Penn-Trafford boys golf looks to contend for section title
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Thursday, September 10, 2020 | 10:13 PM
Penn-Trafford senior Alex Turowski hits a drive on No. 4 at Latrobe Country Club on Sept. 8, 2020.
Penn-Trafford’s Alex Turowski sinks a birdie putt on No. 5 at Latrobe Country Club on Sept. 8, 2020.
Penn-Trafford senior Josh Kapcin hits a shot on No. 3 at Latrobe Country Club on Sept. 8, 2020.
Penn-Trafford senior Antonio Damico gets ready to hit a shot on No. 3 at Latrobe Country Club on Sept. 8, 2020.
At the midpoint of WPIAL golf season, the Penn-Trafford boys team was in the thick of the Section 1-AAA race after defeating Latrobe and Indiana.
After losing to Norwin in a first-place showdown Sept. 10 to fall to 4-2, the Warriors were just behind the Knights (5-1) and Indiana (4-1).
Penn-Trafford earned an impressive 187-213 victory at previously unbeaten Indiana. Freshman Nick Turowski shot a 2-under 34 and senior Alex Turowski fired a 1-under 35 to pace the Warriors.
Penn-Trafford coach Andrew Rizzardi said it was a big week for the team after defeating Latrobe last Tuesday. An early season loss to Armstrong had the Warriors looking up in the standings.
“So far we’ve done all right,” Rizzardi said. “We struggled at Armstrong, we shot a good score but they were just better that day.
“We played well at Greensburg Country Club, a tough course, and beat Hempfield. Norwin is loaded with seniors, so that was a tough one.”
The Warriors are led by the Turowski brothers. They’ve been consistently the low scorers for the team.
Senior Josh Kapcin has been a strong third player, and senior Patrick Driscoll has been a consistent fourth player.
“Josh is been shooting solid golf,” Rizzardi said. “Very talented kid, a good athlete; you can see it comes natural to him. Patrick doesn’t get the low scores, but stays away from the big scores for us.”
The key to any team’s success is to find a consistent fifth and sixth player.
Rizzardi said he has different options with Antonio Damico as the fifth player and others competing for the sixth spot.
Battling for the final spot are juniors Chase Crissman and Michael Vislosky, who have played there so far, as well as Alex Rugh.
“It’s an individual sport, but at the same time it takes a low score to win as a team,” Rizzardi said. “We need all six guys for the team to be successful.
“We need them to be consistent. We want them to stay away from the big numbers.”
As for the individual tournaments, Rizzardi said the Turowskis and Kapcin will be in the running. Alex Turowski made it to the state finals after placing second in the WPIAL last season.
“Alex and Nick have been playing in a lot of tournaments, so they know the pressures,” Rizzardi said. “Kapcin reached the WPIAL finals in 2019 in his first season. It was eye opening for him. I expect all three to do well.”
Section qualifiers will be held Sept. 20-22, and the WPIAL semifinals are set for Sept. 28 or 29. The Class AAA championships will be Oct. 6, at Nemacolin Country Club.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: Penn-Trafford
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