Wren's birdie gives Temple City 6 team title in a playoff with Villanova

   A birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff by Temple’s Trey Wren, a sophomore from Suffolk, Va., proved to be the difference as the Owls claimed the team title in the City 6 Championship Saturday at Huntingdon Valley Country Club.

   Temple and Villanova finished tied for the top spot at 15-over 295 over the 6,786-yard, par-70 William Flynn gem at Huntingdon Valley.

   The Owls and the Wildcats have both had ambitious fall schedules with Temple coming off a trip to California for the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational and Villanova swimming in some deep waters at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate and the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate. But that seemed to prepare both teams well for the City 6.

   Drexel finished two shots behind Temple and Villanova in third with a 297. Penn finished fourth at 300, Saint Joseph’s took fifth at 302 and La Salle was sixth at 312.

   Redshirt freshman Erik Reisner, a two-time Central League champion at Harriton, led the way for Temple, finishing in a tie for second with a 1-over 71. Wren finished in a tie for ninth with a 74, John Barone, a redshirt sophomore from Dunmore and junior Mark Farley, a Calvary Christian product, were both among a group tied for 11^th at 75, and sophomore Sam Soeth, a Marple Newtown product, finished 29^th with an 82. The Owls were able to toss the 82 by Soeth.

   Lucas Trim, a senior from Tampa, Fla., led the way for Villanova, sharing second place in the individual standings with Reisner with a 1-over 71. Connor Daly, a freshman from Bronxville, N.Y., and junior Andy Butler, a Manheim Township product, were among four players tied for fifth at 3-over 73, Zach Egermayer, a junior from Glen Rock, N.J., was tied for 20^th with a 78 and Will Byrne, junior from McLean, Va., was tied for 27^th with an 81. The Wildcats were able to toss the 81 by Byrne.

   The individual title went to Penn junior Amay Poria, who matched par with a 70.

   Drexel was led by freshman Connor Schmidt, a Peters Township product who finished alone in fourth with a 2-over 72. Teammate Yoseph Dance was in the group tied for fifth at 73.

La Salle’s Evan Gaesser, a freshman from Kendall, N.Y., was also in the group tied for fifth at 73 to lead the way for the Explorers.

   Michael O’Brien, a freshman from West Chester, Ohio., was the low man for Saint Joseph’s, carding a 74 to finish tied for ninth with Temple’s Wren. Sophomore Ross Pilliod, a Berks Catholic product, finished tied for 11^th at 75 for the Hawks along with Temple’s Barone and Farley.