RICHMOND, Ind. – The Boys and Girls golf regular season concluded with the WOAC Tournament at the Richmond Elks Country Club.
In the season-ending tournament National Trail freshman Nick Brubaker shot a 66, 4-under par to win the tournament. Arcanum’s Luke Stephens and Graham Brubaker each shot a 75 tied for 2nd place. National Trail senior Nick Brubaker shot a 77 for 4th place. Trail junior Kellen Laird, Dixie junior Dilon Phillips, and junior Levi Agee of Preble Shawnee shot an 80 tied for fifth place.
National Trail won the regular season going undefeated and then won the tournament to earn the first outright league title in the WOAC.
Here is a look at the top boys’ finishers at the League Tournament.
After combining the regular season with the tournament, the top 10 total golfers by points earn 1st Team All-Conference.
First team all-conference awards went to: Graham Brubaker, Arcanum – Josh Brubaker, National Trail – Trevor Huffman, Dixie – Levi Agee, Preble Shawnee – Luke Stephens, Arcanum – Dilon Phillips, Dixie – Nick Brubaker, National Trail – Will Bowser, Newton –
Trey Homan, Tri-Village – Kellen Laird, National Trail
Special Mention went to: Byron Young, Ansonia – RJ Brothers, Arcanum – Treyl Manuel, Bradford – Luke Miller, Dixie – Chase Stebbins, Franklin Monroe – Jaxin Beanblossom, Mississinawa Valley – Justin Turner, National Trail – Rhett Koffer, Newton – Carson Hollon, Preble Shawnee – Brayden Bacher, Tri-County North – Brecken Gray, Tri-Village – Aidan White, Twin Valley South.
Girls Golf
In the season-ending tournament, Tri-Village senior Reagan Brewer shot a 74, 2 over par to win the tournament. Arcanum senior Brooke Anderson shot an 89 for 2nd place, Tri-Village Senior Taylor Begoon had a 92 for 3rd place and Arcanum senior Emma Rogers and sophomore Adalyn Paul each shot a 94 tying for 4th place.
Arcanum won the regular season going undefeated and then won the tournament to earn the outright league title in the WOAC.
Here is a look at the top girls’ finishers at the League Tournament.
After combining the regular season with the tournament, the top 10 total golfers by points earn 1st Team All-Conference.
First Team All-Conference Awards went to: Reagan Brewer, Tri-Village – Brooke Anderson, Arcanum – Emma Rogers, Arcanum – Jocelyn Osborne, National Trail – Logan Baker, National Trail – Taylor Begoon, Tri-Village – Adalyn Paul, Arcanum – Zoey Elson, Ansonia –Breanna Melling, National Trail – Addie Pipenger, Tri-Village
Special Mention went to: Sophia Aultman, Ansonia – Payten Parks, Arcanum – Abby Fourman, Franklin Monroe – Lexi Hake, National Trail and Macey Shetler, Tri-Village.
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Arcanum Girls Golf Team Wins Back-To-Back WOAC League Titles
The Western Ohio Athletic Conference held their regular season final league tournament that combined with regular season performances determines final team and individual placements.
In girls golf Arcanum won the regular season going undefeated at 6-0 in the league, 10-0 overall. They won the final league tournament to take home the conference championship. In the first four years of the WOAC Tri-Village has won in 2021, 22 and Arcanum back-to-back in 2023 and 2024.
In the regular season, the Trojan’s closest league match was with Tri-Village beating them twice each time by 7 strokes. In the WOAC tournament, the Patriots were clipping at their heels … but the Trojans came from behind for a three-stroke win and the outright championship.
Arcanum was 1st, Tri-Village 2nd, National Trail 3rd and Ansonia finished 4th in the WOAC.
Arcanum graduated five seniors off last season’s championship team and had just four players on the squad this year of which three are seniors.
“I said we’re small but mighty this year, we only had four girls the whole year,” said Arcanum coach Andrew Bryant who has been coaching the girl’s program for a number of years now.
“With just the four girls we put up close to the same numbers as we did last year with a deeper team and like last year went undefeated through the season,” Bryant added as they duplicated that feat again.
Bryant was the 2023 WOAC Coach of the Year and he would be named the Co-Coach of the Year in 2024 along with Ansonia coach Margaret Middleton.
Coach Bryant was a little worried in the tournament early on as Tri-Village had a pretty nice lead … but he was proud of the way his team stayed collected and fought back to get the win.
“I was worried today as Tri-Village played great. They had us beat, mostly on the leaderboard throughout the day where you can see what’s going on. I honestly don’t know how at the end, we pulled out on top, but I love tight matches. It makes it fun, and I’m just really excited for these ladies to get another win for the program,” Bryant stated.
One of the more noticeable concerns around the WOAC is the number or lack of girls golfing with seven schools not even having one golfer playing.
“All the schools seemed down and a lot of us coaches are talking about that. We’d love to see some more recruiting of people coming out for golf,” Bryant explained.
Given that Arcanum will graduate three seniors and have just one sophomore they will be in jeopardy like many of the schools if they can’t get girls out to play.
Bryant talked about his girls and how much they meant to him and the team.
So, I’ve been coaching boys and girls, basically for the last 20 years. While coaching the girls, two seniors, Brooke Anderson and Emma Rogers, at least by average, are my two best golfers I’ve ever had,” Bryant complimented.
“It’s been great to watch them over the last four years, grow and change. I’m definitely going to miss them. But my favorite thing about them is both of them, every match, are locked in and they grind it out and want to make those tough shots, versus just coming out and kind of making it a casual day on the golf course. I love the grit and their determination, and that’s something you can’t really teach,” Bryant exalted.
Bryant wants to see his team have success in the postseason after falling in sectional last year.
“Yeah, honestly, sectionals were a disappointment for us last year. We had such a good season. We only lost one match the whole time, then go to sectionals and we did not have a good day. So hopefully this tournament will be our bad day and next week, we’ll do great and be able to qualify and make it to districts so we can have that experience these girls deserve,” Bryant concluded.
Arcanum is led by seniors Brooke Anderson, Payten Parks and Emma Rogers along with sophomore Adalyn Paul.
Brooke Anderson has dropped her scoring average by 12 strokes since her freshman year and has been a consistent mid-40s golfer all season.
Payten Parks has just been out for two years and has dropped her average by 9 strokes.
Emma Rogers has also dropped nearly 13 strokes since her freshman year and is averaging just 44 strokes per round.
Adalyn Paul also just in her 2nd year of golf has dropped 12 strokes off her game as well with an average of 52.
These young ladies will open up in sectional tournament play on Wednesday, September 25th at Stillwater Valley Golf Course in Versailles.
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National Trail Boys Golf Team Wins 2024 WOAC Conference Championship
The Western Ohio Athletic Conference held their regular season final league tournament that combined with regular season performances determines final team and individual placements.
In boys golf National Trail won the regular season going undefeated and won the final tournament to take home the league championship. In the first three years of the WOAC Newton has shared the title but in 2024 the Blazers would win it outright for the first time in conference history.
In the regular season Trail received their closest match with the Dixie Greyhounds pulling out a 157-160 win and then ran the table in the conference. National Trail racked up some impressive tournament wins as well finishing 1st at the Eaton Invitational, Brookville Invitational and Blazer Invitational. They finished 2nd at Fort Loramie and Versailles Invitationals and 4th at the Middletown Christian Invitational.
After finishing co-champions in 2023 with Newton, the Blazers set a goal back in January to win the league outright this year.
“We knew we had a really good team coming in, and we wanted to get one by ourselves and it really started back in January. The boys worked hard for most of that time, and we really pushed each other to get better and to have that competitive excellence, to show up in tournaments like what they did today,” said Trail coach Ramon Rutan on the Blazers winning WOAC tournament.
They would shoot a 305 to take 1st place and Arcanum was 2nd at 327, Dixie 3rd with 341, Franklin Monroe 4th at 345 and Tri-Village 5th at 355.
Rutan would be named the 2024 WOAC Boys Coach of the Year. On winning the award he said it was only possible due to the talent he had on the team and the season his team is having and took time to tell me about his team.
Trail also had 3 of the top golfers in the league all which has created a competitive environment every time the Blazers hit the links. Whether it’s a practice or a match coach Rutan believes it has helped but it starts with his three seniors.
It starts with Nick Brubaker who is a 3-time 1st team all-conference golfer that includes this finishing in 7th place in 2024.
“Nick has been all conference for three years and is a really, really good player. He brings a lot of competitive excellence when he shows up and plays really well in tournaments and stuff like that. He’s just been very consistent and pushes our other guys, especially his younger brother who always wants to beat him, of course, which you know, creates a great competitive environment,” Rutan said.
His 2nd senior is Justin Turner who was all conference last season but the top level of the WOAC conference was very strong this year.
“Justin Turner was first team all-conference last year, and basically had about the same year as last. He’s kind of the one who keeps everybody loose and has fun, people enjoy playing with him, and so he’s been a really good part of the program for us,” Rutan praised.
The 3rd senior is Aidan Koehl, and he has worked hard to be a part of the success the Blazers are having over the last four years.
“Aidan Koehl compared to where he started was relatively pretty new to golf now with just four years in his career has worked his butt off and really improved. He shot 87 today, and had two big blow-up holes, but played well for 16 holes, so hard work pays,” Rutan explained.
With three solid seniors National Trail also has junior Kellen Laird and freshman Josh Brubaker to round out the team and the two have been pretty spectacular this year as well.
“Laird you know, he’s just a solid piece all year long and one of those guys that pushes the competitiveness on the team,” Rutan stated.
Laird grabbed the 10 spot in the league to earn 1st team all-conference in 2024.
Then there is freshman Josh Brubaker the brother to senior golfer Nick Brubaker who has hit the prep golf scene running and is having a spectacular year. He finished in 2nd place in the league, and he would win the WOAC Tournament by shooting four-under par.
“Josh is a very special player. I have been around a lot of good players over the past 25 years or so, and he’s as good as anybody I’ve seen. He’s unbelievable, his talent on the course is unreal. He still has got a way to go, learning course management and just maturing in general but as you saw it today, he’s just immensely talented and a lot of fun and really keeps things loose for the team too,” complimented Rutan.
After winning the WOAC Championship and having three All-Conference 1st team golfers the Blazers should be exciting for the post season as they head into the sectional tournament.
While coach Rutan doesn’t want to put pressure on his team he has confidence in them and believes they have as much talent as anyone in the state, so he offers up to his team this advice.
“We have at National Trail our core values program that is all about excellence, integrity and teamwork, and I always tell them, if we show up, and do those things by holding ourselves to those standards then we don’t worry about the outcome. We know we’ve done our best then and everything will fall into place,” Rutan smiled.
And why not smile Rutan and National Trail is having the best year for boys’ golf and with a little bit of luck to go along with the talented golfers this team could be destined for a long post season run.
Good luck to the Blazers as they open up sectional play on Wednesday September 25th at Turtle Creek in Greenville.
