Though none of the area’s boys golf teams went to the top of the standings during Wednesday’s Section III fall tournament at Arrowhead Golf Course, there was still plenty of individual glory to be found.
Top players from Fayetteville-Manlius, East Syracuse Minoa and Jamesville-DeWitt all finished within the top 30 in the 118-player field, which helped them earn invitations to next May’s state qualifier at Colgate University’s Seven Oaks course.
F-M fell just short in its attempt at a third consecutive sectional Class AA team title, posting a team score of 411, just behind the battle at the top where West Genesee (404) edged Auburn (405) by a single shot and Cicero-North Syracuse Blue (406) by two shots to finish on top.
Still, four different Hornets made it to the state qualifier, led by J.J. Byrne, who solved the tough greens at Arrowhead to post a four-over-par 76, just three shots behind the individual medalist, C-NS Blue’s Pat O’Donnell.
Kyle Gilroy finished with a 79, while Andrew Massa had an 80 and Nick Perry and Tim Zapisek each posted an 82 to make it right on the number. Also for F-M, John Cacchio, with an 84, missed by just two shots as Will Franey shot an 85, Colin Sommers and Jason Coleman each shot 86 and Tommy Ryu posted a 94.
Meanwhile, ESM’s Blue team had a team total of 423, second among the Class A team behind Oswego’s 407, seeing Kyle Reader advance to the state qualifier with a solid 79. Alex Regan fell just short by posting an 83, while Colin Sloan and Ian Rivers both finished with 85. Dan Marriott and Dan Williams each shot 91 as Nick Rogers got a 95.
J-D’s highlight was seeing Pat Cramer and Abel Ratanaphan both shoot 82 as they, like Zapisek, tied for the final state qualifying spots. Matt Cappelletti shot a 92, with Jake Ellithorpe (94) and Will Havens (95) close behind.
Christian Brothers Academy saw David Gross lead with a 91, edging out Mitchell Taylor’s 92 as William Ierlan (94), Steve Fournier (95) and Chris Bushnell (97) closely followed.
The sectional title was all that F-M could get after its CNY Counties League regular-season title dreams were thwarted last Monday at Highland, where the Hornets lost a 197-203 decision to Auburn.
Just like F-M’s 195-196 defeat to the Maroons on Sept. 15 at Woodcrest, it was close, but much of the margin was established at the top, where Auburn’s Mike May shot 35 for nine holes and his teammate, Ross Burgmaster, managed a 38.
By contrast, F-M got a 37 from Perry and a 40 from Cacchio as its top scores, and Auburn held on with 41s from Alex Burgmaster and Tyler Ely and a 42 from Ryan Chalupnicki, the Hornets countering with Zapisek, Coleman and Teddy Rabe each posting 42.
All that F-M could now do was spoil West Genesee’s hopes of sharing the league title with Auburn. That didn’t happen, though, as the Hornets lost, 188-200, to the Wildcats, who would get a much bigger victory less than 24 hours later.
In this match, though, it was Nick Bove, shooting a 34, and Sean Stanistreet, posting a 37, that thwarted the Hornets, who were led by Perry’s 38. Gilroy and Ryu both shot 40, with Byrne and Franey both posting 41, but that trailed WG’s tandem of Dylan Plis and Joe Morgan, who each shot 39.
To finish up a 13-1 regular season, ESM Blue team rolled past Tully 197-237 last Monday afternoon. Reader and Rivers both shot 38 to lead the Spartans to a second-place finish in the OHSL Freedom division behind unbeaten Oswego.
J-D also had a match prior to the sectional tournament, returning its full lineup and, led by the Ratanaphan brothers, defeating Fulton 204-217 at Battle Island.
Alvin and Abel Ratanaphan both threatened par, and each shot 37, three shots ahead of the Red Raiders’ top golfer, Cameron Clark. The help came from Jakob Ellithorpe, who posted a 42, and Matt Cappelletti and Pat Cramer, who both shot 44 as Will Havens contributed a 47.
