Lackawanna Trail’s Grady June takes a shot from the bunker during a match against Riverside last season. EXAMINER FILE PHOTO
Tunkhannock’s Mason Berkheimer drives off the tee last season against Hazleton Area. EXAMINER FILE PHOTO
Every year golfers have the honor of kicking off the fall sports season, and this year golfers from Elk Lake, Lackawanna Trail and Tunkhannock are more excited to hit the links than ever.
In Tunkhannock, the Tigers have adopted a motto “practice like you play, play like you practice” as they get ready to prepare for the 2025 season.
“In practice, don’t goof around, take it seriously. Talk the way you would in a match. Dress the way you would in the match. Handle your clubs, the same way. Consistency is the key,” Tunkhannock head coach Barbara Sick said. “We want the kids to enjoy the game, but also to take it seriously and use their offseason course time wisely. We know a problem in the past has been inconsistency. The kids have the skill set, but they need a regiment to build consistency.”
The girls golf team made history in 2024 going undefeated and winning the District 2 Class 2A Championship. It then went down to Penn State University where it would take second in the state at the PIAA Class 2A Girls Golf Championships. It must replace its top three players from that team, including two individual state qualifiers.
The girls do have two players returning who were part of that state runner-up team in Madelyn Bevan and Madison Walker. The rest of the roster will be filled out with younger players, but Sick is counting on both Bevan and Walker to be role models for the new golfers on the roster.
On the boys side, Mason Berkheimer is poised to take the No. 1 position for the Tigers. He had some good moments last season, and golfed in the No. 2 spot a lot in 2024. Ben Landon, Aidan Mislevy, Hunter Gilroy and Loeden Stevens all saw action in varsity matches last season. Sick says she has seen them all mature as golfers and is hoping for them to take some big steps in their games this season. Freshman Chad Corby and Blayne Rossa are also showing a lot of potential as they join the varsity level.
Lackawanna Trail is coming off a year where they were one of the best teams in the Lackawanna League. After losing only 2 matches in the regular season, the Lions suffered a heartbreaking loss to Riverside in the Lackawanna League Class 2A semifinals where they lost on a tiebreaker.
This season, the Lions have 17 golfers on the roster, but a number of kids that are playing the sport competitively for the first time. However along with the new kids, there is some experience returning.
“While we won’t be as deep through our lineup as we have been the past few years, we do have kids that want to improve,” Lackawanna Trail head coach Joel Nietz said. “I expect that we will be competitive in our division.”
The Lions return Grady June and William Evans who both qualified for the District 2 Class 2A Championships last season. June carded an 82 at Districts last season finishing only a couple of shots away from the state tournament. Evans shot a 99 at districts. Lucas Wescott also has varsity lineup experience for Lackawanna Trail.
Some new kids will be counted on to step into the starting lineup. Ethan Gorton and Bobby Jones have been impressing during summer play, and on the girls side Payton Laytos has been showing a lot of promise in her first year on the roster.
The Lions are expected to contend in their division along with Riverside. The two teams played two classic matches last year with the Lions and Vikings splitting.
At Elk Lake last season was a rebuilding year, but this year the Warriors returned a couple of players who started in matches last season, and spent a good majority of the summer out on the course.
On the boys side, Cooper Sipe, Hayden Lord and Ethan Johnson were all in the varsity lineup for the first time in 2024, and with a year of experience under their belt are trying to take that next step and qualify for the District 2 tournament. Parker Stone, Stephen Newhart, Camden Ruark and Colby Ruark will compete for time in the lineup as well.
“We are looking to continue to improve on our record from last year and be competitive during these matches. We would like to see quite a few of our kids qualify for pre-districts,” Elk Lake head coach Ryan Kipar said. “Our numbers look really good. There will be lots of competition for starting varsity positions throughout the year.”
For the Lady Warriors, Taylor States, Raegan Sample and Piper Keeney are all returning starters who golfed in district tournament action in 2024. Nami Patton and Hannah LaRue are joining the team this season to give the Lady Warriors even more depth in matches.
Elk Lake has been spending the majority of the summer preparing for the season. Quite a few of the kids joined a junior golf league at Tall Pines, and some others played in a couple high school tournaments at Scotts Greens to get a feel for tournament action.
Elk Lake Warriors
Head Coach: Ryan Kipar
League: Lackawanna League, District 2 Class 2A
Home Course: Tall Pines Golf Club
2024 Record: Boys: 2-13; Girls: 3-8
Roster: Boys: Seniors: Hayden Lord, Camden Ruark. Juniors: Ethan Johnson, Cooper Sipe. Sophomores: Tyler Campbell, Colby Ruark. Freshmen: Stephen Newhart, Parker Stone, Gabe Wulff. Girls: Seniors: Taylor States. Juniors: Hallie Brooks, Lily Franklin, Nadia Kuchak, Raegan Sample. Sophomores: Marlo Caines, Piper Keeney. Freshmen: Hannah LaRue, Nami Patton.
Schedule: Boys: Aug. 14 at Dunmore, 4 p.m.; Aug. 15 vs. Lakeland, 2:30 p.m.; Aug. 19 vs. Mountain View, 2:30 p.m.; Aug. 21 vs. Scranton, 2:30 p.m.; Aug. 27 vs. Forest City, 4 p.m.; Aug. 28 at Riverside, 4 p.m.; Sept. 2 vs. West Scranton, 4 p.m.; Sept. 4 at Holy Cross, 4 p.m.; Sept. 9 at Mid Valley, 4 p.m.; Sept. 11 vs. Old Forge, 3 p.m.; Sept. 16 at Blue Ridge, 4 p.m.; Sept. 18 vs. Montrose, 4 p.m. Girls: Aug. 26 vs. Abington Heights, 4 p.m.; Sept. 2 at Abington Heights, 4:30 p.m.; Sept. 3 at North Pocono, 4:30 p.m.; Sept. 4 vs. Hazleton Area, 4 p.m.; Sept. 9 at Hazleton Area, 4 p.m.; Sept. 11 vs. Old Forge, 4 p.m.
Lackawanna Trail Lions
Head Coach: Joel Nietz
League: Lackawanna League, District 2 Class 2A
Home Course: Scranton Canoe Club
2024 Record: 15-3
Roster: Boys: Seniors: Ethan Gorton, Robert Jones, Grady June, Ben Shaw, Lucas Wescott. Juniors: Isaac Beckish, William Evans, Joshua Fowler, Jimmy Phillips, Ashton Thiel. Sophomores: Hayden Bluhm, Rylee Laubach. Freshmen: Jacob Truitt. Girls: Juniors: Kacie Antolick, Payton Laytos. Freshmen: Lauren Dewey, Mac Filipek, Brynn Kelley.
Schedule: Aug. 14 vs. Mid Valley, TBA; Aug. 15 at Riverside, TBA; Aug. 19 vs. Carbondale Area, TBA; Aug. 21 at Lakeland, TBA; Aug. 25 at Blue Ridge, TBA; Aug. 27 at Old Forge, TBA; Aug. 28 vs. Mountain View, 4 p.m.; Sept. 2 vs. Forest City, 4 p.m.; Sept. 4 at Dunmore, 4 p.m.; Sept. 9 at Montrose, 4 p.m.; Sept. 10 vs. Honesdale, TBA; Sept. 11 vs. Holy Cross, 4 p.m.; Sept. 16 vs. Western Wayne, 4 p.m.; Sept. 18 at West Scranton, 4 p.m.
Tunkhannock Area Tigers
Head Coach: Barbara Sick
League: Wyoming Valley Conference, District 2 Class 2A
Home Course: Shadowbrook Golf Course
2024 Record: Boys: 7-10; Girls: 14-0 (District 2 Class 2A Champions, PIAA Class 2A Runner-Up)
Roster: Boys: Juniors: Mason Berkheimer, Hunter Gilroy, Ben Landon, Aidan Mislevy, Loeden Stevens. Sophomores: Matthew Terbush. Freshmen: Chad Corby, Maximillian Deibert, Jaxson Kerr, Blayne Roosa, Tristan Tague. Girls: Juniors: Madelyn Bevan. Sophomores: Madison Walker. Freshmen: Kaitlyn Keown.
Schedule: Boys: Aug. 14 at Lake-Lehman, TBA; Aug. 15 vs. MMI Prep, TBA; Aug. 19 at Dallas, 3:30 p.m.; Aug. 22 vs. Berwick, 3:30 p.m.; Aug. 25 at Wyoming Seminary, 3:30 p.m.; Aug. 27 vs. Hazleton Area, 3 p.m.; Aug. 29 vs. Wyoming Area, 3:30 p.m.; Sept. 3 at Hanover Area, 4 p.m.; Sept. 5 at Honesdale, 3 p.m.; Sept. 8 at Wilkes-Barre Area, 3 p.m.; Sept. 10 vs. Holy Redeemer, 3:30 p.m.; Sept. 12 at Wyoming Valley West, 3:30 p.m.; Sept. 17 vs. Honesdale, 4 p.m. Girls: Aug. 14 at Hazleton Area, 9:30 a.m.; Aug. 27 vs. Hazleton Area, 4 p.m.; Aug. 28 vs. North Pocono, 3:30 p.m.; Sept. 5 at Honesdale, 3:45 p.m.; Sept. 11 vs. Abington Heights & Blue Ridge 4 p.m.; Sept. 17 vs. Honesdale, 3:30 p.m.; Sept. 18 at Abington Heights, 4:30 p.m.; Sept. 19 at Blue Ridge, 4 p.m.
