WHEELING, W.Va. — Wheeling Park senior Gavin Goodrich had difficulty keeping a bacon and egg sandwich down for breakfast Wednesday morning.
“I get nervous and worked up for golf tournaments,” Goodrich said.
Not that anybody would ever know.
After carding an opening round 76 on Tuesday at Speidel Golf Club’s Jones Course, Goodrich answered the call Wednesday with a 73 to earn medalist honors across all three classifications in the WVSSAC Golf Championship, while leading the Patriots to a Class AAA team title in the process.
“I knew that this was my tournament and kind of my christening of a really great high school career,” Goodrich said. “I’m so glad to join the club of state medalists. It really does mean a lot because there are so great many names on there. To really embed yourself in that part of history means more to me than anything.”
With a two-day total of 149, Goodrich finished 7-over par and combined with teammate Campbell Koegler, who went 77-81, to key Wheeling Park to its seventh golf championship and a tournament total of 481, which was good for an 11-shot margin over runner-up Cabell Midland.
“The fact that I closed it in this fashion is unbelievable,” Goodrich said. “It’s a great experience to end my high school career and move on to the next step.”
Joining the Patriots as team champions were nearby Wheeling Central and Keyser, which won the Class A and Class AA titles, respectively.
Keyed by Class A medalist Justin Doerr, the Maroon Knights were comfortably ahead of their competition and totaled a 495 for a 28-shot win over runner-up St. Marys. It marked Wheeling Central’s fifth golf championship.
“There were a couple difficult pins out there,” Doerr said. “I hit it on the wrong side of most of the pins for the first 27 holes of this tournament and then the last nine, I started hitting it solid again and it all ended up working out in my favor. As for the team, I couldn’t be happier for them.”
For the Golden Tornado, junior Noah Broadwater was Class AA medalist and carded a 75 on both days to finish just one shot behind Goodrich for tournament medalist honors.
“My goal was to try and stay in the 70s and give our team a shot at a state championship,” Broadwater said. “That’s all that mattered to me.”
Broadwater’s play was instrumental in the Golden Tornado following up an opening round 247 with a 248, allowing them to hold off runner-up Winfield by three shots. After entering Wednesday four shots back of the lead, the Generals had a 247 in round 2 — the best AA team score of the round. However, it wasn’t enough to supplant KHS for the top spot as the Golden Tornado claimed their third golf championship and first in 20 years.
In addition to the strong showing from Broadwater, Drew Matlick (83-86) and Owen Sweitzer (89-87) factored into the team total.
“I didn’t know how they’d respond to the pressure,” Keyser coach Josh Blowe said. “We’ve been here three years in a row, but we’ve never actually been in contention on day 2. We’ve been 10 or 12 shots back. We were the leader today, so I wanted to see how our guys played with pressure and they succeeded with flying colors. I couldn’t be more proud as a coach. I know our town is really proud of us. Each one of them stepped up and played well. They all knew what they had to do and did exactly what they had to.”
Doerr, a senior, followed a first round 83 that left him one shot back of the lead with a 79, which tied teammate Luke Tiu for the low second round in Class A.
“Golf’s a funny game, all these kids work hard and this is a tough golf course,” Central coach Jim Mortakis said. “Anybody that shoots in the 70s here is doing something, no matter whether they’re single A, double A or triple A.”
Ryan Costanzo was also pivotal for Central and finished in a two-way tie for fifth in Class A with a 167 (85-82).
As for Goodrich, a year ago he finished fourth in Class AAA after following up opening-round struggles with a 74 — the low round of the tournament. This time around, he was more consistent on a course he has plenty of familiarity with.
Goodrich was in a tight battle with Hurricane junior Savannah Hawkins for low medalist, but made birdie on the 15th hole, which combined with Hawkins’ bogey on the par 3, turned a one-shot lead into a three-stroke advantage.
“After that, I was three up with three to play and just said, ‘It’s match play, let’s kick it into gear,’” Goodrich said. “I felt like I really closed well.”
Hawkins was second among individuals in AAA with a 153 (78-75). In addition to Goodrich, Koegler and Hawkins, AAA all-state honorees included: Cabell Midland’s Jack Michael (77-77), Parkersburg South’s Parker Vannoy (78-80), Cabell Midland’s Taylor Sargent (85-80), John Marshall’s Colton Sprowls (82-84), Greenbrier East’s Arod Lemons (83-83) and Hurricane’s Carson O’Dell (87-79).
There were also nine Class AA all-state honorees as Broadwater and Matlick were joined by Shady Spring’s Tanner Vest (78-80), Herbert Hoover’s Max Bowen (81-79), Winfield’s Jackson Woodburn (82-79) and Stephen McDavid (81-84), Westside’s Kerri Anne Cook (84-83), Weir’s Jude Smith (86-86) and Winfield’s Andrew Johnson (88-84).
“It’s a tough course,” Broadwater said. “If you have a bad shot, you have to let it go.”
Joining the Central trio of Doerr, Tim and Costanzo on the Class A all-state team were: Charleston Catholic’s Will Gruse (83-82), Petersburg’s Lucas Riggleman (83-83), East Hardy’s J.W. Teets (85-82) Wahama’s Grant Roush (83-86) and Parkersburg Catholic’s Blake Lewis (82-88).
“We all stuck together this year and played well,” Doerr said. “It all ended up our way and I couldn’t be happier to end my high school career here.”