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EXETER — This high school golf season marks the seventh year that the PIAA has been using two classifications in the sport.
In the previous six years, the Wyoming Valley Conference had claimed just one District 2 Class 3A team championship.
Not only did Dallas make it two for the WVC this year with a 298-302 victory over Abington Heights on Monday at Fox Hill Country Club, the Mountaineers also made it two years in a row that the conference has claimed the title following up Crestwood’s championship last year.
The Mountaineers advance to Wednesday’s PIAA Subregional Qualifier at 10 a.m. at Elmhurst Country Club against District 4’s East Juniata for a berth in PIAA Championships later this month.
In Class 2A, Scranton Prep knocked off Wyoming Seminary 317-327 for the district crown.
“This is a championship, but it’s also one more stage of getting us closer to our goal, which is to make team states,” Dallas coach Jane Kilduff said. “So we’re still working hard, one shot at a time, one swing at a time.”
The win for Dallas is much sweeter because back in 2016 the team looked like it was built for success for the long haul.
But after sweeping the WVC achievements that year, they dropped the D2 title match then didn’t even advance to districts last year after falling to Crestwood in the conference playoffs.
“Last year, it stung losing to Crestwood but we worked hard all summer for this and it feels great to finally achieve it,” said senior Ethan Zawatski. “I think another year of experience, another year of everybody getting better. And obviously (No. 1 player) Logan (Paczewski) coming in makes it so much easier on everybody.”
Zawatski was on the team all three years and has been one of the consistent scorers on the squad over that time. On Monday, he was the only Dallas senior to play and shot the second-lowest score for his team with a 73.
The lowest score of the day by any golfer came from Mountaineers freshman Paczewski, who tallied a 2-under par-68, and has been one of the top golfers in the district all season. Juniors Brett Ostroski (76) and Cooper Kelley (81) also scored for Dallas, while Matthew Dolan shot an 82.
“Whenever we come together as a team, we definitely all play our best,” Zawatski continued. “We all pull for each other and when we go out there and play, we’re playing for each other so it definitely brings out your best golf when you’re playing for guys you work hard with, are your teammates and brothers.”
Prep defeated the Blue Knights on the strength of its freshman golfer Michael Sewack, who led all Class 2A scorers with a 74 while entering as the team’s No. 5 golfer. He outscored Sem’s No. 5 golfer by 15 strokes to make all the difference in the score.
Leading the way for Sem was Jeremy Callahan’s score of 76, while Bobby Wilson fired 80, Andrew Maddock carded 82 and Harrison May netted a 89.
The Cavaliers will play D4 champion Wellsboro on Wednesday in the Subregional at Elmhurst.
DISTRICT 2 BOYS GOLF TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS 3A
Dallas 298, Abington Heights 302
Dallas (298) — Logan Paczewski 34-34-68; Ethan Zawatski 36-37-73; Brett Ostroski 36-40-76; Cooper Kelley 39-42-81; Matthew Dolan 41-41-82
Abington Heights (302) — Troy Kelleher 35-34-69; Nick Sebastianelli 37-39-76; Connor Kelleher 40-38-78; Dan Flickinger 37-42-79; Will Brown 38-41-79
CLASS 2A
Scranton Prep 317, Wyoming Seminary 327
Scranton Prep (317) — Michael Sewack 38-36-74; MJ Stivala 38-42-80; Matt Tressler 42-39-81; Collin Ennis 42-40-82; Andrew Mariotti 39-43-82
Wyoming Seminary (327) — Jeremy Callahan 36-40-76; Bobby Wilson 40-40-80; Andrew Maddock 40-42-82; Harrison May 43-46-89; Greg Godlewski 41-49-90