By Cort Reynolds

OTTAWA - The Ada High School boys golf team finished ninth out of 10 teams at the third and final Blanchard Valley Conference tournament on Friday, Sept. 19 at Moose Landing Country Club in Ottawa.

Van Buren won the BVC tournament championship by 12 shots with a total of 313 strokes. Three Black Knights finished in the top 10 individually to pace them to victory. 

Liberty-Benton ended up second at 325.

The Bulldogs totaled 407 strokes, 30 shots ahead of last-place Pandora-Gilboa.

Leipsic shot 331 to finish third, followed by Riverdale (351), Elmwood (356), Arcadia (371), McComb (388), Arlington (389), Ada (407) and P-G (437).

Four golfers, including VB teammates Cole Bishop and Jake Schroeder, tied for tournament medalist honors by shooting a round of 74. The Knights swept all three BVC tournaments to decisively earn the overall league crown.

“Moose Landing was a very nice venue and a well-maintained course,” said Bulldog head coach Tod Schmidt. “We appreciate them hosting our conference tournament. Most of our team had never played the course before, which certainly is a disadvantage compared to teams who play or practice there.

“Perhaps next year we can find a way to practice on courses we have no experience on,” he added. 

Ada junior Brody Rister carded a solid 18-hole round of 90 to pace the Bulldogs. He finished 16th in the 42-player field.

Freshman Arden Shook played second for Ada with a round of 100.

Junior Lawson Klingler carded a score of 107, and senior Sam Crawford was right behind him after posting a 110.

VB junior Schroeder shot rounds of 73 and 72, respectively, to win the first two league tournaments and was named BVC Player of the Year.

“For now, we turn our attention to our final home match Monday at Colonial Hills Golfers Club at 4:30,” said Schmidt. “This will be the final home match for seniors Sam Crawford and Slade Gossman.”

Ada hosts New Knoxville and Waynesfield in a triangular match on Sept. 22.

BVC Tournament #3 Results

TEAM/INDIVIDUAL SCORES: 

1 Van Buren 313 (Jake Schroeder 74, Cole Bishop 74, Ben Heitkamp 79, Ian Wilhelm 86)

2 Liberty-Benton 325 (Andrew Tomlinson 77, Jackson Knepper 81, Asher Norman 82, Luke Gerken 85)

3 Leipsic 331 (Reagan Wenzinger 74, Brevin Brandt 75, Andrew Hittle 89, Zac Lammers 93)

4 Riverdale 351 (Nathan Alge 74, Collin Vent 83, Andrew Alge 97, Grady Phelps 97)

5 Elmwood 356 (Zechariah Patterson 75, Marshal Taft 90, Christopher Clark 91, Ethan Johnson 100, Ryken Zeigler 100)

6 Arcadia 371 (Aiden Cline 79, Owen Green 87, Zack Zoll 95, Ruari McCarty 111)

7 McComb 388 (Grant Schaublin 95, Brayden Welty 96, Casen Stateler 98, Axton Stateler 99)

8 Arlington 389 (Dane South 95, Braylon Gast 97, Deuce Davis 98, Cooper Hawkins 99) 

9 Ada 407 (Brody Rister 90, Arden Shook 100, Lawson Klingler 107, Sam Crawford 110)

10 Pandora-Gilboa 437 (Kaden Mullins 106, Aiden Dailey 107, Camden Verhoff 109, Tucker Wentz 115)

Co-medalists: Jake Schroeder, Liberty-Benton, 74, Nathan Alge, Riverdale, 74; Cole Bishop, Van Buren, 74; Reagan Wenzinger, Leipsic 74.