Knights’ ace, Tigers’ team in the running for titles

Northeast Indiana golfers put themselves in good position after the first day of the golf state finals Tuesday at The Legends in Franklin.

East Noble Knights sophomore Michael Sharp is a stroke back of the individual leader, while Warsaw is four back in the team competition.

Sharp fired a 2-under 70. Evansville Central’s Dylan Meyer leads the field after a 3-under 69.

“I didn’t putt as well as I wanted to, but I was hitting a lot of good shots and I was just waiting for the chances that I had and was able to take advantage of a couple of them,” Sharp said in a phone interview. “I hit a lot of good shots where I didn’t have to make any nerve-racking putts.”

The Tigers are tied for third with a 307 in the team race. Columbus North leads the team competition with a 15-over 303, two-time defending champion Brebeuf is second with a 305.

Defending state medalist Tyler Ostrom led Warsaw with an even-par 72 and is tied for seventh place, three strokes back.

“I am OK with my round, but I am more excited about the team,” Ostrom said. “Individually, three strokes are easy to make up on that course. And team-wise, (four strokes) is easy to make up with four guys. We have the mentality that we want to get it done this year, and we have the talent to do it.”

Warsaw’s Jon Schram had a 73 and is tied for ninth. Also for Warsaw, Bennett Hollar had 80, Tim Ahlersmeyer 82 and Jonny Hollar 86.

“We are hoping we don’t have any of those bigger numbers that we saw (Tuesday),” Warsaw coach Ben Barkey said of today’s final round. “Each person had one bad hole of our top four players.”

Bishop Dwenger is 10th with a 25-over 313 and will advance to the second day. The top nine teams advance to Day 2, unless they are within 12 strokes of the lead.

“We struggled at times,” said Dwenger coach Dave Scudder, whose team is 10 strokes back. “It isn’t a bad score, but we thought it might take better than that (to advance).”

“We were kind of hanging around limbo after finishing up in the afternoon.”

The Saints were led by Spencer Gillig’s 76.

Also for Dwenger, John Hope had a 77 and Drake and Carter Eifert each had an 80 and Jake Leonard 83.