Coventry, Manchester, STVM, Springfield golfers set to compete in state tournament

The Division II state golf tournaments are this weekend and the Greater Akron area will be represented on the girls and boys sides.

The Manchester boys are set to make their first state appearance as a team and the St. Vincent-St. Mary girls are returning to the state tournament as a team for the second year in a row.

The Division II boys state tournament is at NorthStar Golf Club in Sunbury.

The Division II girls state tournament is at The Ohio State University Gray Course in Columbus.

Golfers start teeing off at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Here are five other things to know about the Division II state tournament:

Manchester makes inaugural trip to boys golf state tournament

Manchester advanced to the boys state tournament by finishing third in a district tournament at Windmill Lakes Golf Club in Ravenna. The Panthers shot 327 to finish behind Youngstown Ursuline (309) and Chagrin Falls (316).

Senior Brady Johnson tied for 15th at the district tournament with a 79. Manchester's other state qualifiers are seniors Evan Hausch and Logan Carr, junior Zach Smith and sophomore Drew Mothersbaugh (PAC-7 Player of the Year).

Mike Ankrom and Shawn Zavodney are Manchester's co-head coaches and guided the Panthers to PAC-7 titles in 2022 and 2023.

"Collectively, these guys are all consistent golfers," Ankrom said. "If one guy goes down during a round, there is always somebody else there to pick them up. They can count on each other.

"We have six guys, obviously only five got to qualify to go to the state tournament, but all six golfers played together during the summer non-stop all the time. We are fortunate to play at Spring Hills [Golf Club in Clinton], and Spring Hills gives these kids the luxury of playing year-round for free. They took advantage of that. You have to give these guys the full credit."

The sixth golfer Ankrom is referring to is junior Eric Ouimet.

Manchester shot a 332 to place second to Smithville (317) in a sectional tournament with at The Elms Country Club in North Lawrence. Johnson carded an 81 to tie for 10th and Hausch posted an 82 to tie for 12th. The Smithies did not advance to the state tournament.

"These guys have earned this," Zavodney said. "The seniors have been working for four years. Last year, they won the PAC. They didn't lose a match in the PAC and they got out of the sectional, but didn't get out of the district. That last match at district last year, they told Mike and I both, 'We want to go to state.' Mike and I both said, 'If you want to go to state, you are going to have to go to work.' And they did. They played all summer. ... The staffs at Spring Hills and Chippewa [Golf Club in Doylestown] have been great. They have opened their doors to our golfers."

Coventry senior Ryan Dinan returns to boys golf state tournament

Coventry senior Ryan Dinan advanced to the boys state tournament for the second year in a row by finishing second in a district tournament at Windmill Lakes with a 74. He also tied for second in a sectional at The Elms with a 75.

"Ryan has been playing real consistent and is having a good year," said David Dinan, Coventry's coach and Ryan's father. "He is looking forward to this. He has been driving the ball well and chipping and putting well."

Ryan Dinan, a Cleveland State University recruit, placed first in Manchester's Griffith Cup at Spring Hills with a 65 and in Ravenna's Yank Heisler Invitational at Windmill Lakes with a 69.

"Most of our matches are nine holes," David Dinan said. "We play at Turkeyfoot [Lake Golf Links in Akron] a lot. He set the school record for nine holes when he shot 31 at Turkeyfoot. He shot 6 under par on the front nine. His nine-hole average is 35.5, which is 1.5 under par."

David Dinan played golf at the University of Akron after helping Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans make Class A state tournament appearances in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988. He played on Rosecrans' state title teams in 1986 and 1988.

Springfield senior golfer Brady Hahn 'is a very clutch player'

Springfield senior Brady Hahn earned a spot in the boys state tournament by winning playoffs the past two weeks. He carded a 76 in the district tournament at Windmill Lakes to tie for fifth and a 76 to tie for fourth in the sectional tournament at The Elms.

"Brady is a very clutch player," Springfield coach Jack Morgan said. "In all actuality, his senior year didn't go the way he wanted it to. He wasn't playing well at the beginning of the year. He really grinded through everything and then he finally started to relax and not worry about things and he has taken off.

"The reason why I was saying he is a clutch player is because this is the third time he has had to go into a playoff to advance in a postseason tournament. Last year, in the sectional Brady and Ryan Dinan from Coventry both qualified for the district tournament, but they had to do a playoff for positioning and Brady won the playoff then.

"This year, Brady has had to compete in a playoff two times in a row with pressure to get the third spot each time and advance. In the sectional, it was a four-man playoff for one spot and he won that on the fourth playoff hole and then this past week in the district, it was a three-man playoff and he won that on the second hole. He has been really getting after it. He wants to win and he knows how to win."

Hahn has shot even par several times at Chenoweth Golf Course in Akron.

Raygan Hoover leads St. Vincent-St. Mary girls golf back to Columbus

St. Vincent-St. Mary shot 348 to finish second to Independence (344) in a district tournament at Good Park Golf Course in Akron last week after winning a sectional title at Pine Golf Club in Orrville with a 366 the previous week.

STVM senior Raygan Hoover finished tied for sixth at the district tournament with an 82 and was third at the sectional tournament with an 87. The other state qualifiers for the Irish are seniors Reese Latta and Mia Ross and sophomores Caitrin Coyle and Rylee Hoover.

"We started off really strong this season," STVM coach Dirk Hartman said. "We won three of our first five tournaments. We graduated one senior from last season, Lola Reynolds. ... We only lost two matches, one was to Hudson who qualified for the Division I state tournament and one was to Green, another solid Division I team."

The three tournaments STVM won early in the season were the Lady Irish Invitational at Mud Run Golf Course in Akron, the Kent Roosevelt Lady Rough Rider Tournament at the Fairways at Twin Lakes in Kent and the Springfield Invitational at Chenoweth Golf Course in Akron.

"Caitrin finished first and Raygan finished second in the Springfield Invitational," Hartman said. "We also finished fifth at the Flamingo Frenzy, which had teams like Magnificat, Hudson and Highland. My girls were the highest Division II team in that tournament."

Orrville senior Abby Ankenman is on a roll to state tournament

Orrville senior Abby Ankenman is headed to the girls state tournament after winning medalist honors the past two weeks with coach Chuck Davis.

Ankenman shot 73 and won a playoff at the district tournament at Good Park and carded an 80 to win a sectional title at The Pines.

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Coventry, Manchester, STVM, Springfield golfers in state tournament