SEWICKLEY — Heading into Wednesday’s WPIAL boys Class 2A Individual Championship at Sewickley Heights Golf Club, seven golfers from the Beaver Valley entered the final round of competition vying for a spot in the top 18 to qualify for the PIAA State finals.
All seven golfers at the end of the round punched their ticket to the PIAA State Championships placing in the top 15 in a field of 38 golfers.
Coming into Wednesday’s round, Sewickley Academy’s Severin Harmon’s main goal was to improve his score in the individual championships last year when he totaled 158 and a ninth-place finish.
The senior did just that this year as after shooting a 78 in the first round last week, Harmon finished with a 72 and a 150 total score to tie for second place with Elizabeth Forward sophomore Aaron Didjunas.
“I wanted to give it a good run for the WPIAL title but I played well, and I thought that I could score on the course today and I hit the right shots that I needed to, which was satisfying,” Harmon said.
Quaker Valley’s Ethan Dai finished in second place in the opening round after shooting 74 which put him in prime position to capture a WPIAL Individual gold medal after finishing in second place last season. Dai could not finish as champion as he ended the final round with a 77 and tied for fourth.
The Quaker Valley senior had an unfortunate start to his round after his driver’s face cracked at the driving range 20 minutes before he started. However, even with a club down, Dai fought through using his 3 wood on most holes.
With the senior’s finish, he will now qualify for the PIAA State finals for the fourth consecutive year.
“Not many people have made it to the state championships four years in a row, so it feels good to accomplish that,” he said.
For the second straight season, OLSH’s Jonah Schollaert qualified for the PIAA State Championships after carding a 73 and a 151 overall to tie for fourth place.
While the OLSH junior’s long game was not the strongest, it was his short game that saved him in a multitude of situations to give him a top-five finish.
“I did not hit the greens a lot today,” Schollaert said. “But fortunately I got everything up and down, chipped in once and putt like crazy. It is stressful playing like that because I would rather hit greens but it worked out because my short game is usually pretty good.”
Along with the top five finishers from the Times’ coverage area, Nolan Wagoner finished tied for ninth place with Neshannock’s Rocco Bautti. The senior shot a 74 in the final round to finish with a 157 overall score.
Beaver County Christian senior Tyler Guevara finished tied for 11th place with Sewickley Academy’s Karan Kad. Guevara shot a 79 while Kad shot a 77 with the pair each finishing with a 158 overall score through the two rounds of the tournament.
Ellwood City’s Jordan Keller was the final Beaver Valley golfer to qualify on the afternoon as he finished with an 82 and 160 overall.
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The front nine was tough for the junior as he double-bogeyed the sixth and triple-bogeyed the seventh.
Keller did not get down on himself through the tough two-hole stretch as he gave himself a lead in the early part of the front nine.
“I just had to remind myself that there is a whole other nine holes to play and that I could always turn it around,” he said. “I started off strong so I was one under through five holes so I had some cushion to give myself a chance to make it and I did.”
The Beaver Valley’s seven golfers from the boys Class 2A will join West Allegheny freshman Nico Ward, who qualified in Class 3A on Tuesday, and two girls golfers in Class 2A and 3A from the valley who qualified in Monday’s WPIAL Individual Championships at Butler Country Club.
The PIAA Golf Championships will tee off Oct. 21 at Penn State Golf Course.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Sewickley Academy’s Severin Harmon ties for second place in WPIAL Individual Championship
