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Boardman players confident they can win
By JOHN HARRIS
BOARDMAN
Buoyed by a top-10 finish at last year’s Division I boys state golf tournament, Boardman returns four of five members from that team who believe they have the talent to win it all.
This year’s team features four juniors — Brian Terlesky, Cade Kreps, Bobby Jonda and Bryan Kordupel — plus sophomore Cole Christman.
First-round play is Friday at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.
“We have a little bit of a chip on our shoulder this year,” Kordupel said. “We didn’t do as good as we wanted to do last year.”
The Spartans tied for sixth with a combined score of 320 after the first round of last year’s state meet. They shot 331 the second day to finish seventh overall with a total of 651.
“When we’re all playing pretty good, we’ve shot 288 twice at invitationals. They have the capability of shooting well,” said Boardman coach Ron Moschella. “I don’t think the course will be as intimidating as it was [last year]. They should be relaxed. Hopefully we can play well and have one of those days where we hit 288.”
In August, the Spartans displayed that potential when they led the Kiely Cup at the prestigious Canterbury Golf Club in suburban Cleveland with a first day score of 304. They shot 313 the second day to finish third overall.
“That was a good experience,” Jonda said. “We know what we have to do when we have leads and going into the second day. Stay focused.”
Moschella praised athletic director Denise Gorski with scheduling invitationals that prepared the Spartans to compete against top competition.
“She felt that this team was good, so she wanted to give us experience at invitationals. Our kids played in five and it was really nice,” said Mocshella, who also thanked Lake Club management for making the golf course available this week to the Spartans. “The Canterbury course is where the pros play. It costs a few bucks to play in those tournaments. She had the foresight to do that. She’s a real cheerleader for our teams.”
Boardman tied for third at last week’s district tournament, led by Christman shooting a team-best 68 in the final round. The top five district finishers qualified for state.
“Thank God for our three-man [Christman],” said Terlesky, who is Moschella’s grandson.
“Everything went right that day,” Christman said. “I didn’t make any big mistakes. I was very even throughout the day. Almost boring in a sense.”
The Spartans realize that attention to detail is vital to winning the state title.
“In districts, we had to play decent or we were all going home,” Kreps said. “That was almost our first round at state. If you don’t play your best and focus on every shot, this could be the last round you play. If we all play our best, we’ll give ourselves a shot.”
The Division I girls tournament also is set for Friday and Saturday in Columbus.
Boardman’s Jacinta Pikunas and Canfield’s Hannah Keffler will compete at Ohio State’s Gray Course.