BEAVERCREEK — Fort Loramie finished second in the Division III district tournament on Thursday at Beavercreek Golf Club to earn the program’s first state berth.
The top three teams earned state berths, as did the top three individual golfers not on a qualifying team. Fort Loramie finished second with 344, one stroke behind first-place Newton.
Botkins finished fifth with 367 while Jackson Center was sixth with 371 and Lehman Catholic was 12th with 415. No individuals from those squads qualified, and neither did Russia’s Drew Sherman, who competed individually.
Caeleb Meyer led Fort Loramie with 83 and tied for ninth place individually.
“He played as our five man, but put a great round together,” Fort Loramie coach Brad Turner said of Meyer. “He was the first golfer out for us and when the other guys heard how well he was doing, it no doubt gave them all confidence that they could play the course.”
Zach Pleiman and Mitchell Puthoff each shot 84 and Eli Rosengarten shot 93.
“I’m incredibly happy for the guys,” Fort Loramie coach Brad Turner said. “We knew we had an opportunity this season to do something special because of the competition in the southwest district and because three teams were going to move on (instead of two like it has been up until this season). Having the opportunity is one thing, but playing well enough to take advantage of it is another.”
The Redskins will play in the state tournament next weekend at North Star Golf Course in Sunbury.
Nick Fischio, the two-time reigning Shelby County Athletic League player of the year, led Botkins with 82. Isaac Cisco shot 92, Jameson Meyer shot 96 and Alex Bajwa shot 97.
Christopher Elchert led Jackson Center with 89. T.J. Esser shot 94, Trent Platfoot shot 96 and Jordan Rizzo shot 97.
Cole Gilardi led Lehman with 85. Mikey Rossman shot 94 and both Brandyn Sever and Alex Keller shot 118.
Sherman shot an 89.