Seven months ago, the West Genesee boys golf team snared the Section III Class AA championship. Then it had to wait until late in the spring to see if any of its top players would go further.
As it turned out, two of them, Dylan Plis and Sean Stanistreet, would do so, emerging from a tough qualifier at Seven Oaks in Hamilton to advance to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament at Cornell University’s Robert Trent Jones course.
The tournament got underway Thursday with 79 players, including local stars from the fall and spring seasons. Of them, 24 made the cut to Saturday’s final round by shooting 85 or lower in the first round.
Plis opened with a 77 to tie Cicero-North Syracuse’s Jon Petrin for third place, though they both trailed the top stars in the area as Auburn’s Mike May shot a 70 and New Hartford’s Alec Bard (second in the state tournament in 2015) posted a 76.
Meanwhile, Stanistreet finished with an 80, safely within the cut line, and WG teammate Ethan Smith managed an 82 to also advance to the final round. They were joined by Marcellus teammates Frankie Szczech and Joe Colella, who both shot the exact number of 85 needed to advance.
Another Mustangs golfer, Carter Austin, missed the cut, as did Solvay’s Jon Smolen and Westhill’s Sean Dadey.
Now, in the final round, the remaining golfers battled 90-degree heat and humidity. Szczech, with an 85, finished at 170, while Colella could only post an 86 and had a 171, both of them just outside of the top nine that would advance. Smith, with a 91, finished at 173.
But Plis managed to match his total from two days earlier, shooting a 77, his total of 154 ultimately putting him in fourth place since Petrin, with a 76, fared one shot better with a 153. Stanistreet was consistent, too, shooting an 81 to finish at 161, three shots clear of the cut-off for the top nine.
So Plis and Stanistreet advanced, joining May and Bard, who ended up tied for medalist honors because Bard, with an even-par 72, caught up to May, who slipped to a 78, each of them finishing at 148.
Bard’s New Hartford teammate, Ryan Zogby, tied Stanistreet for fifth place at 161 to advance. Kyle Gilroy (Fayetteville-Manlius) had 162, with Max Britton (Sherburne-Earlville) getting 163 and Zane Monaghan (Clinton) shooting 164 to beat out Oswego’s Sean Dain and Cooperstown’s Teddy Trosett by one shot for the final berths in the state tournament.
Despite Szczech, Colella and Austin not quite reaching the state tournament, the season was an historic one for Marcellus, having gone 12-0 in league competition. According to head coach Joe Goss, it was likely the first undefeated season for the Mustangs, highlighted by a rare win at Skaneateles.
