McGuffey’s Logan Crowe holds off tight field to capture WPIAL Class 2A golf championship

By: Ted Sarneso
Wednesday, October 2, 2024 | 5:45 PM

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On a day when dark skies finally gave way to sun, McGuffey senior Logan Crowe remained focused on his play and expanded on his one-stroke lead to win the WPIAL Class 2A golf championship Wednesday at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.

“It feels amazing to be a champion,” said Crowe. “I had the confidence I was going to win. Now that it’s all said and done, it’s pretty surreal. It’s my last year, so I’m just trying to take it all in and enjoy it.”

The leader all day, Crowe shot a 3-over-par 75 and finished the two-round tournament, which began at Youghiogheny Golf Club on Sept. 23, with a 4-over-par 148.

Crowe’s playing partners, seniors Ethan Dai of Quaker Valley and Landon Mauser from Shady Side Academy, both came into the final round a shot back.

Both pressed Crowe hard from the start but started to fade down the stretch.

“When Ethan hit a couple bogeys on the back, I knew I had some room to work with,” said Crowe. “Landon took me all the way. On the par-5 17th, I knew I had two shots to work with. But Landon went long and made the putt, which put added pressure on me.”

Crowe bogeyed the par-4 first but quickly rallied with birdies on both the par-5 second and par-4 third.

“My driver was good,” said Crowe. “Today I came out and hit the first ball well. I just pulled it left. But my tee shots were pretty good. The par-3s I really struggled with. I think I bogeyed all of them. So, they weren’t my strong suit by far.”

Crowe was being a little hard on himself. He actually bogeyed three of the four par-3s.

Coming into the final hole, Crowe remained focused and had no intentions of looking at the leaderboard.

“I heard one kid was 3-under par and I was pretty impressed with that,” Crowe said. “I didn’t look at the scorecard because nothing good can come from it.”

On a dogleg right at 18, Crowe once again struck a solid tee shot and drove to within 110 yards of the pin. Unfortunately, he found himself in a bunker.

“I played a fade off the tee and thought it would fade a little more.” said Crowe. “At that time, I thought I had only one shot to work with, but the spotter let me know I had two and that eased up the pressure.”

Crowe drilled a clean shot out of the bunker, landing within 15 feet of the hole. He two-putted for par and claimed the championship.

Crowe became the first golfer from McGuffey to win a WPIAL individual championship. Former Highlander Jesse Vensel finished second in 2012

“I’m still in disbelief,” Crowe said. “There was a lot of good competition and a lot of good golfers out here. I’m very happy to win.”

Crowe finished two shots ahead of Aaron Didjunas, a sophomore from Elizabeth Forward, and senior Severin Harmon of Sewickley Academy. Both shot a 6-over 150 over two rounds.

On his home course, Harmon felt he played well enough to win but knows that’s not always enough.

“Logan played amazing today and sometimes you just have that,” said Harmon. “I’m very happy with tying for second. Last year, I was able to squeak into the top 10 and I knew that I wanted to give it a good run this year.”

Harmon shot an even-72 on the day.

Didjunas was very pleased with how he played. He was just disappointed with some of the shots he left out on the course.

Didjunas started the round strong, parring the first hole, eagling the second and making birdie on the third. He closed out the front nine with four straight bogeys. He finished with a 1-over par 73.

“I had a couple of putts I wish I could get back today, but overall, I’m happy with how the round turned out,” said Didjunas. “Would have been nicer to see some of those putts fall, but it worked out in the end.”

Didjunas was even par on the back nine, making bogey on the 12th and birdie on the 13th.

A year after he finished second in the event, Dai tied for fourth place with junior Jonah Schollaert, who shot a 1-over 73. Both finished the two-round finals at 7-over 151.

Rounding out the top eight were Shady Side Academy senior Landon Mauser, South Allegheny senior Josh Nesky and Laurel junior Eli Bintrim. Neshannock sophomore Rocco Bautti and Quaker Valley senior Nolan Wagoner tied for ninth.

The top 18 finishers qualified for the PIAA championships at Penn State on October 21.

The final spot came down to a playoff between Ben Kandravy of North Catholic and Luke Sikora of Greensburg Salem on the 18th hole.

“I looked at the live scoring and saw I had a chance,” said Kandravy. “I started preparing on the putting green, then took five minutes of range time as well. I had everything planned out before I teed off.”

On the par-4 hole, both golfers made par, so they played a second playoff hole, again using the 18th.

On the second attempt, Sikora drove his driver long, ending up in the rough near the parking lot. It didn’t matter as he struck his second shot well enough to get through a tree and land on the green.

Kandravy’s second shot ended up on the green and he two-putted for par. Sikora drove his second putt long and took a bogey, giving Kandravy the hole and the final spot at states.

“It was scary. The heart was pounding,” said Kandravy. “I wasn’t thinking about anything but the next shot.”

The other golfers to qualify were Beaver County Christian senior Tyler Guevara, Sewickley Academy senior Karan Kad, Shady Side Academy sophomore Alex Avi, Greensburg Central Catholic senior Breaden Riley, Ellwood City junior Jordan Keller, Seton LaSalle senior John Dolan and Charleroi freshman Levi Large.

Tags: Beaver County Christian, Charleroi, Elizabeth Forward, Ellwood City, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Laurel, McGuffey, Neshannock, North Catholic, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Quaker Valley, Seton La Salle, Sewickley Academy, Shady Side Academy, South Allegheny