North Allegheny golfer rallies to keep season alive

By: John Grupp
Saturday, October 18, 2025 | 11:01 AM

North Allegheny senior Kayli Dings entered the final round of the WPIAL golf championships feeling like she had nothing to lose.

And not much to gain.

After a disappointing first round gave her a slim chance to qualify the PIAA championships, Dings lowered her hopes heading into the WPIAL individual final round Oct. 1 at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.

“I just wanted to try my best and see what happened,” said Dings, who needed to make up seven strokes in 18 holes for any chance of returning to states. “I tried to go into it with no expectation of qualifying. I didn’t think I had a shot.”

But she made enough shots to pull into a tie for seventh place — the top seven finishers qualified for states — and then birdied the second playoff hole to secure her invitation to the PIAA Class 3A individual championships Oct. 20-21 at Penn State’s Blue Course.

“To be honest, I went into the round thinking, ‘I’m just going to go have fun. It’s my senior year. You can’t stress about it anymore,’ ” she said. “I just wanted to ride it out and see what was going to happen. I didn’t expect that to happen. I was ecstatic.”

The WPIAL championship is divided into two 18-hole rounds, eight days apart, at two different courses. Dings was tied for 12th after the first round, shooting a 17-over 89 on Sept. 23 at Seven Oaks Country Club. Her forgettable back nine consisted of a triple bogey, a double, six bogeys and only one par.

Dings bogeyed the first two holes of the second round but rallied to finish with a 6-over 78, the third-best score of the day among 36 golfers. She forced a playoff with Upper St. Clair junior Olivia Ziegler for the WPIAL’s final spot at states.

“We were both super-nervous,” Dings said. “We were both pretty much like, ‘Oh my gosh. I wish we could just do rock-paper-scissors right now.’ ”

Both golfers made par on No. 1, but Dings birdied the par-5 second — a hole she had bogeyed earlier in the day — to claim seventh place and return to the state championships for the second year in a row.

“The first two holes (of the second round) were obviously a little shaky, and then she just got on a roll,” North Allegheny coach Sarah Morrison said. “She played some of the best golf I’ve seen her play. I really think it was because she didn’t have anything to lose.”

North Allegheny senior Kirsten Karlovits (19th) and freshman Taylor Rittler (27th) also competed at WPIALs. Rittler was one of only three freshmen in the field.

Dings led North Allegheny to the Section 1-3A title with a 12-0 record and a 14-0 overall mark, the Tigers’ best finish since the 2018 WPIAL championship team. The Tigers placed third at the WPIAL Class 3A team finals Oct. 9 at Cedarbrook with a score of 357. Peters Township, which North Allegheny had beaten, 170-176, in the first week of the season, won its fourth straight title with a 344.

Dings was North Allegheny’s low scorer, shooting 85, followed by Rittler (86). Seniors Karlovits (93), Alessandra Habib (93) and Omisa Shah (99) rounded out the scoring.

“I think we are all a little disappointed with how things finished,” Morrison said. “We didn’t perform as a team the way we knew we could at WPIALs. Everybody kind of had an off day. … But I don’t think that disappointment takes away from how proud I am of how they performed all season.”

Dings placed eighth in the 2024 WPIAL individual finals — missing the state cut by one spot — but qualified for the PIAA championships as an “at-large” selection when another golfer withdrew. Dings ended up tied for 32nd out of 36 golfers at Penn State’s White Course with a 29-over 173.

“I really want to aim for a top 10 spot,” said Dings, whose PIAA rounds were played after the deadline for this edition. “I know that seems a little excessive, but that’s my goal. I just want to go out and be happy with how I did.”

Exclusive club

North Allegheny’s Kayli Dings is the fifth golfer in program history to reach the PIAA individual championships in back-to-back years

Name, PIAA years

Kayli Dings, 2024-25

Katie Rose Rankin, 2021-22

Caroline Wrigley, 2017-18*

Kimberly Scott, 1990-91

Kristen Beilstein, 1986-87

*PIAA champion

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