At least in the early going, the Westhill boys golf team’s move to a fall schedule has proved quite productive.
The Warriors won its first three matches of the season by Labor Day weekend, culminating on Sept. 2 with a visit to Cortland Country Club, where it met Homer and proceeded to tame the Trojans 219-229.
Seventh-grader Anthon Maglisco’s sensational varsity debut continued as he shot a 38 for nine holes, one ahead of Homer’s Brent McNeil for individual honors.
Josh Marshall got a 44, the same as the Trojans’ Mike Turck, but the Warriors pulled away thanks to Sean Dadey and Tim Alcaro earning rounds of 45 and David Bleskoski adding a 47. For Homer, Noah Goddard also had a 47, but Louis Nardis (48) and Ethan Stiles (50) could not keep up.
Two more road matches loomed as school got underway. At Rogues Roost last Tuesday, Westhill met up with Chittenango, and remained undefeated, pulling away from the Bears in a 211-230 decision.
Just 24 hours later, the Warriors went back south, this time to face Homer’s neighbors from Cortland, and here Westhill took its first blemish of the season, dropping a narrow 215-216 decision to the Purple Tigers at Willowbrook Country Club.
Again, Marshall led Westhill with a 39, tying Cortland’s Tyler Zacek for low individual round. The key to the Purple Tigers’ win was that Adam Passalugo, with a 41, and Cooper Swartout, with a 42, beat out the other Westhill golfers as Bleskoski had a 43 and Dadey a 44. Maglisco and Alcaro both shot 45, the same as Cortland’s Brandon Ludwig as Ludwig’s teammate, David Benjamin, needed a 48 to help his team hang on – which is exactly what Benjamin shot.
A big showdown took place in the CNY Counties League on Friday as defending Section III Class AA champion West Genesee faced Fayetteville-Manlius at Westvale. And it didn’t disappoint, both sides playing at a high level, but the Wildcats fell to the Hornets 183-187.
Dylan Plis, as he has done most of the season, led all individuals, posting a 34 for nine holes. That was one better than F-M’s Adam Butch, who had a 35. WG stayed in front when Jimmy LaValle, shooting a 36, and Joe Morgan, with a 37, countered the 36 from the Hornets’ Kyle Gilroy.
The match turned, though, when no other Wildcats player was able to break 40, a mark that was lowered by three other F-M golfers – Jason Coleman and Colin Sommers both matching Morgan’s 37, and Tim Zapisek adding a 38. Nick Bove and Dan Benetti couldn’t quite match those rounds, though they both shot 40.
Two days earlier, WG returned to the win column with a hard-fought 186-196 win over Cicero-North Syracuse’s Green team at Northern Pines.
C-NS Green’s Chase Hurley shot the low individual round of 36. But the Wildcats had five sub-40 totals as Plis, Bove and Morgan each had 37. LaValle and Benetti both earned rounds of 38. For the Northstars, Jake Nardozza and Mike Battaglia each posted 39 in front of Ben Haven (40) and Ryan Sisco (43),
WG fell to 3-2 on the season, but is favored in matches this week against Liverpool and Syracuse City.
