Penn State struggles in Big Ten Match Play Championship as tourney title goes to Ohio State

   It was a tough fall for Penn State as Greg Nye’s Nittany Lions kept running into remnants of various hurricanes that were swirling around and forced the cancellation of two of the events on their schedule. The fall campaign isn’t that long to begin with.

   The run of bad luck continued when they couldn’t make it out of State College for their battle with West  Virginia, the Athletic Director’s Trophy, in Kissimmee, Fla. It was scheduled for Super Bowl Sunday. It’s one thing to play poorly, but when you can’t get on the golf course at all, it’s even more frustrating.

   So, Penn State began the spring portion of its schedule at No. 59 in the latest Golfstat rankings. The Nittany Lions and the rest of their Big Ten brethren descended on Palm Coast Fla. last week – I’m guessing the Penn State players would have driven there if they had to – for the Big Ten Match Play Championship.

   The Big Ten is not a marquee conference when it comes to golf and weather has a lot to do with it. The top-seeded team in the Big Ten Match Play was Illinois, which won the conference title for the fourth straight time and ninth time in the last 10 years last spring at Baltimore Country Club’s Five Farms East Course. At No. 25, the Illini are the highest-rated team in the Big Ten.

   But there are a lot of good programs and a ton of good players in the conference. That much was evident at the Hammock Beach Resort’s Conservatory and Ocean Courses Friday and Saturday.

   Penn State was seeded fifth going into the tournament and got off to a rough start by suffering a 5-1 loss to 12^th-seeded Wisconsin, ranked at 102^nd, on the 7,183-yard, par-72 Conservatory Course. Penn State’s lone point came from sophomore Louis Olsakovsky, an Upper St. Clair product.

   The Nittany Lions bounced back with their only victory of the weekend, a 4-2 win over 13^th-seeded Rutgers, ranked 123^rd, on the 7,201-yard, par-72 Ocean Course Friday afternoon.

   Senior JD Hughes, a former Carlisle standout and winner of the 2017 Pennsylvania Amateur at White Manor Country Club, was an impressive 7 and 6 winner for Penn State. Alec Bard, a junior from New Hartford, N.Y., and James McHugh, a sophomore from Rye, N.Y., also won their matches to earn a full point each.

   Charles Huntzinger, a senior stalwart from Duluth, Ga., and Ryan Davis, a junior from Berkeley Heights, N.J., each halved his match to pick up a half-point.

   Davis and Bard were the standouts Saturday as the Nittany Lions dropped a 4-2 decision to ninth-seeded Indiana, ranked 80^th, and fell, 3.5-2.5, to 11^th-seeded Michigan, ranked 94^th.

   Davis claimed a 1-up victory over the Hoosiers’ Evan Gaesser, a junior from Kendall, N.Y. and rolled to an 8 and 7 decision over the Wolverines’ Henry Spring, a sophomore New Zealand. Bard earned a 4 and 3 win over Indiana’s Henry Reynolds, a freshman from Greenville, S.C., and halved his match with Michigan’s Ben Dunne, a freshman from Cedar Park, Texas.

   I’m sure Penn State would like to see that Golfstat ranking inch a little higher when it comes time for the NCAA to extend bids to the six regional tournaments.

   The Nittany Lions’ last best chance to improve that ranking will come when the Big Ten reconvenes for the conference championship, which tees off April 26 at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, an A.W. Tillinghast classic in Whitemarsh Township. The weather could be almost anything around here in April, but the Big Ten kids won’t back down because of some tough conditions.

   The surprises started early at Hammock Beach as 14^th-seeded Nebraska, at 163^rd the lowest ranked Big Ten team, stunned third-seeded Iowa, ranked 38^th, 4-2 in the opening round.

   That earned the Cornhuskers a quarterfinal match with sixth-seeded Purdue, ranked 67^th and once again Nebraska pulled off a surprise, beating the Boilermakers in a tiebreaker after the teams battled to a 3-3 draw.

   Top-seeded Illinois had a bye into the quarterfinals and pulled out a 3.5-2.5 win over eighth-seeded Michigan State, ranked 72^nd. The Spartans had earned a 3.5-2 victory over Indiana in the opening round.

   Sneaking through the brackets toward an eventual meeting in the final were fourth-seeded Ohio State, ranked 52^nd, and seventh-seeded Maryland, ranked 70^th.

   The Buckeyes opened with a 3.5-2.5 decision over Rutgers and reached a semifinal showdown with Illinois by getting the tiebreaker edge after battling Wisconsin to a 3-3 draw.

   The Terrapins claimed a 4-2 victory over seventh-seeded Minnesota, ranked 70^th, in the opening round and then upset second-seeded Northwestern, ranked 36^th, 3-2, in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats had earned the other first-round bye.

   Ohio State reached the final with a 3.5-2.5 victory over Illinois in a Saturday morning semifinal and any victory over a program that has dominated the conference the way the Fighting Illini have is a significant one. It will give the Buckeyes a huge jolt of confidence as the spring campaign starts to unfold.

   Oh yeah, and when the weather finally breaks in Columbus, the Buckeyes get to sharpen their games on one of the great college golf courses in the country, The Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course, an Alister MacKenzie classic. Let’s put it this way, the Buckeyes will feel right at home when they get to the Cricket Club for the Big Ten Championship.

   Kevin Stone, a sophomore from Carmel, Ind., went 4-0 for the two days for the Buckeyes, including a 4 and 3 victory over Illinois’ Noah Gilland, a freshman from Greenwood, Ind.

   Ohio State also got full points from its two Cincinnati Kids, senior Daniel Wetterich and senior Will Grimmer. Wetterich earned a 4 and 3 victory over a talented Giovanni Tadiotto, a junior from Belgium, and Grimmer also won by a 4 and 3 margin over Michael Feagles, a junior from Scottsdale, Ariz.

   Meanwhile, Maryland ended Nebraska’s Cinderella run by taking out the Cornhuskers, 4-2, in the other semifinal.

   Ohio State the rode the momentum of its huge victory over Illinois to a 4.5-1.5 decision over the Terrapins in the title match. It was the first Big Ten Match Play title for the Buckeyes.

   Stone capped his perfect weekend with a 4 and 3 victory over Chris Lane, a junior from Great Falls, Va. Grimmer claimed a 3 and 2 win over Timothy Colanta, a senior from Reunion, Fla.

   Caleb Ramirez, a senior from Blythe, Calif. and Laken Hinton, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla., also each earned a full point for the Buckeyes. Ramirez claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Dillon Brown, a freshman from Halifax, Mass., while Hinton captured a 3 and 1 decision over Christian Park, a junior from Charlotte, N.C.

   Wetterich earned a half-point by battling Peter Knade, a junior from Easton, Md., to a draw.

The Terrapins’ lone full point came from Evan Santa, a redshirt junior from Edgewater, Md. who downed Will Noetsch, a senior from New Vernon, N.J., 4 and 2.

   It would seem likely, based on their performances in the Big Ten Match Play, that Ohio State and Maryland are a couple of programs that will be on the rise as the spring campaign unfolds.