The Fayetteville-Manlius boys golf team dropped its first match of the season Sept. 1 when it fell to defending Section III Class AA champion Baldwinsville 201-207 at Timber Banks, the Bees’ home course, the only defeat the Hornets suffered early this season.
Kyle Gilroy, with a 38, was one shot behind B’ville’s Maxwell Dec, but the Bees’ Ben Donohue and Matt Shipman also shot 38. That, along with 44s from Ryan Fecco and Dan Reiser, proved too much for the Hornets to overcome, though Adam Butch shot a 39. Mike Millimaci had a 42, Sam DiChristina got a 43 and Sean Arthur earned a 45.
But the Hornets rebounded in a big way last Tuesday, overcoming soggy conditions to hand Cicero-North Syracuse Blue its first defeat of the season 189-198 at Northern Pines.
DiChristina stepped up and, with a 36, tied Gilroy to edge the Northstars’ Andrew Brunuzzi (37) by one shot for individual honors. Arthur improved, too, posting a 38 as Cal Isley shot 39 and Matt LaCombe added a 40. By contrast, only Brunuzzi and Jake Nardozza (39) broke 40 on the C-NS side.
From there, F-M went on to handle Syracuse 198-253 a day later at Woodcrest. Gilroy paced with a 36, this time with Butch in second place thanks to a 38. DiChristina finished with a 40 as Arthur improved to a 41 and Isley remained steady with a 42.
When F-M took on West Genesee Friday at Woodcrest, first place in the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division was at stake. And the Hornets seized it, pulling away to beat the Wildcats 202-214 as B’ville beat C-NS Blue to join F-M atop the standings.
Gilroy, with a 37, and Butch, with a 39, went 1-2 in the individual standings ahead of WG’s Nick Bove, who was third with a 41. DiChristina, Isley and Millmaci each shot 42 to match that of the Wildcats’ Lucius Allen, and the all beat the WG trio of Connor Barry, Jack Corcoran and Tim Dipaola, who each shot 44.
With an undefeated mark in its August matches, East Syracuse Minoa Blue wanted to keep that streak going into September – which it did, though it wasn’t too easy.
The Spartans claimed its closest win of the season on Sept. 1, edging Fulton 221-223 at Battle Island in large part because Justin Seltzer stepped up with a 40 and Ian Rivers followed with a 41, the two best individual rounds.
Brian Trombley led the Red Raiders with a 43, followed closely by Ean Stevenson (44), Kameron Whipple and Nolan Johnson (45 each), so ESM Blue needed good rounds from Ryan MacCombie, Dan Sitnik and David Griffith – and they all shot 46 to help ESM hang on.
Rained out of last Tuesday’s match against Auburn, ESM Blue rested as ESM Orange met Oswego Friday
Also off to a strong start, Christian Brothers Academy prevailed, 214-244, over Chittenango last Thursday at Drumlins, posting the six lowest individual rounds to pull away from the Bears.
Jack Lester won a close individual race, shooting a 41, while David Gross and Dan Angelo each shot 42. Joe Nicholson managed a 44, with Mike Santoro and Chris Bushnell both shooting 45 ahead of Chittenango’s Cole Dunkley, who led his side with a 46.
Jamesville-DeWitt struggled in last Wednesday’s 209-232 defeat to Oswego. Jake Ellithorpe shot a 43 for the Red Rams at Battle Island, but that trailed the Buccaneers’ Joe Kelly (36) and Chris Sugar (39), and J-D could not make up that deficit. Peter Hatton had a 45, followed by Alvin Ratanaphan (46), Turner Pomeroy (48) and Tyler Brang (50).
In a close Friday match, J-D returned to Battle Island and held off Fulton, 213-215. Hatton shot a 40 to match the Red Raiders’ Brian Trombley, with Ellithorpes’ 41 matched by Fulton’s Kameron Whipple and Ean Stevenson. But the Rams rallied in front behind a 42 from Ratanaphan, a 44 from Max Schulman and a 45 from Pomeroy.
