersburg South: Alex Schreckengost 79-84=163
Hedgesville: Owen Elliott 91-79=170
Buckhannon-Upshur: Dalton Crislip 89-82=171
Greenbrier East: Madison Erskine 84-88=172
Brooke: Logan Lojszczyk 87-87=174
Hurricane: Alex Hambel 90-86=176
"You never know. You can't always predict the future, but we knew we had a pretty good chance (to win a state title)," said coach Kendall, whose team also got rounds of 89 and 86 from Hunter Simmons. "We had the same routine today.
"We went to Hardee's and ate, got down to the course 10 minutes after 7 and was the first on the range. They were business right off the bat. They knew they had to come out and work hard if they were going to make it and they did."
Ritchie County's Sydney Snodgrass, who was tied for the day one lead after shooting a 78, finished with an 85 on Wednesday, but still managed to earn all-state honors.
No other Mid-Ohio Valley golfer was able to secure an all-state selection. Coleman Lamp of St. Marys had rounds of 84 and 85, but his 169 proved to be one stroke off the pace in Class A to finish in the top eight. Gilmer County's Austin Cunningham (83-87=170), Parkersburg Catholic's Ben Collie (82-90=172) and Tyler Consolidated's Corey Wells (83-89=172) came in right behind Lamp.
Charleston Catholic rolled to its second consecutive Class A state championship and posted a winning total of 481, which was 21 strokes better than runner-up Madonna. Buffalo's Cory Hoshor had a 79 on Tuesday and a 75 on Wednesday and won medalist honors with a 154. St. Marys finished fourth in the small school race with the help of Lamp and fellow teammates Drew Wells (90-85=175) and Robbie Harper (89-89=178).
In Class AAA, host Wheeling Park was denied a three-peat as University (225-228=453) held off the Patriots (229-230=459) by six strokes. Wheeling Park's Cole Hand shot even par on Tuesday and 2-over on Wednesday to claim medalist honors with his 146.
Parkersburg South's Alex Schreckengost was one of only a dozen players to break 80 on Tuesday, but after shooting a 79 and then an 84 the Patriot golfer finished nine strokes off the pace for Class AAA all-state honors.
Also of note, Roane County's championship marked the third straight time a Little Kanawha Conference program has won the Class AA state tournament. Ritchie County had been the two-time defending state champions.
