By Cort Reynolds

FINDLAY – The Ada High School boys golf team competed in the first of three Blanchard Valley Conference tournaments on Monday, August 4 at the Findlay Country Club.

The Bulldog linksters finished tied for eighth with McComb at the day-long, 10-team event, which was won by Van Buren with 313 strokes.

Monday was the first of three tournaments which will combine to determine the 2025 BVC boys golf champion. A mid-season tournament will be held Aug. 18 at Hidden Creek Golf Club, with the BVC finale on Sept. 19 at Kalida’s Moose Landing.

VB ace Jake Schroeder was tournament medalist, and three Black Knights shot under 80 as they won the first BVC tournament by 22 strokes over second-place Liberty-Benton (335).

Schroeder, who led VB to second place in the 2024 Div. III state tournament, carded an 18-hole round of 73 (one above par) to lead all golfers in the 59-man field.  

Ben Heitkamp (77) and Cole Bishop (78) added top rounds for the victorious Knights, who were 25 above par as a team.

Leipsic ace Brevin Brandt fired a 76 to finish second and pace Leipsic (359) to third place. Elmwood was fourth (365) while Arcadia (371) finished fifth, followed by Riverdale (378), Arlington (407), Ada and McComb (431) and Pandora-Gilboa (468).

The Bulldog shot 125 over par as a team.

“We had a significant improvement over last week’s opening tournament,” said new Ada head coach Tod Schmidt, a 1981 Ada graduate who played four years for the Bulldogs. “It is a blessing to come back and coach now that I am retired.

“The Findlay Country Club has very fast, challenging greens as well as deep, unforgiving grass off the fairways,” he noted of the par-72 course.

Junior Brody Rister led Ada with a strong 18-hole round of 49-38=87. He ended up a solid 14th out of 59 golfers.

“My ace Brody overcame shooting a 49 on the front nine by following it up with an excellent 38 on the back nine, which highlighted his mental toughness as much as his physical skill,” said Schmidt.

Freshman Arden Shook shot 113 in his debut to place 38th. “Playing in his first-ever tournament, he struck the ball very well,” the coach said of Shook.

“Senior Sam Crawford registered his first birdie in competition,” he noted. Crawford posted a score of 116 to end up 40th.

Ada junior Lawson Klingler carded a 121 to tie for 46th place. First-year junior Gavin Guyton finished 52nd with a score of 136.

“We have a young team overall which will get better as the year progresses,” said Schmidt, who played for Ada from 1977-80. “It is my proudest moment to be coaching this team. I am supposed to be mentoring them, but in reality I am learning more from them than they will ever realize.”