Cardinal used a sweep of Berkshire and Kirtland on Monday to close out the conference portion of its schedule undefeated.
The Huskies carded a 176 while Berkshire shot a 191 and Kirtland finished with a 201. With the win, the Huskies finished league play with an 8-0 record.
“It was really nice especially for Troy Domen since it was his senior year and he’s been solid for us for four years,” said Cardinal coach Mike Topalian. “He did what he had to do and then the younger guys, I wasn’t sure what to expect from them this year. They have come on strong the last couple of weeks and it’s nice to know we have some depth and other people can put up good numbers besides just our No. 1 and No. 2 golfers.”
Domen claimed medalist honors by shooting a match-low 40. Matt Hissa added a 43, Reese Soltis shot a 44, and Bryce Blystone closed out the scoring with a 49. Austin Jones and Evan Jones shot a 50 and a 54, respectively.
Ian Patterson led Berkshire with a 43. Aiden Pollock (47), Mario Romagni (50), and Trent Hornak (51) closed out the scoring. Gavin Hipp (56) and Kyle Rolf (58) also competed for the Badgers.
Kirtland’s top scorer was Nick Nead, who shot a 46. Ryan Green finished with a 47, Knox Crisci shot 52, and Danny Shafer closed out the scoring with a 56. Maggie Kothera (67) and Nolan VanLoan (68) also played for the Hornets.
Cardinal now heads into next week’s conference tournament holding a slight advantage over Berkshire for the overall Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division title.
Berkshire won the league’s preseason tournament but after sweeping the regular season, Cardinal now holds a point advantage over the Badgers and can win the league outright by placing higher than the Badgers at the postseason tournament.
That situation adds a bit of pressure for the Huskies.
“It’s no secret anymore, everyone knows we’re a very good team,” Topalian said. “Troy probably has the most pressure on him to go out his senior year and take golfer of the year. I’m just trying to let them know that once we tee off, it’s shot by shot just like any other day. Quail (Hollow) is such a hard course for these kids, so if they don’t get good weather, it’s survival of the fittest.”
