Quaker Valley golfers cap season at PIAA championships

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, November 3, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Ethan Dai and Nolan Wagoner ended their golf careers at Quaker Valley in fashion.

Both seniors qualified for the PIAA Class 2A individual championships held Oct. 21-22 at the Penn State Blue Course.

For Dai, it was his fourth time golfing in the PIAA tournament. Wagoner was able to experience the state event for the first time.

Dai tied for sixth place with a 1-under par 143.

Dai and Schuylkill Haven sophomore Alan Evans were tied atop the leaderboard after the first round with 4-under scores.

“Ethan was incredible, again,” QV coach Greg Vecchi said. “His putting on the first day was without fear. His drive never changed throughout the two days. Although he wasn’t as consistent as he would liked, he never wavered from being aggressive. That especially showed by his three-birdie finish.”

Dai was a four-year starter and on three section championship teams with the Quakers. He advanced to both the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs four times.

“Golfers like Ethan don’t come around too often,” Vecchi said. “People knew who he was and loved watching his quick but effective style.”

“He had all the shots for each scenario. I was always truly in awe of what he could do.”

Dai tied with Shady Side Academy senior Landon Mauser at Penn State. Mauser shot a 77 in Round 1 and 66 in Round 2.

Wagoner tied for 32nd with two other golfers at the PIAA finals with a 155 (72-83). He was tied for seventh at even-par after the first round.

“Nolan’s performance was terrific,” Vecchi said. “His mindset on the first day was to be aggressive when the time was right. He stayed away from taking big chances which could have ended his tournament early.

“Even par after Day 1 and ending at 11-over are great scores for his first time there, first time seeing that course, dealing with all that was new.”

Wagoner was a three-year starter for the Quakers.

“Nolan had a great career,” Vecchi said. “He was on a couple of section championship teams and earned his way to the state finals with some impressive play. Both seniors will be missed.”

Dai, a WPIAL runner-up in 2023, and Wagoner were the two longest hitters for QV this season. Dai tied for fourth at the PIAA tournament last year.

Dai’s two-round total this year included one eagle, 11 birdies, 14 pars, eight bogeys and one double bogey. Wagoner’s two rounds included seven birdies, 16 pars, nine bogeys, three double bogeys and score higher than a double bogey.

Wagoner will be a third-year starter at first base for the Quaker Valley baseball team in the spring.

“I’m looking forward to the season,” he said.

Another PIAA qualifier from QV was junior Makenna Kamnikar, who carded a 191 (91-100) to finish 33rd overall in the Class 2A girls tournament.

“Makenna knows she didn’t golf as well as she could have during the individual playoffs, but also knows it was a great learning experience,” Vecchi said. “Makenna is a hard worker who doesn’t make excuses and will come back strong next year.”

Kamnikar placed seventh in the WPIAL tournament with a 191 (92-99). The championship round took place at Butler Country Club.

She said qualifying for the PIAA championships was one of her goals for the season.

“My experience at states was fun,” Kamnikar said. “It was my first year qualifying and going to states and I was super excited to go. I’m really grateful for seniors Ethan Dai and Nolan Wagoner for making my experience more enjoyable and taking some of the pressure off.

“The Penn State courses are beautiful and it’s such a unique experience to meet new girls who share the same passion as me. I hope to be back again next year.”

Kamnikar participates in her own unique experience all season long. She’s the only female on the boys varsity team at QV.

“Playing golf on a boys team definitely has some challenges,” she said, “but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I was super happy to be joined on varsity this year by my younger brother Joseph as he made it on the team as a freshman.

“I think its super cool that I’m able to play on the same team as my brother as we constantly push each other to get better.”

Kamnikar has been a member of the QV boys golf program for three years and competes for the girls swim team in the winter months.

“I thought the golf team performed very well this season,” she said. “With only two losses, we were able to make it to WPIAL qualifiers where we won as a team by shooting 395. We then had the opportunity to make it to team WPIAL finals.

“We didn’t perform how we wanted to, but I think we all had fun and were grateful for the experience. Overall, our team worked very hard this season and it paid off.”

QV compiled an 8-3-1 overall record in 2024 and tied for first place with North Catholic in Section 9-2A, both a 8-2.

“Our season had great moments and some underachieving,” Vecchi said. “We didn’t put great team scores together often, but when we did it showed that we could hang with any team in Class 2A.

“Beating Sewickley Academy on their home course in a tiebreaker was tremendous to watch. It meant a lot for the standings. Our golfers were nervous, but steady. I was impressed by how they golfed under that pressure.”

The Quakers started out 3-0 and after a loss to North Catholic went 4-0-1 in the next five matches.

“Beating Eden by one in our first match was a great start to the season,” Vecchi said. “We knew we were lucky to get out of there with a win at their home course.”

Our play in the team semifinals was probably our best performance. Each member golfed really well and had us feeling pretty good going into the finals.

“A disappointing loss was to North Catholic at home to win the section (title) outright. It just wasn’t our day since all of our golfers golfed below their average. Golf is not meant to be easy. I know our golfers really wanted that win, but we just had ‘one of those days’ on the course.”

Wagoner, who also plays baseball at Quaker Valley, advanced to the PIAA championships for the first time.

“I thought we did well as a team having to fight through some struggles toward the end of the season,” he said. “We were able to pull the team together to make it through Pleasant Valley and on to Cedarbrook, which was a good feat for this team. Penn State was great. The course was in good condition. I played well the first day but didn’t have my best stuff the second. Overall, it was a great experience.

“My favorite memories with the team were all the practice rounds and weekends we were able to spend together practicing and getting better.”

Dai and Wagoner tied for fourth and ninth, respectively, at the WPIAL boys finals; Kamnikar zeroed in on seventh place at the WPIAL girls tournament.

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