Click here to subscribe today or Login.
ROARING BROOK TWP. — Winning a district title would have been a great story for Coughlin’s Collin Krokos, who never even reached the District 2 Golf Championships in previous seasons.
But what the senior did on Monday at Elmhurst Country Club in the Class 3A boys portion of the tournament might have been a little better.
Krokos was in a playoff for the sixth and last qualifying spot for next week’s PIAA Regional Tournament. On the second playoff hole, he fired a chip shot within about 10 feet of the cup, then birdied the hole beating out four others in the playoff to advance to regionals for the first time. Krokos parred the first playoff hole, and didn’t crack under the pressure, in front of a large gallery consisting of players, friends, coaches and parents watching.
“It’s a real experience. Especially, since I’ve never been in one before and to birdie like that on the second hole and go out like that in my senior year is really awesome,” Krokos said. “Having being in the playoff I think that really motivated me being my senior year. …I just had all-around great rounds today.”
Krokos, who carded a personal-best score of 77 on the par-72 course to reach the playoff, will be joined at the regional event on Monday, Oct. 19 at Golden Oaks Golf Club in Fleetwood by teammate Ryan Keyes, who finished third with a 75. In the girls Class 3A tourney, Dallas’ Alexis Wyandt fired 88 to advance to regionals for the second consecutive season.
Coughlin entered the season as the team favorite to win everything in the Wyoming Valley Conference this season. The Crusaders did win their division championship, but fell twice by very close scores to Crestwood in the Preseason Tryba Tournament and the WVC Team Playoffs. But the Crusaders are now the last boys team standing with two golfers still alive in the individual postseason.
“I couldn’t be happier for them. They’re great kids. They work really hard, especially the dramatic way that Collin got in. He’s had some ups and downs recently, but he kept his composure,” Coughlin coach Mike Galli said. “Ryan had a great year. He’s been playing very well. I had a lot of confidence in both of them today.”
Keyes, who has been one of the top golfers in the WVC all season, had a rough go on his middle holes with three consecutive bogeys. He quickly rebounded from that to shoot for a birdie on No. 13, which was a huge boost for the junior, and helped him to his third-place finish – four strokes behind winner Sahas Chandragiri from Abington Heights.
“I definitely could have lost my head there in the streak, but I kept it in there and got that shot back there and that’s all that matters,” Keyes.
Wyandt, a senior, was the only female from the Wyoming Valley Conference to qualify for regionals as she shot 88 on the day at Elmhurst for the third-place finish. Having not played at the course since August, she had early nerves and struggled a little on her first few holes before calming down to reach regionals for the second time. With experience at Golden Oaks under her belt, she’s hoping for a better performance than 2014 when she missed the cut to advance to the PIAA Championships.
“Hopefully I can qualify at regionals next time,” she said. “Last time, I didn’t play well but I’ve been there and I’ve seen the course so that’s always good.”
Lake-Lehman’s Adam Motovidlak was in the playoff for the final Class 2A regional qualifying spot for the second straight season. And for the second time, the junior came up short. He carded 83 during his round before going to the second playoff hole that was won by Forest City’s Adam Kowalewski.
Wyoming Area’s Maddie Wharton, who was the defending District 2 Class 2A girls champ and fell on a playoff at last season’s regionals, shot 96 on Monday, finishing one stroke away from reaching the playoff to advance to next week’s regional.
District 2 Golf Championships
BOYS CLASS 3A
Sahas Chandragiri, Abington Heights`36-37-73
Marco Nieto, Scranton Prep`38-37-75
Ryan Keyes, Coughlin`37-38-75
Ian Langendoerfer, Honesdale`37-38-75
Ronald Yanoski, Valley View`39-37-76
**Collin Krokos, Coughlin`39-38-77
Jack Habeeb, Scranton Prep`37-40-77
Tom Keegan, Scranton Prep`39-38-77
Troy Kelleher, Abington Heights`39-38-77
Alex Pillar, Wallenpaupack`41-41-82
BOYS CLASS 2A
Tom Dwonczyk, Holy Cross`37-37-74
Austin Smith, Montrose`39-38-77
Dylan O’Dell, Forest City`41-37-77
Angelo Mancinelli, Holy Cross`41-39-80
James Tressler, Holy Cross`39-42-81
**Adam Kowalewski, Forest City`44-39-83
Adam Motovidlak, Lake-Lehman`37-46-83
Matt Torrisi, Riverside`39-44-83
GIRLS CLASS 3A
Hannah Yanoski, Valley View`42-35-77
Molly Mowatt, Wallenpaupack`43-44-87
Alexis Wyandt, Dallas`44-44-88
GIRLS CLASS 2A
Brianna Baker, Montrose`45-45-90
Lauren Golden, Scranton Prep`44-48-92
Reilly Ruane, Scranton Prep`46-49-95
*Alex Fitzsimmons, Scranton Prep`49-46-95
**advanced by winning on second playoff hole
*advanced by winning playoff
