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SUBMITTED PHOTO Hazleton Area freshman Joey Rebarchick retrieves his hole-in-one ball out of the cup on No. 11 at Fox Hill Country Club on Monday. Rebarchick was playing his first varsity match for the Cougars, competing in the annual Ted Tryba Tournament when he carded the ace. Rebarchick finished with an 82 and secured a spot in the pre-district tournament with his opening-day effort.

WARREN RUDA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Crestwoods Shane Angle tees off on the second hole at Fox Hill Country Club Monday during the annual Ted Tryba Tournament.

EXETER Mike Golden has come a long way in three years playing golf.

Inspired by his grandfather plus former Crestwood teammate Tyler Papura, Golden tried the sport two years ago as a sophomore, when merely carding 50 over nine holes was a success.

But, then, he got really good, even tying a school record with a 2-under 34 last year at Blue Ridge Trail Golf Club.

Golden couldnt have asked for a better start to his senior year Monday, when he shot a 1-over 72 and won the Tryba Preseason Tournament at Fox Hill Country Club.

Doubled, tripled my practice time, Golden said, explaining the rapid improvement in his game. Even if its raining and I dont go to the driving range, Im out in my yard chipping around, setting up targets.

Goldens round was highlighted by a pair of birdies against three bogeys and strong putting, as well as a handful of saves to work himself out of the woods.

Length is No. 1. He hits the ball a long way, which is good, Crestwood coach

Mark Jarolen said of Golden. His short game has improved dramatically. So its all about and we stress it all the time putting the ball in the hole. Hes started doing a really good job at that.

Goldens first-place finish comes after tying for 10th and 12th place as a junior and sophomore, respectively.

In addition to Goldens 72, junior Jeremy Harper (73), senior Shane Angle (75) and junior C.J. Bono (79) helped shoot the Comets to a team title, their third in the last four years.

With a team score of 299, Crestwood became the first team to break 300 since Holy Redeemer shot 298 in 2013, a season that ended with a state championship for the Royals.

I was impressed, Jarolen said. But they play a lot of golf and they work hard and are very capable. They just put it all together at one time, which is great.

Harpers 73 landed him in a tie for second place with Dallas senior Mason Gattuso, who was the WVCs only district champion a year ago.

Dallas Brett Ostroski shot a 74 for fourth place, while Angle finished fifth.

Other highlights included Hazleton Area freshman Joey Rebarchick in his first-ever varsity event making a hole-in-one on par-3 No. 11. The Cougars finished fourth as a team at 331, with Jordan Pick (76) tying for sixth place. Pick and Cougar teammates Rebarchick (82), Matt Boretski (84) and Brian Bartel (89) all secured a spot in the pre-district tournament with their efforts on Monday.

MMI, which finished sixth out of 14 teams at 338, was led by George Palermo, who tied for ninth with a 78. Jessica McClellan tied for 17th at 80, followed by Morgan Long (88) and Zack Young (92).

Perhaps the biggest takeaway, though, was that the WVC golf scene appears to be in better shape today than it was following last years Tryba.

Last year, Dallas won the team championship with a 321, a score that this time around would have finished after Crestwood (299), itself (304) and Holy Redeemer (318).

Plus, only nine players last year shot 80 or below, a number that was doubled with 18 such finishers this year.

The WVC will waste no time in getting right to the thick of competition now, as Crestwood will host Dallas on Wednesday in a showdown of the top-two Tryba finishers.

Contact the writer: mbufano@citizensvoice.com; 570-821-2060; @CVBufano on Twitter

Schuylkill League

Pine Grove 354

Marian 376

Luke Reiters medalist round of 80 at Blue Mountain powered Pine Grove past visiting Marian.

Nate Hartman checked in with an 86, Austin Dubbs shot 92, and Karson Felty added a 96 for the Cardinals.

Jacob Artz (82) and Nick Kurzinsky (85) showed the way for the Colts (2-1). Collin McCarrie had a 101 and Lucca Stoia finished at 108.

Nativity 387

Weatherly 426

At Schuylkill Country Club, Tyler Coyle shot a blistering 71 to run away from the field and lead Nativity past visiting Weatherly.

Ty Daubert (94), Joe Manus (108) and Jack Piccioni (114) rounded out the Hilltoppers scoring.

For Weatherly (0-3), Ashton Gerhard had a 101, followed by AJ Knepper (104), Ryan Fairchild (109) and Jared Zaremba (112).

Mahanoy Area 376

North Schuylkill 444

At Mountain Valley, Josh Jacavage took medalist honors with a 90, leading a balanced Mahanoy Area attack against visiting North Schuylkill.

Tyler McCole (91), Kathryn McCarthy (96) and Will Conroy (99) all joined Jacavage in the 90s for the Golden Bears.

Blake Rothermel paced the Spartans with a 103, with Kris Wolfe (107), Kevin Kovach (119) and Brandon Lucas (115) rounding out the scoring.

H.S. Girls Tennis

Schuylkill League

Jim Thorpe 4

Tamaqua 1

Brooke Williams outlasted Leanne Van Essendelft 6-3, 7-6 (8) at first singles to give Tamaqua its lone team point in Mondays season-opener at Jim Thorpe.

Christy McLean defeated Alexis Breiner 6-1, 6-4, and Kaitlyn ONeil downed Molly Clemson 6-3, 6-1 to give Jim Thorpe two points in singles play.

The Olympians wrapped up the match with a sweep of the doubles contests. At first doubles, Angelica Uzar and Evelyn Flores blanked Tamaquas Madison Wickersham and Emily Fisher (6-0, 6-0), and at No. 2 doubles Chloe Getz and Triselle Samuels teamed up to beat Sabrina Moyer and Jocelyn Rega (6-1, 6-0).

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Golden, Comets win Tryba Preseason Tournament - Sports ... - Standard Speaker