Bobcat Golfers Claim 1st Annual Grape Picker Tournament

All images by Jackie Kerle – Above: 1st Annual Grape Picker Tournament Class AA Champion Clarion Bobcats – (L-R) McKayla Kerle, Kameron Kerle, Avery Kline, Lucas Mitrosky, Devon Lauer

The Clarion Area Golf Team continued their winning ways, by capturing the Class AA Championship in the 1st Annual Grape Picker Tournament, held on Thursday, August 18th at the Lakeview Country Club in North East.

Eight Class AA teams and four Class AAA teams participated in the invitational tournament, hosted by the North East School District. The event served as a preview of the top teams in District Ten, with Clarion being the only District Nine team invited, by virtue of the Bobcats being heavily favored to make it to the PIAA Subregional Tournament in the fall where they would face the District Ten champion. 

Five golfers competed for each team in the event.

The Bobcats won the Class AA event with a score of 344, twelve strokes better than second place finisher Mercyhurst, who recorded a 356. Fairview carded a 358 for third. Fort LeBeouf and Grove City finished in a two-way tie for 4th, at 359. Rounding out the field were Oil City in sixth place with a 372, North East in seventh place at 375 and Union City in eighth place at 381.

There were thirty-nine golfers in Class AA.

Devon Lauer led the Bobcats with an 81, followed by Kameron Kerle at 82, McKayla Kerle at 88, Avery Kline at 93 and Lucas Mitrosky at 94.

Devon’s 81 was good for fourth place in the individual standings in Class AA. Kameron’s 82 put him in fifth place.

North East’s Leyton Hassenplug and Mercyhurst’s Nick Nomeyer were Co-Medalists with each carding a 76. Union City’s Josh James was third with a 78.

McKayla tied for eleventh place, Avery tied for twentieth and Lucas tied for twenty-second.

There were eight 2A teams and four 3A teams that competed.  We won the 2A with a  344 team score.  Mercyhurst was 2nd with 356.

There were four teams in Class AAA.

Cathedral Prep finished first with a score of 329. Warren was second at 337, Erie High was third at 342 and McDowell was fourth with a 346.

Warren’s Owen Bloom and Prep’s Breckin Taylor were Co-Medalists, carding 75’s. Erie High’s Kyle Westfall was third at 76. Braddock DaMore from Warren finished in fourth at 78 and Prep’s Conrad Laird was fifth with an 80.

Bobcat Assistant Coach Jackie Kerle had this to say after the tournament, “The course was challenging with thick rough, fast greens and extremely difficult pin placements.

“Although we did not play as well as we did in the State College Tournament, we still managed to pull out a 12 shot victory over the other Class AA schools.”

Great Job, Bobcats!!!!

Thanks to Coach Kerle for providing pics and info for this article!!