Through six weeks, and 16 matches, no one was able to catch the Westhill boys golf team in its perfect run through the schedule and its rise to the top of the Onondaga High School League Liberty American division.
At the start of the last full week of the regular season, the Warriors made it 11 in a row by smashing past Phoenix 201-268 on a hot Monday at Camillus Country Club. Sean Dadey again broke par with his nine-hole score of 34. Owen Matukas finished with a 38, while Nick Sauro gained a 40 in front of Ryan Shafer, who led the Firebirds with a 44.
A day later, Westhill met Homer at Cortland Country Club, and for the first time in a while the Warriors did not post a single score under 40, yet still had enough to put together a 217-231 victory over the Trojans.
Back on the main side, Anthony Maglisco and David Bleskoski both shot 41 to tie for individual honors, with Josh Marshall adding a 42. Homer’s Casey Hayes had a 43 and Noah Goddard earned a 44, but Conor Mahoney put up a 45 to help the Warriors draw clear as Dadey and Sauro both posted 48.
Even with the warm temperatures, and playing a third match in as many days, Westhill did not show any drop-off in Wednesday’s clash with Chittenango, pulling away for a 191-243 victory over the Bears.
Maglisco stepped up with a 34 at CCC, beating out Dadey’s 36 as Matukas earned a 39 for third place. Mahoney’s 40 matched that of Chittenango’s low individual round by Tyrus Kelly, but Bleskoski’s 42 was ahead of a 43 by Matt Lanphear, and no other Bears golfer broke 50.
And it all climaxed with a four-team match on Thursday afternoon at Skaneateles Country Club where Westhill, with a team score of 220, held off host Skaneateles (229) while also beating Homer (239) and Phoenix (295).
Cool, windy conditions at SCC meant just one golfer broke 40 – Dadey, whose 39 beat the Lakers’ Ty Jones and Ben Spinelli by three shots. Then Maglisco shot a 44, with Marshall posting a 45 to help the Warriors pull away.
One more match remained for Westhill, and it rolled past Tully 201-227 on Friday at Vesper Hills. Dadey had a 38, with Bleskoski managing a 39 to match the Black Knights’ low round by Wyatt Brown. Sauro managed a 40, with Maglisco getting a 41 and Mahoney earning a 43.
While that was going on, West Genesee earned a satisfying victory over Fayetteville-Manlius at Westvale, with both sides producing low scores as the Wildcats held off the Hornets 183-189.
These teams had met Sept. 8 at Woodcrest, and F-M had prevailed 202-214, but in the rematch at home WG’s Nick Bove matched the Hornets’ Kyle Gilroy as they both shot 35, while Jack Corcoran and Jimmy LaValle tied for third with 36.
Though F-M’s Adam Butch had a 37, Dan Benetti matched that total for the Wildcats, and Kevin McDermott’s 39 beat out the Hornets’ Cal Isley (40), Sean Arthur (41) and Mike Millmaci (42) to help preserve the win.
Now, on Thursday night, WG went to Northern Pines to meet Cicero-North Syracuse Blue, who needed a win to tie Baldwinsville for the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division regular-season title.
The Wildcats could not quite play the spoiler role, falling to the Northstars 191-200, even though Bove’s 35 was the low individual round. All five of C-NS Blue’s top golfers shot between 37 and 39 ahead of the 40s from LaValle and Lucius Allen, with Corcoran shooting a 42 and Connor Barry earning a 43.
