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ROARING BROOK TWP. – Not even a bad finish to his round was going to keep Mason Gattuso from winning a District 2 gold medal on Tuesday.

The Dallas junior made five birdies on the back nine at Elmhurst Country Club en route to a tournament-low 33 on the last nine holes and a District 2-low 75 on the day to claim his first District 2 Class 3A championship.

Gattuso become the first district champ from the Wyoming Valley Conference since Pittston Area’s Tyler McGarry in 2014 and just the 12th from the WVC to claim a district gold in the last 20 years. He’s also the first district champion from Dallas in at least 20 years.

The Mountaineer standout even ended his round by going four shots over par on his last three holes — on the front nine — but still survived the round to walk away with the gold medal.

“I feel good on this course. I don’t play it a ton, but after the match from last Friday, it gave me confidence on this course that I don’t have on many other courses,” said Gattuso, who played the course just four days prior and had the lowest score of the D2 Team Championships — shooting under par with a 70. “It feels great. I worked really hard this summer and it’s finally paying off. I didn’t play my best all year and it feels good that at end of the season, I’m playing my best golf.”

Gattuso advances to next week’s East Regional Tournament at Golden Oaks Golf Club in Fleetwood along with two females from the WVC. Tunkhannock’s Brittany Zamber (Class 3A) and MMI Prep’s Jessica McClellan (2A) finished in the top three of their respective tournaments to be the only WVC golfers to reach the next round of the postseason.

A total of 22 golfers from District 2 are advancing. Among them are champions Lauren Golden (Scranton Prep, Class 3A), Hannah Yanoski (Valley View, Class 2A) and Tyler Marchese (Scranton Prep, Class 2A).

Zamber, a senior, qualified for regionals, ending her round the opposite of Gattuso. She birdied two of her last three holes to become the first golfer from Tunkhannock to reach the regional tournament since Dakota Brown in 2007. She fired an 87 on Tuesday to take third place and finished six strokes ahead of the fourth-place finisher.

“It’s unbelievable. I didn’t expect it at all. It just surprised me,” Zamber said. “Once I saw (the last score) go up, it really just set in.”

McLellan, who was the lone girl from the WVC participating in Class 2A, shot a 90 to take second place in the district to reach the East Regional for the first time in her career. The sophomore said she putted well all day and had a lot of great drives en route to her score.

“It proves to myself how good I am and I know that I can compete with all these other girls,” McClellan said.

District 2 Golf Championships

Regional Qualifiers

Boys Class 3A

Mason Gattuso, Dallas`42-33-75

Alex Pillar, Wallenpaupack`40-37-77

Kyle Pillar, Wallenpaupack`40-37-77

Luke Fayocavitz, Abington Heights`39-38-77

Troy Kelleher, Abington Heights`40-37-77

Ron Yanoski, Valley View`40-39-79

Girls Class 3A

Lauren Golden, Scranton Prep`42-41-83

Reilly Ruane, Scranton Prep`44-42-86

Brittany Zamber, Tunkhannock`46-41-87

Boys Class 2A

Tyler Marchese, Scranton Prep `37-39-76

Sebastian Cimoch, Scranton Prep`39-38-77

Chris Murray, Dunmore`37-41-78

Jim Tressler, Holy Cross`37-43-80

Jack Habeeb, Scranton Prep`44-37-81

Frank Adamo, Scranton Prep`43-40-83

Girls Class 2A

Hannah Yanoski, Valley View`39-43-82

Jessica McClellan, MMI`46-44-90

Mariah Minter, Mid Valley`47-44-91

WVC Non-regional qualifying scores

(score of 90 or better)

Class 3A boys

Frank Seratch, Hazleton Area`43-38-81

Ryan Keyes, Coughlin`42-40-82

Jeremy Harper, Crestwood`43-40-83

Shane Angle, Crestwood`45-39-84

Martin Cryan, Wyoming Valley West`41-43-84

Brady Antolick, Hazleton Area`42-43-85

Colin Bowanko, Dallas`43-43-86

Jordan Pick, Hazleton Area`40-46-86

Rob Lane, Wyoming Valley West`47-39-86

Kyle McAndrew, Dallas`46-41-87

Ethan Zawatski, Dallas`45-45-90

Tyler Faux, Tunkhannock`44-46-90

Cole Coolbaugh, Wyoming Area`44-46-90

Class 2A Boys

Adam Motovidlak, Lake-Lehman`41-43-84

Noah Munley, Wyoming Seminary`44-41-85

Derek Answini, Holy Redeemer`42-43-85

Mike Sikora, Lake-Lehman`46-41-87

Tyler Scharff, Lake-Lehman`43-44-87

Dan Rogers, Wyoming Seminary`40-47-87

Jeremy Callahan, Wyoming Seminary`44-43-87

Conor Maloney, Holy Redeemer`49-40-89

Robert Lugiano, Lake-Lehman`48-42-90

George Palermo, MMI`42-48-90

Bob Wilson, Wyoming Seminary`46-44-90

Rob Lane of Wyoming Valley West watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_d2golf-1-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgRob Lane of Wyoming Valley West watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.

Shane Angle watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_d2Golf-7-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgShane Angle watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.

Jeremy Harper of Crestwood watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_d2Golf-2-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgJeremy Harper of Crestwood watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.

Dan Rogers of Wyoming Seminary watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 2A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_d2Golf-3-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgDan Rogers of Wyoming Seminary watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 2A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.

Kenny Wallace of Holy Redeemer watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 2A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_d2Golf-4-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgKenny Wallace of Holy Redeemer watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 2A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.

Ryan Keyes of Coughlin lines up his putt on the 1st green during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_d2Golf-5-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgRyan Keyes of Coughlin lines up his putt on the 1st green during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.

Shane Angle of Crestwood putts on the 1st green during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_d2Golf-6-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgShane Angle of Crestwood putts on the 1st green during the District 2 Class 3A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.

George Palermo of Freeland MMI lines up his putt on the 1st green during the District 2 Class 2A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_d2Golf-8-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgGeorge Palermo of Freeland MMI lines up his putt on the 1st green during the District 2 Class 2A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.

Adam Motovidlak of Lake-Lehman watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 2A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_d2Golf-9-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgAdam Motovidlak of Lake-Lehman watches his drive on the 2nd tee during the District 2 Class 2A Golf Championship at Elmhurst Country Club in Roaring Brook Township on Tuesday morning.
Dallas’ Gattuso plays way to District title and into East Regionals

By Dave Rosengrant

For Times Leader

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