It was by a slimmer margin than in 2024, but the Washington-Liberty Generals recently won the three-team Arlington County high-school golf championship for the second straight year.
The Generals finished first with a 9-hole score of 143 on the East Potomac Park Golf Links course in D.C. The Yorktown Patriots were second with 146 and the Wakefield Warriors third at 149.
A year ago, Washington-Liberty won by eight shots over Yorktown, with Wakefield 10 strokes back.
In the 2025 match, the Generals were led by a pair of 35s from juniors Colin Hanley and Emmett Spence. They tied for the lowest individual scores of the match.
Senior Finn Watson, the team’s No. 1 player, shot 36, with senior Bennett Schadrack carding a 37.
“I didn’t play my best, but it was a close match and overall our team played well,” Watson told ARLnow. “We wanted to win this again.”
Also for the Generals, junior Dominic Tamburro shot 40, and freshman Ethan Shinn turned in a 45 in his first high-school tournament.
Watson leads a W-L team that is expecting another strong season. The Generals won the Liberty District tournament last fall and advanced to region and state tournaments, finishing second in the region.
Watson, who will play college golf at James Madison University, won this summer’s club championship at Army Navy Country Club. He also played in local qualifying, hoping to earn a berth in the U.S. Open, but came up short of advancing to the final round of qualifying.
Last season for W-L, Watson was the district’s individual champion, finished second in the region and placed in the top 10 at the state tourney. He has finished second in the region the last three years.
Leading Yorktown at the county match was junior Grey Luongo with a 36. Seniors Ryan Pericak and Hugh Channer shot 37, sophomore Ben Niehaus 39, sophomore Ethan Newfield 40 and senior Peter Fliakas 46.
Yorktown was the 2023 champion, and has won more county titles than any team.
For Wakefield, the 2018 and 2022 champion, senior Ari Liebman was the low scorer with a 36 at the 2025 county match. Sophomore Philip Verghese and junior Miles Maravilla each shot 37.
A 39 was recorded by sophomore Eliana Procida, senior Wyatt Thomas shot 40 and senior Samantha Phipps 46.
“It was the first time we had our whole team together for any competition this season, and we played OK,” Wakefield coach Dave Knorr said. “We made a strong run at the championship.”
