Karlheim goes from 19th place to gold medal for Panthers
district 6 boys golf championships
Trending
BG coach Robby Okonak puts a medal on his son, Grant.
Mirror photo by Michael Boytim
TYRONE -- Penn Cambria senior Colten Karlheim made four birdies and just one bogey over his first 14 holes at Tuesday's District 6 Class 2A boys golf championships at Sinking Valley Country Club and held on over his final four holes to come away with a one-stroke victory over Central's Cody Clapper.
Karlheim is the first District 6 individual boys golf champion from Penn Cambria since Kevin Quinn in 2009.
"It feels good to get our school back on the board after a long time," Karlheim said. "I played five times a week over the summer and practiced putting and chipping and did range work. My mindset was a lot better than last year, and I really worked on trying to two-putt everything."
Karlheim tied for 19th at last year's District 6 championships, and his score of even-par 72 on Tuesday was 10 strokes better than in his junior season.
He came into his final hole, No. 17 -- Sinking Valley Country Club's longest par 5, needing a bogey to win and did exactly that.
"My mindset was to come in, play as well as I could and no matter the outcome, be happy," Karlheim said. "I started off just making pars and trying to play conservative. I knew I was playing well, and I asked one of the guys I was playing with if I was leading, and he told me I was, so I wasn't worried too much. I just wanted to get on the green and two-putt from where I was at."
Karlheim edged Clapper, who started the day hotter than anyone with birdies on three of his first four holes.
"I started off hot and felt great," Clapper said.
"Coming into this, I had not been playing my best. I knew I could, but today I finally put it together. I came out and played well, and I was proud of myself."
Though Clapper was thankful to make the early charge, he did say it impacted his game in both a positive and negative way.
"It was a mix of both," Clapper said. "In my head, I thought maybe I could get a couple more birdies, but I also thought I had a couple bogeys to play with. I'd say it actually made me more nervous than it relaxed me. It feels amazing to go back to states."
In addition to Karlheim and Clapper, Juniata Valley's Ethan Scalia and Bishop Guilfoyle Academy's Grant Okonak qualified for states with fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively.
Okonak's 75 helped the Marauders repeat as District 6 Class 2A team champions.
"We push each other all the time," Okonak said. "We practice with each other and compete to make each other better every day. We focus on every detail. We knew going into this year there would be a lot of pressure. We didn't let that bother us. We went in with a one-match-mentality."
Troy Nachtman just missed the individual cut in seventh-place with a 76. Aidan Sheehan's 81 and Carter Boland's 85 contributed to BG's score of 317 which bested runner-up Richland's 321.
"They have worked a ton," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Robby Okonak said. "Golf is not the easiest sport to play with pressure on yourself. The harder you try, the worse you sometimes get and the worse your results can be. For them to be able to stay the course and stay within themselves and play the way they can play and work how they have worked is a testament to how much they care about themselves and the team."
Grant Okonak continued his big leap from his junior to senior year in which he established himself as the Marauders' No. 1 player.
"After the season was over, I reflected on what I could do better," Grant Okonak said. "I took it to the next level by working on my short game a lot. I got with Josh Leibfreid, and he really got me right and got my swing going. He really helped me out. I practiced all summer long. I was at the range and short-game area trying to get better, and I'm happy it showed today."
It was Okonak's hole-in-one in BG's final Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Section 3 match that helped the Marauders beat Hollidaysburg by one stroke and make it to the LHAC championships, in which they repeated as champions last week.
"I wasn't playing well, and I had just doubled No. 15," Grant Okonak said. "It was one of those days I couldn't find anything in my swing. Approaching No. 16, I knew it was a good pin to hit it at the middle of the green. I wasn't really thinking about making it. I just wanted to hit it on and funnel it down, but when I hit it, I knew it was going to be close. When it went in, I was ecstatic. I threw my club and ran over to my dad and gave him a big hug. I was going absolutely crazy."
Scalia became the first Juniata Valley student to make the PIAA boys golf championships after he shot a 74 and finished fourth on a card-off with third-place finisher Colby Carlson of Westmont Hilltop.
"This is my first year ever golfing," Scalia said. "I thought it would be fun and wanted to get a competitive experience. It feels incredible to make states. My driver and putter were really working well."
Scalia decided to play golf despite the fact Juniata Valley has never fielded a golf team and unlike Williamsburg, who has a co-op with Tyrone, does not have a co-op in place to play elsewhere.
"I played Huntingdon's schedule and did all their matches," Scalia said. "It was really weird without a team. I had to drive to my own tournaments."
Richland's Wesley Dunlap was the final 2A golfer to make it into states with a sixth-place finish.
In Class 3A, which was also held Tuesday at Sinking Valley Country Club, Hollidaysburg senior Tyler Steiner was forced to deal with a heartbreaking result.
Steiner, the Class 3A Sectional champion, was on top of his game again and actually improved his sectional score by three strokes by carding a 2-under par 70.
Unfortunately for Steiner, State College's Luke McGraw and Charlie Ladrido each shot 3-under par scores of 69, and District 6 advances just two 3A golfers to the individual state championship.
"I was getting putts to drop," Steiner said. "I had some on the last three holes where I had some chances, but I just couldn't get them to fall. Those were the crucial ones I needed, but in the end, I'm very happy with how I played this season."
McGraw defeated Ladrido on the first playoff hole with a birdie on No. 1 to win the Class 3A championship.
"It just shows me that my hard work really paid off," Steiner said. "I was able to come back and be able to compete with these guys."
State College won the team championship with an incredible overall score of 3-under par 285. Hollidaysburg finished with a score of 313 with a 76 from Sam McLanahan, an 82 by Isaac Tryninewski and an 85 by Landen Petrunak.
Steiner began his round with three birdies in his first six holes but just when it looked like he was going to move to 4-under with a shot that looked like it was close to the back pin on No. 6, it bounced deep and over the green leading to his first bogey.
McGraw made birdie on that hole and an eagle on No. 7 to pull ahead.
"It felt like I caught it a little too good," Steiner said. "I thought it was going to be close, but when I got up there, I saw where it was and knew I just had to try and chip on and two-putt."
CLASS 3A
TEAM RESULTS
1, State College (SC) 285; 2, Hollidaysburg (H) 313.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (TOP TWO ADVANCE)
1, McGraw, SC, 69 (won on first playoff hole); 2, C. Larido, SC, 69; 3, Steiner, H, 70; 4, Hoskins, SC, 71; 5, L. Larido, SC, 72; 6, Sun, SC, 75; 7, Rioux, SC, 79; 8, Jacobs, SC, 81; 9, Karstetter, Central Mountain, 83; 10, Petrunak, H, 85; 11, Bender, H, 86.
CLASS 2A
TEAM RESULTS
1, Bishop Guilfoyle (BG) 317; 2, Richland (R) 321; 3, Westmont Hilltop (WH) 335; 4, West Shamokin (WS) 341.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (TOP SIX ADVANCE)
1, Karlheim, Penn Cambria, 72; 2, Clapper, Central, 73; 3, Co. Carlson, WH, 74; 4, Scalia, Juniata Valley, 74; 5, Okonak, BG, 75; 6, Dunlap, R, 75; 7, Nachtman, BG, 76; 8, R. Myers, Bishop Carroll, 78; T-9, Kasecky, Central Cambria, 79; T-9, Coy, Homer-Center, 79; T-9, Sweitzer, Tyrone, 79; T-9, Durbin, Penn Cambria, 79; T-13, Roman, R, 80; T-13, Carnahan, WS, 80; T-15, Cook, WS, 81; T-15, Sheehan, BG, 81; T-17, Doak, River Valley, 82; T-17, Zamias, R, 82; T-19, Gides, Penn Cambria, 83; T-19, Vojtko, R, 83; 21, Vickroy, R, 84; T-22, Boland, BG, 85; T-22, Andreyo, Saint Joseph's, 85; 24, Cu. Carlson, WH, 86; T-25, Sanders, Ferndale, 87; T-25, Marshall, Huntingdon, 87; T-27, Hartman, Central, 88; T-27, Beach, Central, 88; T-27, Johncola, WH, 88; 30, C. Myers, WS, 89; 31, McCloskey, Bellwood-Antis, 90; 32, Bardell, Bellwood-Antis, 93.