A battle between friends took 20 holes to decide.
Shady Spring easily won the Class AA Region 3 golf championship with an overall team score of 221 Monday at Grandview Country Club. It is the Tigers’ third consecutive region title and fourth in five seasons.
Runner-up for the second straight year was Nicholas County with a score of 255.
GALLERY: Class AA and Class A Region 3 High School Golf Tournaments
The overall medalist was Tyler Beard, but teammate Cooper Ward didn’t make it easy. They were tied at 73 after 18 holes and remained square after the first playoff hole.
On the second, it was Beard who was able to emerge.
Last season, Ward was the low medalist.
Joining Beard and Ward were senior Jack Williams and freshman Grant Winkler, both with 75s.
The Grizzlies were led by Maddox Smallwood, who shot a 76. He was followed by Braden Brown (87) and Evan Pendergrass (92) in the top three, with Drew Johnson checking in with a 96.
The two individual qualifiers were Independence’s Hunter Moore (78) and Liberty’s Josh Lafferty (84).
In Class A, Midland Trail will be making its return to Wheeling after defeating Charleston Catholic in a tiebreaker. Both finished with team scores of 242, but the Patriots’ fourth individual score of 87 by Cameron Thomas was two shots better than Jonah Ball (89) of the Irish.
The top three for Trail were Landyn Cordle (79), Van Wood (81) and Jacob Brown (82).
Charleston Catholic was led by Will Gruse (76), Ben Carew (79) and Max Wilcox (87).
The low medalist and one of two individual qualifiers was Larry Addair of River View with a 72. The other qualifier was Rocky Frye of Montcalm (75).
In Class AAA, George Washington ended Greenbrier East’s two-year run as champion by shooting a low team score of 228 at Little Creek Golf Course in South Charleston.
The Spartans will be heading north again after their runner-up finish at 236.
Greenbrier East sophomore Isaac Hutchison, who put his name on the map last year with a 66 that earned him Region 3 co-medalist, had another strong day. He finished with a 70 to take medalist honors on his own.
Leading GW were Lee Willard (73), Jay Payne (76) and Scarlett Albertson (79). Joining them was William Johnson (80).
Behind Hutchison for the Spartans were Issac Cantrell (81) and Seth Napier (85), followed by Nate Dolin (86).
The individual qualifiers were A.J. Young of South Charleston (77) and Will Wentz of Riverside (78).
All team champions and runners-up and individual qualifiers will play in the state tournament Oct. 8-9 on the Speidel Golf Club/Jones Course at Oglebay Park in Wheeling.
Scores
Class AAA
Team scores
* George Washington 228, Greenbrier East 236, Princeton 244, Woodrow Wilson 251, Riverside 255, South Charleston 271, Oak Hill 271, St. Albans 280
Individual scores
GW: Lee Willard 73, Jay Payne 76, William Johnson 80, Scarlett Albertson 79
GE: Isaac Hutchison 70 (medalist), Issac Cantrell 81, Nate Dolin 86, Seth Napier 85
P: Dylan Canterbury 79, Joseph Flanigan 85, Kaden Davis 83, Blake Blankenship 82
WW: Tyler Stover 79, Drew Gallaher 80, Austin Long 92, Sam Croci 108
* R: Brady Diegart 93, Will Wentz 78, Aiden Cooke 84, Ethan Pack 105
* SC: A.J. Young 77, Braxton Burke 101, Avery Graley 98, Logan Fink 96
OH: Josh Maynor 87, Tyler Scott 93, Max Lopez 104, Jordan Adkins 91
SA: Caleb Melton 96, Zack Rein 106, Chris Sauvegret 95, Holden Young 89
Class AA
Team scores
* Shady Spring 221, Nicholas County 255, PikeView 271, Independence 277, James Monroe 281, Liberty 308, Westside 312
Individual scores
SS: Tyler Beard 73 (overall medalist)%5E, Cooper Ward 73, Jack Williams 75, Grant Winkler 75
NC: Braden Brown 87, Maddox Smallwood 76, Evan Pendergast 92, Drew Johnson 96
PV: Landon Palmer 85, Landon Wyatt 113, Eli Chambers 89, Luke Collis 97
I: Logan Faw 95, Hunter Moore 78, Dakota Bragg 104, Fisher Bailey 114
JM: Carson Koen 93, Jameson Shannon 101, Peyton Gardinier 87, Justis Hiner 116
L: Josh Lafferty 84, Jaxon Dillon 117, Gabriel Acord 115, Maggie Asbury 109
W: Alex Brunty 85, Riley Lester 119, Branson Lusk 108, Hayden Lusk 137
Class A
Complete scores not available
* Team champion: Midland Trail 242%5E; Runner-up: Charleston Catholic 242
Individual scores
MT: Landyn Cordle 79, Van Wood 81, Jacob Brown 82, Cameron Thomas 87
CC: Will Gruse 76, Ben Carew 79, Max Wilcox 87, Jonah Ball 89
Individual qualifiers
* Andrew Addair, River View 72 (medalist); Rocky Frye, Montcalm 75
* state qualifiers; %5Ewon in a playoff
