SHELBY — The Lexington Minutemen won the marathon.
Heading into Thursday’s final round of the Ohio Cardinal Conference golf tournament tied with Ashland in overall points, the Minutemen needed to finish higher than Ashland in the team standings at Shelby Crossing in order to clinch the league championship. They did just that by shooting a 332 finishing second on the day behind New Philadelphia’s 329 to win the outright OCC crown.
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“The boys put in so much work making it so easy to be a part of this because when they work hard, it makes me want to work hard to be the best coach I can be for them,” Lexington coach Nick Durchik said. “We emphasized this place as where it was all going to be decided so we practiced this place a lot and did a lot of preparation that led up to this. We put ourselves in a great position after Round 1, then put ourselves in a must-win situation after a poor Round 2. It was sink or swim at a tough course and the boys all did their job and held their own.”
The Minutemen did not post a score under 80, but it was enough to grind out a solid finish on a tough course. Sophomore Jackson Durchik shot an 81 to lead the Minutemen while Nate Dawson added an 83 and Griffin Hughes and Daulton Mangas shot matching 84s to round out the scorers for the day. Bailey Carmichael shot an 86 and Dawson Dreibelbis shot an 89 as the drop scores.
The team championship came on the heels of a down year in 2023 that lit a fire.
“We went from a season last year where we didn’t win a single thing to this,” Nick Durchik said. “We didn’t win any tournaments, we finished way back in the conference standings and we had a lot of room to improve and the boys, individually, chose to work on it and get this team to reach its potential. This is all about them.”
The fire burned hottest in Jackson Durchik who spent the summer working on his craft so the Minutemen could have a leader.
“It means all of the hard work everyone put in was all worth it,” Jackson Durchik said. “We came in here last year and didn’t play well at all and a lot of the guys dedicated themselves to the game over the summer and it all paid off.
“I have grown a lot and am starting to hit the ball further. I went to the course six days a week over the summer and played as much as I could. I put a ton of focus into the short game.”
Thursday was a total team effort as every Lex player was within eight strokes of one another and Mangas’s score as the No. 6 man gave the Minutemen a huge boost.
“There was always someone different who did something good every single time we took to the course,” Nick Durchik said. “Riceland, we had several guys who stepped it up. At Twin Lakes, we had two who did their jobs to keep us where we are at and today, we were at a steady front and my six-man Dalton Mangas, came in and did his job to seal the deal with a heck of a score.”
Jackson Durchik, Hughes and Dawson ended as first team All-Ohio Cardinal Conference players while Carmichael took second team honors and Dreibelbis and Mangas were honorable mentions.
“I cannot believe we had three first teamers, one second team and the rest were honorable mentions,” Nick Durchik said. “Every single one of my kids won an individual award and that all led to a team championship. They challenged themselves and won.”
The Madison Rams finished tied for second in the final standings with Ashland. Madison shot a 341 in the third round led by Landon Goad’s 82 while Nick Maglott had an 83, Josh Maglott shot an 87, Lincoln Shepherd added an 89, AJ Studer carded a 92 and Liam Stone rounded out the scores with a 93. Everyone except Goal returns next season as the Rams look to build on this year’s success that included a team win in the second round giving them a shot at the league championship in Round 3 had they won it.
Lexington’s Chapman takes Ohio Cardinal Conference Girls Golf Player of the Year honors
Lexington senior Makaree Chapman was as steady of a player as the OCC has seen all season. She was named the OCC Player of the Year after collecting 71 points after her three rounds of tournament golf. She was the medalist in Round 2 and 3 shooting a 79 on Thursday.
The honor came after a rededication to her golf game over the summer where she scaled back on her travel softball training, she was the 2024 OCC Pitcher of the Year, to spend more time working on golf. Last year, Chapman shot an 88 at the Division I district tournament finishing six strokes away from an individual qualifying spot. That lit a fire, too.
“Senior year is a big thing and golf has always been a huge priority, but I just learned to manage time between both so much better,” Chapman said. “I wanted to perform on the golf course the best I possibly could for my team and myself. I still played, but I didn’t practice softball as much as I did in the past. I used that time to go to the range and putting in the extra work in golf.”
Lady Lex finished second as a team taking second in the first two rounds of the OCC tournament and first in Round 3. On Thursday, they shot a 371 as Lauryn Nupen shot a 91, Aniyah Monica added a 97, Willow Roberts carded a 104, Jaiden Kastran had a 107 and Kyler Lamb rounded out the scoring with a 109.
Chapman heads into the postseason next week with a lot of momentum from a big OCC season and her eyes set on a state berth.
“I am super proud and I couldn’t have done it without my family, teammates and coach,” Chapman said. “It means a lot. Every day is a new day and golf is a different sport. You have to take the good with the bad, but I am going to give it my all and try to make Lexington proud.”
The Ashland girls won the OCC title taking second on Thursday after winning the first two rounds. Elleni Miller was the low-score for the Arrows with a 90 while Natalie Kohler added a 94, Kyah Huckleberry added a 96, Cary Wyatt had a 98, Haylee Bono carded a 99 and Chloe Crunkilton rounded out the scores with a 103.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Lexington Minutemen win OCC boys golf team championship, Chapman named Player of the Year
