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State High School Finals Complete

October 31, 2019

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – Mission Inn Resort & Club hosted the Florida High School Athletic Association Boys and Girls State Championship! Class 1A, 2A, and 3A players teed it up to determine the team and individual that would be crowned Champion! 

1A Boys & Girls

A wire-to-wire victory was captured by First Academy in the Boys 1A finals. Sampson Zheng, who finished second individually, Bruce Huang, Guoao Xu, Mohit Balaji, and Rocco Figus represented First Academy to bring home the title with round totals of 297-305—602. Twelve strokes back, in second place, finished Benjamin with a round two score 12 strokes lower than round one, 313-301—614. Defending champions, Windermere Prep, fought back in round two to finish in third place at a 618 total. 

Robbie Higgins, of Cardinal Mooney, posted two scores in the red to win first place individually by four strokes. Florida Junior Tour standout, Higgins, bettered his round one score by one to post rounds of 70-69 for a five under-par 139 total. Zheng, who finished in fifth at the 2019 State Four-Ball Championship with partner Grant Drogosch, shot even par followed by one under-par to finish in second with a 143 total. Jake Beber-Frankel, Aaron Du, and Canon Claycomb, tied for third place at even par 144.

Impressive rounds from Lake Mary Prep allowed the team to seize first place with a 575 total. The team comprised of familiar names, Karoline Tuttle, Xinyi Wang, Ellen Dong, Victoria Zeng, and Mimi Chen, posted near identical rounds of 287-288 to finish in first by seven strokes in the Girls 1A finals. First Academy tied for the lead after a round one 287 and fell to second place with a round two 295 and 582 final. Circle Christian rounded out the top three in third with rounds of 315-296—611.

First Academy’s Jieming Yang was the definition of consistency with two rounds of 68 securing her first place individual win by one stroke at eight under-par. Maisie Filler, of Oxbridge Academy, followed close behind with rounds of 69-68 and a second place individual finish at seven under-par 137. FJT winner and second place finisher at the current State Girl’s Junior Championship, Karoline Tuttle, of Lake Mary Prep, posted a four under-par final round to finish in third at 140. 

2A Boys & Girls

A back-to-back State Championship victory was won by Ponte Vedra High School in the Boys 2A finals. The team held onto the lead through both rounds to win by six strokes over American Heritage (Plantation). Ponte Vedra team members, Justin Ortiguera, Jack Barned, Will McGriff, Stewart Slayden, and Connor Holcroft, posted team scores of 298-306 to finish at 604. Second place finishers, American Heritage (Plantation), improved by 12 strokes in round two to move up the leaderboard with rounds of 311-299—610. Bishop Moore Catholic posted team totals of 305-309 to finish in third place at 614.

Jason Duff, of Menendez, posted a comeback round on day two to finish in first place individually. Duff, a winner on the FJT, followed his first round 76 with a three under-par 69 to finish with a one over-par 145. Luke Clanton, who accomplished four FJT wins in 2018, finished tied for second place due to a one under-par 70 in round two for a 147 total. John Houchin, of Merritt Island, tied Clanton, of American Heritage (Plantation), in second place with rounds of 75-72. 

Archbishop McCarthy overcame a five stroke deficit in round two to be crowned team champions in the Girls 2A. Isabella Bailly, Jennifer Lilly, Natalia Jimenez, Rileigh Baker, and Autumn Bryant came together as a team to post rounds of 321-322 to give Archbishop McCarthy a 643 total. American Heritage (Plantation) finished two strokes back in second place after posting rounds of 320-325—645. Round one leaders, Naples High School, fell to third place at 657 after posting a round two total of 341 following a round one 316. 

FJT Champion, Ainsley Mann, of Bishop Moore Catholic, played consistent golf with rounds of 73-74 giving her the individual win by three strokes with a 147.  Danielle Owens, of Bishop Moore Catholic, and Addison Klonowski, of Naples, tied for second place with a 150 total. Klonowski, who won a FJT 10-12 year division title in 2017, stole the round lead posting an even par score and finished with a 78 to tie for second. 

3A Boys & Girls 

Identical rounds of 291 for a 582 total secured the win for Chiles High School in the Boys 3A finals. The team from Tallahassee included Patrick McCann, who tied for third individually, Parker Bell, Aiden Ash, Trey Buehler, and Jake Springer. Defending team Champions, Winter Park, tied Lake Nona for second place, eight strokes back at a team total of 590. 

Tyler Wilkes, of Gaither, secured first place individually with two impressive rounds of 67 for a 134 total. Back to back State Boys’ Junior Champion in 2017-2018 and the 2018 Junior Player of the Year, Wilkes’ can add this four stroke victory to his resume! Aidan Kramer, of Hagerty who qualified with a score of 70 for the 2019 Florida Open, posted two red numbers of 70-68 to finish second individually at 138. 

Jupiter High School claimed a wire-to-wire first place win in the Girls 3A with rounds of 294-290 for a 584 total. Taylor Oberparleiter, Brooke Oberparleiter, Isabella Galla, Alle Galla, and Karly Falanga made up the winning team. Lake Mary, defending Champions, finished 21 strokes back in second place with consistent rounds of 302-303. 

Jacqueline Putrino, who posted impressive rounds of 70-72-71 to finish tied for fifth at this year’s Florida Women’s Open, claimed first place individually. Putrino, of Riverview (Sarasota), went wire-to-wire to win with rounds of 69-67 for a 136 finish. Florida Junior Tour standout, Madison Hewlett, of East Lake, finished second individually with an impressive final round of 67 for a 139 total. Izzy Pellot, Champion of the inaugural Next 100 Junior Invitational, rounded out the top three individuals with a 141 total. 

Full Results