By Susan Jenior

Staff Writer

It was an outstanding year for Portage County’s high-school golfers and a season to remember.

Across six different conferences and in three divisions for OHSAA postseason tournaments, the county’s golfers rose to an elite level throughout the fall.

DIVISION I DOMINANCE

Liam Curtis of Kent Roosevelt made his second trip back to the state tournament, qualifying through the Pine Lakes Division I District.

Curtis, both ins 2023 and 2024, qualified for All-Ohio status, this season finishing in second place at the Division I state tournament.

He was runner-up medalist to Aurora’s Chris Pollak, who golfs for Hoban.

That is an amazing accomplishment.

Out of all the teams this season, the top-two golfers in the state were from Portage County.

DIVISION II DOMINANCE

At the state tournaments, both in Division I and Division II, Portage County golfers were near the top of the leaderboard.

The Southeast Pirates girls team finished fifth in the state in Division II. Among all the teams that started golf in August, Southeast and coach Cindy Fesemyer found themselves among the best at the final tournament of the season.

Taylor Blazek led the team with an All-Ohio finish and received a plaque to recognize the honor after placing sixth overall in the state.

It was Southeast’s first girls team to advance to the state tournament, one season after Blazek became the first girl to advance in school history.

The Pirates had success on the boys side, as well.

James Morgan, a junior, became the school’s second golfer to qualify for the state championship tournament.

Thirty-nine years prior, Mike White, was the first Southeast boys golfer to qualify in 1985, firing a 90 and 88 at the state event.

Nearly four decades later, Morgan represented the Pirates and fired rounds of 77 and 81 to finish No. 15 in Ohio.

THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS CONTINUED

Waterloo’s Trevor Simons

It was the Southeast Pirates first season in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference and the golf team gave notice to the MVAC they are teams to watch.

The Southeast girls won the MVAC championship and Blazek earned Player of the Year.

The Pirates’ boys finished second in the league (16 teams) and Morgan earned Player of the Year status.

Portage County golfers swept all three Players of the Year in the MVAC.

Trevor Simons of Waterloo was co-Player of the Year after the league tournament was held at the Salem Hills Golf Course.

ACROSS THE FAIRWAYS

Across the leagues, Portage County golfers made headlines.

The Streetsboro boys won the regular-season title in the Metro Athletic Conference — the program’s first-ever.

Liam Curtis of Kent Roosevelt and Gracyn Vidovic of Aurora each earned Player of the Year honors in the Suburban League.

The Rootstown girls set program records almost every time they stepped on the links this season.

The Kent Roosevelt and Aurora girls both advanced as teams to the Division I district tournament.

Southeast girls also won the Division II district title.

A BRIGHT FUTURE

For some of the best senior golfers, collegiate golf is in their future.

Curtis has already verbally committed to the Kent State University Golden Flashes, Gracyn Vidovic of Aurora will become a Purple Eagle, playing for Ashland.

Portage Sports will continue to follow the collegiate golfers and their successes on the links.

THANK YOU

The Monday High School Golf Report will conclude after one additional week, but I wanted to take this opportunity to thank high-school golfers and coaches for allowing me to share your successes on the links this season.

This is one of the busiest and most exciting seasons I remember.

It seemed like every coach was sharing a golfer’s or a team’s successes, record-setting scores or best efforts every single week.

Golf is a different sport for a reporter.

It becomes personal, walking around the fairways, spending time with parents during each match and tournament as they watch their kids.

Golfers often wave when I am near the tee and tell me they held their shot so I could take a good pic.

These same golfers often return years later to play in the Portage County Amateur, volunteer to help at the Kids Amateur and continue to play in leagues or work at golf courses at area fairways.

Golf is personal, unlike any other sport.

The playing field is completely different in every match and tournament, but the golfers persevere and celebrate their accomplishments throughout the season.

Thank you for allowing me to share in your stories and enjoy the talented golfers in Portage County.