The Streetsboro Rockets boys’ golf team has put themselves in a position to make school history. The Rockets took revenge on Metro Athletic Conference rival Norton, winning a nine-hole duel 182-197 to assume control in the conference last Thursday afternoon at the Boulder Creek Golf Club & Event Center in Streetsboro.
“It was huge for us because we are now in the driver’s seat,” said Coach Bruce Thomas. “We have two more matches left and if we can get them and then go into the tournament winning the regular season league and, we can take our chances in the tournament but that was a big league win for us.”
If Streetsboro (11-6, 11-1) wins its final two MAC matches of the regular season, it will finish with the best league record heading into the MAC Tournament. If the Rockets clinch the MAC Tournament title on Thursday at the Racoon Hill Golf Club in Kent, it will have won its first golf league title in school history.
“It is huge because we have been building to this for the last few years,” noted the 22-year coach. “We have had teams that have been pretty good that were not able to win one and this year’s team, we have some very good underclassmen, and we have some junior varsity players that are going to be very good so I think we are going to be as good if not better next year.”
In Last Thursday’s match, the Rockets were paced by their top four scorers in sophomore Dom Marcini, who carded a 43, followed by senior Brett Epple who shot a 44, senior Zach Schramm who recorded a 46 and junior Evan Reger who carded a 49.
The last time Streetsboro faced the Panthers was at the beginning of the regular season at Norton’s home golf course and the Rockets were edged by four strokes. Thomas acknowledged that losing the match by only four strokes ate away at his team, but he reminded them of the bigger picture.
“They beat us that day, but we had a chance to play them again and our kids stepped up to the challenge and played well,” he added.
Since that match, the Rockets have been undefeated in MAC play including being undefeated in league play at Boulder Creek and they continued to maintain their home course advantage with a convincing victory.
“Boulder Creek is where we play our home matches and Boulder is such a harder course than their course,” said Thomas. “When you come to a course like ours, it is such a difficult course and is one of the nicest courses in Northeast Ohio. If you have not played Boulder, then you are not used to it, and it becomes a difficult course.”
Epple set the tone as the Rockets’ number one golfer by staging a comeback victory against his opponent, senior Matt Fowler, in the final two holes. Thomas said that Epple trailed after seven holes but rallied to edge Fowler by one stroke, 44-45.
In addition to Epple’s comeback victory, Marcini was Streetsboro’s leading scorer and finished with the second-lowest score between both teams.
“Dom has been up and down this year but lately he has been playing a lot better,” Thomas said. “Dom put a lot of time in during the summer and has been playing a lot of golf and he is someone who we expect to play well. He is only a sophomore, and he has had his ups and his downs but lately he has been playing really well and we hope that it continues.”
Thomas added that the Streetsboro boys’ golf team’s resurgence was not only evidenced in their conference play thus far but also against non-conference opponents, who were all Division I programs. Although the Rockets did not win any of their non-conference matches, they fell by 10 strokes or less in four of the five.
Thomas also credited the Rockets’ success to their blend of upperclassmen and underclassmen.
“I would say that the underclassmen are the ones who are playing well most of the year which is good for the future, but I think we would not be where we are without the senior leadership,” he said.
Following the MAC tournament, Streetsboro will compete in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II sectional tournament beginning on Sep. 23 at 8:30 a.m. at the Windmill Lakes Golf Club in Ravenna.
