Fowler, Harford capture state golf titles

October 12, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

By Kevin Connelly and CURTIS PULLIAM

The Mahoning Valley won two state golf championships on Saturday.

Warren JFK’s Ryan Fowler is bringing the first Division III boys title to the Valley since fellow-Eagle Jason Kokrak won it in 2002.

LaBrae’s Haylee Harford added a second Division II girls title to her resume to bookend her high school golf career with state championships.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Lakeview girls golf team finished second in Division II to round out the hardware traveling back to the Mahoning Valley.

“I had a feeling going into today I could pull it off,” Fowler said. “I just had a good weekend and put everything together and came off with the win.”

Fowler, a senior at JFK, put together back-to-back rounds of par or better at North Star Golf Club in Sunbury to win the individual title by five strokes.

Harford, who won the state title as a freshman at JFK, put herself in good position with a opening round 68 on Friday. While she fell off slightly on Saturday, the LaBrae senior still managed to hold off the field and win by a stroke.

“It was a close match the entire way,” said Harford, who played with Shelby’s Alexis Jones, who also opened with a 68.

“The wind was pretty brutal today and the conditions were rough. My putting was the best part of my game today.”

After bogeying hole No. 17, Harford was clinging to a one-shot lead. Jones left her putt on the 18th short, meaning Harford only needed to two-putt for the win and close with a round of 73.

“I wasn’t even sure then because there were other girls still out there on the course,” Harford said. “I didn’t want to celebrate early.”

Also celebrating at the Ohio State University Gray Course on Saturday was the Lakeview girls team.

Behind a two-day score of 156 from Kaylee Neumeister, the Bulldogs finished comfortably in second place in Division II with a team score of 676 — nine shots behind state champion Dover.

Ryan Rosenberger shot 82 and Ashley Frasca 87 — with a 40 on the back nine — to close strong in the final round for Lakeview. Taylor Horn and Emily Coller both improved on their first-round scores to help the team.

“Words cannot describe,” Bulldogs coach Mike Turco said. “It was a moment of disbelief almost for me.

“It’s been a long road to be where we’re at and to know the hard work and sacrifice paid off.

“The moment when you find out you’re the second best team in the state,” said Turco, who then paused and then let out a big sigh of relief.

Neumeister finished ninth individually.

Ken Keller and Nick Braydich of Cardinal Mooney mirrored each other all weekend and finished in a tie for sixth place individually in Division II.

After shooting matching 78s on Friday, they both closed the tournament with 79s on Saturday at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.

Cardinal Mooney finished 10th with a two-day score of 684. Matt Daprille and Joey Passerotti both finished with 185.

While Fowler was the big winner in Division III boys, Netwon Falls’ Jacob Harrah came in a tie for seventh individually with rounds of 75 and 79 for a 154.

Columbiana freshman Jared Wilson placed 11th with a 156 for the tournament. His Clippers finished seventh. Bruce Wiggins shot 83, Joe Lucci 87 and Griffin Williams 89.

“All in all, I think it was a good experience and we’re looking forward to next year,” Columbiana coach Jeff Jackson said.

Nolan Snyder of Western Reserve finished tied for 20th. Warren JFK’s team finished 12th.