Gavin Cohen and Catalina Foothills head coach Julie Walters celebrate after Cohen clinched an individual and team title (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)
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Catalina Foothills came from five strokes back to defeat Salpointe and Arcadia 597 to 598 to capture the Division II state championship held at Randolph North in Tucson. It was one of the tightest championships in state history with only five strokes separating the top five teams.
The Salpointe boys led the Falcons 295-300 after the first round on Monday but the lead slowly slipped away on the back nine on Tuesday. The logjam was partially caused by the collective groupings of the top five teams, resulting in multiple head-to-head battles between some of the best golfers in the state.
The top-ranked golfer in the state, Salpointe senior Trevor Werbylo, was in a three-way tie for first place after the first round with Ben Lorenz of Sunrise Mountain and Chaz Aurilia of Arcadia. The three shot a 2-under 70 but Catalina Foothills senior Gavin Cohen played steady both days and carded back-to-back rounds of 71 to finish 2-under in the tournament for the two-stroke win.
Werbylo shot a 4-over 76 on Tuesday to finish in ninth place, Lorenz recorded a 2-over 74 to finish in a five-way tie for second as did Aurilia. Seton Catholic standout Matt Schwab, Canyon del Oro senior Jonathan Walters and Salpointe standout Eric Duarte made the biggest moves on Tuesday to finish in that tie for second place. Both Aurilia and Duarte held a one-stroke lead at one point in the second round.
Cohen finished in tenth place last year and third place the year before. He became only the second Falcon to win an individual title with Bill Flower winning the first one in 2009.
“I took a break before the season started and I started to see some scores I’ve never posted in high school before,” Cohen said on his slow start but huge finish.
“Then I put in about three solid weeks in the middle of the season and I could see my low scores coming back.”
2009, coincidentally, was also the first time the program won a state championship. Longtime head coach Julie Walters has led the program to a top-three finish in nine of the last 12 seasons dating back to 2005. Simply, this is a power program.
“All of my teams have personalities and this one is definitely different,” Walters said. “Last year set the stage for this and they embraced the process. They focused and made a run for it. We started the day behind but they went out did what we talked about like playing steady and making the most of the putting opportunities.”
Cohen and Werbylo are both University of Arizona recruits and Walters saw Cohen’s official visit to the Arizona last weekend key to his performance this week.
“I think he saw there was a next level and he really sensed what he had to do,” Walters added. “The visit was perfect timing.”
Cohen spent most of the final round concentrating on his teammates. “I’m happy for the guys,” he added. “I didn’t want to know how I was doing, only what I needed to do for them.”
NOTE: Seton Catholic’s Alejandro de Zavala (7th) and Thunderbird’s Hayden Sayre (9th) have also committed to play for Arizona.
Catalina Foothills (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)
D-II GIRLS RESULTS HERE
TEAM RESULTS
1 Catalina Foothills +21 300 297 597
2 Salpointe Catholic +22 295 303 598
2 Arcadia +22 303 295 598
4 Canyon Del Oro +23 300 299 599
5 Notre Dame Prep +26 305 297 602
6 Williams Field +32 301 307 608
7 Seton Catholic Preparatory +34 305 305 610
8 Cactus Shadows +35 306 305 611
9 Sunrise Mountain +55 311 320 631
10 Ironwood Ridge +71 319 328 647
11 Gila Ridge +81 327 330 657
12 Mesquite +84 333 327 660
13 Walden Grove +115 352 339 691
14 Mingus Union +127 346 357 703
15 Saint Mary’s Catholic +147 365 358 723
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1 CFHS Gavin Cohen -2 F -1 71 71 142
2 SETN Matt Schwab E F E 72 72 144
2 CDO Jonathan Walters E F -1 73 71 144
2 SRMT Ben Lorenz E F +2 70 74 144
2 ARCA Chaz Aurilia E F +2 70 74 144
2 SALP Eric Duarte E F E 72 72 144
7 SRMT Blake Lorenz +1 F +2 71 74 145
7 SETN Alejandro de Zavala +1 F +1 72 73 145
9 WFHS Logan Eatherton +2 F +1 73 73 146
9 TBRD Hayden Sayre +2 F +3 71 75 146
9 SALP Trevor Werbylo +2 F +4 70 76 146
12 CFHS Jake Goode +3 F E 75 72 147
12 MESQ Wade Klein +3 F E 75 72 147
12 DEHS Aaron Ramos +3 F +1 74 73 147
15 CDO Jack Picton +4 F +1 75 73 148
15 IRHS Nate Benjamin +4 F E 76 72 148
15 NDPH JJ Gresco +4 F E 76 72 148
15 CSHS Jake Benanti +4 F +3 73 75 148
19 NDPH Dominic Wade +5 F +3 74 75 149
19 TBRD Cam Sandland +5 F +5 72 77 149
21 WFHS Kohl Kuebler +6 F +4 74 76 150
21 ARCA Tucker Clark +6 F +5 73 77 150
22 RSK Patrick Fernandez +7 F +3 76 75 151
24 ARCA Jaxx Davies +8 F E 80 72 152
24 ARCA Bobby Peirce +8 F E 81 72 152
24 NDPH Jonathan Curran +8 F +4 76 76 152
24 VERR White Brennan +8 F +6 74 78 152
24 CDO Trevor Gregoire +8 F +6 74 78 152
29 SABI Alex Gray +9 F +1 80 73 153
29 CFHS Reece Nilsen +9 F +2 79 74 153
29 NDPH Mason Quagliata +9 F +2 79 74 153
29 CSHS Jack Homer +9 F +4 77 76 153
29 SHMH Davis Campbell +9 F +6 75 78 153
34 WGHS Sam Salisbury +10 F +2 80 74 154
34 ANTP Kyle Connolly +10 F +3 79 75 154
34 CSHS Robert Sirota +10 F +5 77 77 154
34 GILA Josh Rouse +10 F +5 77 77 154
34 SALP Nick Hernandez +10 F +5 77 77 154
34 MCLN Damien Douglas +10 F +9 73 81 154
40 CDO Jack Call +11 F +5 78 77 155
40 VERR Keaton Henscheid +11 F +7 76 79 155
40 SRTA Ryan Smith +11 F +6 77 78 155
40 CFHS Adam Mamula +11 F +8 75 80 155
44 CSHS Peyton Richardson +12 F +5 79 77 156
44 SAGU Will Koepke +12 F +5 79 77 156
44 SALP Joseph Kennedy +12 F +8 76 80 156
47 RR Justin Fischer +13 F +5 80 77 157
47 WFHS Dylan Middlemiss +13 F +12 73 84 157
49 SALP Carlos Leon +14 F +6 80 78 158
50 CFHS Ty Goode +16 F +9 79 81 160
50 MV-M Kyle Stachel +16 F +9 79 81 160
50 SHMH Joe DiGiacomo +16 F +11 77 83 160
53 MUHS Keagan Lamb +17 F +6 83 78 161
54 SETN Patrick Coghlin +18 F +7 83 79 162
54 WFHS Payne Moses +18 F +9 81 81 162
54 AJHS Kyle Gering +18 F +11 79 83 162
54 SAGU Jack Harmon +18 F +11 79 83 162
58 GILA Ethan Upayokin +19 F +8 83 80 163
58 IRHS Connor Wierman +19 F +16 75 88 163
58 SETN Ben Yehle +19 F +13 78 85 163
61 CHOL Michael Tellez +20 F +6 86 78 164
61 CSHS Austin Gillund +20 F +11 81 83 164
61 GILA David Ramirez +20 F +11 81 83 164
61 IRHS Kamden Kautz +20 F +13 79 85 164
65 MESQ Dakota Morrison +22 F +12 82 84 166
65 SETN Carson Lee +22 F +9 85 81 166
67 SABI Chaisen Alloway +23 F +11 84 83 167
68 ARCA Jack Breidenback +25 F +13 84 85 169
69 HIGL Josh Nielsen +26 F +11 87 83 170
69 MESQ Marshall Eske +26 F +13 85 85 170
71 SMRA Ben Heiler +27 F +12 87 84 171
71 SRMT Caleb Thomason +27 F +17 82 89 171
71 SRMT Adrian Garcia +27 F +11 88 83 171
74 IRHS Cory Buechler +30 F +13 89 85 174
74 SMRA Gabe Flores +30 F +20 82 92 174
76 MUHS Justin Tanner +31 F +14 89 86 175
76 NDPH Ryan Berry +31 F +17 86 89 175
78 GILA Tanner Nelson +32 F +18 86 90 176
79 MESQ Cayden Rana +33 F +14 91 86 177
79 WGHS Hogan Gloy +33 F +15 90 87 177
81 MUHS Travis Nester +34 F +21 85 93 178
82 MV-M Max Robles +36 F +15 93 87 180
83 WGHS Joshua Crest +38 F +16 94 88 182
84 SMRA German Varela +39 F +15 96 87 183
84 WGHS Sajen Benson-uhlig +39 F +23 88 95 183
86 WGHS Zach Rojahn +41 F +18 95 90 185
86 GILA Tanner Catanzaro +41 F +18 95 90 185
88 MESQ Cameron Peterson +43 F +20 95 92 187
89 MUHS Tyre Kim +45 F +28 89 100 189
90 SRMT Michael Cosenza +46 F +25 93 97 190
91 SMRA Dominik Zubia +55 F +23 104 95 199
92 SMRA Jacob Sullivan +62 F +34 100 106 206
WFHS Tanner Haeberle +5 F +5 SB 77 77
CDO Turner Kahn +7 F +7 79 SB 79
CDO Chandler Garcia +11 F +11 SB 83 83
WFHS Carl Miltun +12 F +12 84 SB 84
IRHS Trey Cox +14 F +14 SB 86 86
MUHS Ethan Brogdon +20 16 +20 WD
IRHS Logan Sampsel +32 F +32 104 SB
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com
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