Lake-Lehman’s Charlie Weidner wins Tryba Tournament

EXETER — Scoreboard watching is virtually impossible at most high school golf tournaments.

That was no problem for Lake-Lehman’s Charlie Weidner Monday.

With defending PIAA Class 2A state champion Nick Werner from Wyoming Seminary in his foursome, all Weidner had to do was pay attention to the scorecard he was keeping anyway.

Weidner won a head-to-head battle that at times resembled match play, posting a 3-under-par 68 at Fox Hill Country Club to defeat Werner by one stroke and win the Tom Tryba Memorial Tournament.

Keeping track of the team race was a little more difficult for Weidner, who also led Lake-Lehman to the team title. After starting on the first hole, and therefore being among the first to turn in a score for one side in the event, which uses a shot-gun start, he only knew two of his teammate’s nine-hole scores as he played the back nine.

The other Black Knights did the rest, allowing Lake-Lehman to overcome Pittston Area putting four players in the 70s. The Black Knights won by a 302-313 margin. Wyoming Seminary finished two shots behind Pittston Area in third and Crestwood was fourth in the tournament for WVC boys and co-ed teams.

“Nick’s a great player; he won states last year,” Weidner said. “He’s just an all-around solid player. I play with him at Huntsville (Golf Club) all the time.

“I knew what I had to do. … I knew I’d have to put a number out there and I managed to come out ahead.”

Weidner played bogey-free golf on the front nine, using birdies on 4 and 7 to shoot 2-under, 33 on the front and take a three-shot lead at the turn.

Werner’s only lead on the front came after an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole. Weidner then picked up a stroke on each of the next two holes with a birdie and par and two more with a par on 9.

Werner then won three straight holes, including his second eagle at 12.

They walked off the greens at 12, 13, 15 and 16 tied for the tournament lead before Weidner came up with the winning shot at 17 and two title-preserving shots on 18.

Weidner birdied three of the last seven holes. He briefly regained the lead with a two-putt birdie, 4 when Werner missed a short putt on 14.

At 17, Werner had the advantage off the tee when Weidner’s drive clipped the trees, but still landed in the fairway. From there, Weidner stuck an approach to five feet at the front of the severely sloped green, putting himself in a perfect spot for the go-ahead birdie.

Weidner punched a low 5-iron shot from 110 yards out to remain under the trees and placed it on the 18th green, but with work left to be done.

“I had a huge downhill putt with a slope,” Weidner said of the bending, 40-foot putt that he rolled up to about a foot to tap in for the win.

Aside from having to maneuver the tree lines on the last two holes, Weidner said “I just didn’t put myself in too much trouble. At worst, I was going to make a bogey.”

Lake-Lehman’s Jackson Norconk went 4-under on the back nine to finish at 2-over, 74. It was the best nine-hole score by anyone in the 76-player field.

A.J. Borchert shot 77 and Jack Kashatus 83 to complete the winning team score in the format, which takes the top four scores out of a lineup of up to six players.

Norconk was one of four players to shoot 74 and finish tied for fourth overall, one shot behind third-place Ryan Roman from Dallas.

TOM TRYBA MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

(at Fox Hill Country Club, par 71)

Team scoring: 1, Lake-Lehman (LL) 302; 2, Pittston Area (PA) 313; 3, Wyoming Seminary (Sem) 315; 4, Crestwood (Cr) 321, 5, Wyoming Area (WA) 324; 6, Dallas (D) 326; 7, Hazleton Area (Haz) 332; 8, Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 335; 9, Berwick (B) 338; 10, Holy Redeemer (HR) 340; 11, Wilkes-Barre Area (WBA) 350; 12, Tunkhannock (T) 354; 13, MMI Prep (MMI) 387; Incomplete teams: Hanover Area (Han), Nanticoke.

Top individuals: 1, Charlie Weidner, LL, 68; 2, Nick Werner, Sem, 69; 3, Ryan Roman, D, 73; 4, Brady Johnson, Cr, 74; 4, Jackson Norconk, LL, 74; 4, Mario Belza, WA, 74; 4, Ayden Wilkinson, Sem, 74; 8, T.J. Borchert, LL 77; 8, Nick Cook, PA, 77; 10, Patrick Ruane (PA) 78.

11, Gabe Fatula, Haz, 79; 11, Andrew Nocito, PA 79; 11, Noah Gruber, PA, 79; 14, Tommy Biscotti, Cr, 80; 14, Charlie Letwinsky, D, 80; 14, Luke Palmieri, Haz, 80; 17, Kole Knorr, B, 81; 17, Sienna Smith, Cr, 81; 17, Max Bowen, HR, 81; 20, Troy Gaydos, Haz, 82; 20, Chris Scavo, PA, 82; 20, Brady Gerrity, WBA 82; 20, Joe Onda, WA, 82.

24, Brady Youngblood, Dal, 83; 24, Jack Kashatus, LL, 83; 24, Caleb Georgetti, T, 83; 24, Jeremy Layland, WA, 83; 28, Grant Evensen, B, 84; 28, Arden Brunn, HR, 84; 30, Jeff Peck, Han, 85; 30, Kyle Franchetti, PA, 85; 30, Aiden Argust, WA, 85; 30, Mitchell Rusinchak, WA, 85; 30, Leo Nickley, WA, 85.

35, Jackson Matosh, B, 86; 35, Luke Joseph, Cr, 86; 35, Devon Long, Cr, 86; 35, Arden Wiedlich, WBA, 86; 35, Tyler Dougherty, WBA, 86.