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EXETER — Tyler Yankosky spent most of the spring and summer swinging a baseball bat for the Wyoming Valley West and the Swoyersville American Legion teams.

The senior didn’t get fully into swinging a golf club until earlier this month.

That didn’t matter much on Monday at Fox Hill Country Club as Yankosky traded sticks and walked away with the title of the Tryba Preseason Invitational.

Yankosky carded a 75 using an eagle on the par-4 No. 16 hole to best Crestwood’s Shane Angle by one shot. Lake-Lehman’s Adam Motovidlak (77) finished third, while Coughlin’s Ryan Keyes and Tunkhannock’s Tyler Faux fired 78 to tie for fourth.

As a standout pitcher, Yankosky helped the Spartans reach the PIAA Class 4A championship game before helping Swoyersville make a run at the league title until its reign as defending state champion ended in the league playoffs. During the baseball season, he said he golfed a handful of times but didn’t start getting into the daily routine until about two weeks ago.

“Practice routine this summer has been a baseball swing.” said Yankosky, who became the first golfer from Wyoming Valley West to claim the tourney’s title in the 14-year history of the event. “In the past two weeks, I’ve been spending four, five hours at the course everyday grinding it out. It paid off in the end.”

Yankosky, who improved by five shots from his showing last year at the tourney, struggled with his drives until the 16th when he said that he “finally had a good drive” then got a nice chip shot to reach the hole in two strokes. He also added a pair of birdies to come out victorious.

“That really helped me to win,” Yankosky said of his eagle. “Normally, I would think about a par there, so those two shots really helped.”

On the team side, Angle’s sharp shooting helped the Comets score 327 and claim their second straight championship, edging Coughlin by one stroke.

Angle, who tied for fifth in last season’s event, improved by four this season to pick up the Comets’ lowest score. But perhaps the most important performance for Crestwood came from John McGroarty, who was listed as the team’s No. 5 golfer but posted the second-lowest score for coach Mark Jarolen, carding 82. Mike Golden’s 84 and Tyler Papura’s round of 85 were also good enough to score for the Comets.

“That’s his first time playing this course,” Jarolen said of McGroarty. “I just got done telling him that if there was any surprise of the whole group it was John’s. He really improved his game over the course of one year.”

The Crusaders, who may have entered as tournament favorites, were paced by Keyes, who was two shots better than last year, Tyler Kurilla (81), Collin Krokus (84) and Billy Mills (85). Coughlin and Crestwood have began a rivalry battling for the Wyoming Valley Conference’s Class 3A title. Crestwood has bested the Crusaders for the last two, while Coughlin claimed the regular season match last season.

Monday’s showing just intensifies the growing rivalry.

“We knew Coughlin was going to be the team, (coach) Mike Galli said that he has the target on his back and I think he was accurate in the preseason,” Jarolen said. “It’s going to be interesting, but Coughlin is the team to beat.”

The team race was closer than it looked with Hazleton Area (337) finishing third. The next four teams all finished within five strokes of one another led by fourth-place Wyoming Area (342), Valley West (344), Wyoming Seminary (345) and Tunkhannock (347).

Tryba Preseason Invitational

Individual Scores

1. Tyler Yankosky, Wyoming Valley West`38-37-75

2. Shane Angle, Crestwood`37-39-76

3. Adam Motovidlak, Lake-Lehman`35-42-77

4. Ryan Keyes, Coughlin`37-41-78

4. Tyler Faux, Tunkhannock`39-39-78

6. Kenny Wallace, Holy Redeemer`38-42-80

6. Anthony Shaver, Wyoming Area`39-41-80

8. Tyler Kurilla, Coughlin`42-39-81

9. Frank Seratch, Hazleton Area`38-43-81

10. John McGroarty, Crestwood`41-41-82

Team Scores

Crestwood`327

Shane Angle`37-39-76

John McGroarty`41-41-82

Mike Golden`43-41-84

Tyler Papura`42-43-85

Coughlin`328

Ryan Keyes`37-41-78

Tyler Kurilla`42-39-81

Collin Krokus`43-41-84

Billy Mills`43-42-85

Hazleton Area`337

Frank Seratch`38-43-81

Geran Triano`41-43-84

Josh Provost`43-43-86

Jordan Pick`44-42-86

Wyoming Area`342

Anthony Shaver`39-41-80

Ryan Wrubel`41-45-86

Nik Athmann`41-56-86

Madeline Wharton`46-44-90

Wyoming Valley West`344

Tyler Yankosky`38-37-75

David McCue`46-42-88

Matt Evans`45-43-88

Ryan Hogan`50-43-93

Wyoming Seminary`345

Liam Gilroy`43-40-83

Noah Munley`38-46-84

Bobby Wilson`40-46-86

Jarod Godlewski`50-42-92

Tunkhannock`347

Tyler Faux`39-39-78

Brett Soltysiak`44-42-86

Mike Greene`47-44-91

Hunter Prevost`46-46-92

Dallas`351

Mason Gattuso`42-43-85

Alexis Wyandt`44-41-85

Ethan Zawatski`45-45-90

Adam Niznik`45-46-91

Holy Redeemer`351

Kenny Wallace`38-42-80

Dave Iskra`46-43-89

Connor Maloney`45-45-90

Tom Day`38-42-80

Berwick`370

Zach Evans`45-45-90

Matt Champ`44-47-91

Nate Laubach`47-45-92

Jake Demler`50-47-97

Dylan Michael`50-47-97

Lake-Lehman`375

Adam Motovidlak`35-42-77

Mike Sikora`45-46-91

Tyler Scharff`50-48-98

Tanner Harry`53-56-109

Pittston Area`393

Allie Craig`43-46-89

Chaz Yager`48-52-100

Jeff Donnora`52-49-101

Joe Carchilla`51-52-103

Hanover Area`467

Shelby Monk`56-53-109

Devin Senk`57-57-114

David Swartz`57-63-120

Joe Berkant`62-62-124

Top individuals on non-scoring teams

George Palermo, MMI`42-44-86

Eric Grodzicki, Nanticoke`46-44-90

Lee Falzone, Meyers`43-48-91

Paul Leco, GAR `59-52-111

Coughlin junior Ryan Keyes hits a 10-foot putt on No. 9 at Fox Hill Country Club at the Tryba Invitational Tournament on Monday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Tryba-Tourney-11.jpg.optimal.jpgCoughlin junior Ryan Keyes hits a 10-foot putt on No. 9 at Fox Hill Country Club at the Tryba Invitational Tournament on Monday. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Pittston Area sophomore Allie Craig tees off on No. 10 at Fox Hill Country Club during the Tryba Invitational Tournament on Monday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Tryba-Tourney-21.jpg.optimal.jpgPittston Area sophomore Allie Craig tees off on No. 10 at Fox Hill Country Club during the Tryba Invitational Tournament on Monday. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Wyoming Valley West’s Tyler Yankosky show his winning form as he sinks a putt on his way to a 75, taking the Tryba Invitational Tournament title at Fox Hill.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Tryba-Yankosky.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Valley West’s Tyler Yankosky show his winning form as he sinks a putt on his way to a 75, taking the Tryba Invitational Tournament title at Fox Hill. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Yankosky claims Tryba title; Comets repeat

By Dave Rosengrant

[email protected]

Past Champions

Individual

2002 – Ross Brown, Wyoming Seminary 75

2003 – Eric Plisko, Hanover Area 73

2004 – Joe Bevevino, Dallas 73

2005 – Rob Glyncefer, Wyoming Area 76

2006 – Mike Hirthler, Bishop Hoban 74

2007 – Dakota Brown, Tunkhannock 72

2008 – Brandon Matthews, Pittston Area 71

2009 – Brandon Matthews, Pittston Area 69

2010 – Brandon Matthews, Pittston Area 69

2011 – Brandon Matthews, Pittston Area 69 (won on 2nd playoff hole)

2012 – Mariano Medico, Holy Redeemer 68

2013 – Mariano Medico, Holy Redeemer 71

2014 – Jason Dotzel, Crestwood 74 (won on fourth playoff hole)

2015 – Tyler Yankosky, Wyoming Valley West 75

Team

2002 – Wyoming Seminary 313

2003 – Wyoming Seminary 313

2004 – Dallas 314

2005 – Dallas 316

2006 – Bishop Hoban 313

2007 – Dallas 310

2008 – Tunkhannock 312

2009 – Dallas 308

2010 – Holy Redeemer 296

2011 – Holy Redeemer 296

2012 – Holy Redeemer 290

2013 – Holy Redeemer 298

2014 – Crestwood 317

2015 – Crestwood 327

Reach Dave Rosengrant at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @tldrosengrant