LocalSportsJournal.com
EAST TAWAS–The Manistee Chippewas are advancing to the Division 3 boys state golf finals after a second-place finish Tuesday in regional competition.
The Chippewas shot a 331, four shots behind regional champion Traverse City St. Francis (327). Tawas finished third at 333.
Manistee and three other local teams participated in the meet at Red Hawk Golf Club in East Tawas.
Manistee junior Jacob Scharp and freshmen Max Scharp led the Chippewas with rounds of 80, which was good enough for a fourth- place tie. Junior Brayden Sorenson finished in ninth place at 83.
For 26-year Manistee coach Mike Swanson, it will be the seventh time his team has earned a berth in the state finals.
“This is one of the better teams from top to bottom that I’ve had here, ” said Swanson. “We still have some work to do, though. Winning the regional title is always great, but the grand prize is advancing to the state finals.”
Swanson was more than pleased with the scores of his top five players.
“We got off to a fast start,” said Swanson. “We were playing fairly well and had the lead at the turn. Then we had a bad hole or two. At the end of the day, all five of our low scores were in the 80s so the coach was pleased.”
Other local team scores included Mason County Central, which came in 11th place with a 396 and Hart finished 18th at 461. Shelby participated, but did not field a full team.
Top individual scores included:
Manistee: Jacob Scharp (80), Max Scharp (80), Brayden Sorenson (83), Jordan Bladzik (89) and Ben Schlaff (88)
Mason County Central: Dakota Sterley (94), Ryan Budzynski (95), Joey Lund (98), Bryce Thurow (116), Chase Wood (109)
Hart: Nikolas Michael (95), Ayden Dodge (113), Diego Escamilla (116) and Bryce Jorissen (137)
Shelby: Carson Claeys (106), Ignacio Ortiz (127) and Bishop Lee (128)
