Paczewski, Dunigan the respective boys, girls winners in Pennsylvania Junior Championships

    Logan Paczewski was always there, representing Dallas when the PIAA Class AAA Championship came around each fall at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County.

   Tied for 19^th place as a freshman in 2018, eighth as a sophomore in 2019, tied for 14^th as a junior in the tumultuous coronavirus pandemic year of 2020 and tied for fourth as a senior last fall, Paczewski just kept getting better during his scholastic career.

   Headed for Rutgers and the Big Ten later this summer, Paczewski, playing out of Huntsville Golf Club, made a pretty strong statement with a run to the semifinals of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur earlier this month, giving eventual champion Michael R. Brown Jr. all he wanted before suffering a 2-up setback.

   Tuesday, Paczewski blitzed Hershey Country Club’s tough East Course with a sparkling 4-under-par 67 to pull away from a talented field and claim the title in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Junior Boys’ Championship, presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, by four shots.

   Paczewski had opened with a 3-under 68 Monday and trailed co-leaders Josh Ryan of The 1912 Club and Nick Turowski of Hannastown Golf Club by a shot.

   Paczewski’s 67 in Tuesday’s final round gave him a 7-under 135 total that was four shots clear of Turowski, who shared fourth place with Paczewski at Heritage Hills to cap a strong sophomore season at Penn-Trafford, and Aronimink Golf Club’s Nick Ciocca, who capped his sophomore season at Devon Prep by leading it to the PIAA Class AA team crown last fall.

   Paczewski didn’t take long to separate himself from the field as the made birdies at the first, fourth and seventh holes and then holed out from 110 yards away for an eagle at the par-4 10^th hole to get it to 5-under for the round. He cooled off a little the rest of the way, making bogeys at 13^th and 17^th holes around a birdie at 14, but nobody was going to deny Paczewski the title by that point.

   Ciocca, twice the winner of the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, got on a roll on the front nine of the East Course, rattling off four straight birdies at the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth holes to get it to 5-under for the tournament.

   A bogey at the ninth hole and a double bogey at 13 slowed his momentum, but Ciocca closed with a birdie at the 18^th hole as he added a 1-under 70 to his opening-round 69 to get a share of second place with a 3-under 139 total.

   Turowski added a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 67 to get a share of second place with Ciocca at 3-under.

   Hunter Stetson, Ciocca’s Aronimink clubmate, also recorded a 1-over 72 after opening with a 68 and finished alone in fourth place with a 2-under 140 total. Stetson capped his sophomore season at Episcopal Academy last fall by capturing the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual championship at Bluestone Country Club.

   Whitford Country Club’s Keller Mulhern, who finished atop the Inter-Ac’s regular-season points standings during his senior season at Malvern Prep last fall, shared fifth place with Carlisle Country Club’s Brady Davidson, a recent Cumberland Valley graduate, each landing on 1-under 141.

   Mulhern, who will join the program at Saint Joseph’s later this summer, added a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 69. Davidson, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, had opened with a 1-over 72, but moved up the leaderboard with a 2-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Ryan, trying to add a Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ crown to the Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ Championship he won last week at Bala Golf Club, struggled in Tuesday’s second round, adding a 5-over 76 to his opening-round 67 to head a group of four players tied for seventh place at 1-over 143.

   Commonwealth National Golf Club’s Kevin Lydon Jr., a recent Central Bucks West graduate, added a 3-over 74 to his opening-round 69 to join the group at 1-over. Lydon, who capped his scholastic career with a trip to the state tournament last fall, fell to Paczewski in the quarterfinals of the Philly Amateur earlier this month.

   Rounding out the group at 143 were Centre Hills Country Club’s John Olsen and Oakmont Country Club’s Davey Fuhrer. Olsen was a senior on a State College team that defeated Fuhrer, a sophomore, and Fox Chapel in a playoff for the PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall at Heritage Hills.

   Olsen added a 2-over 73 to his opening-round 70 while Fuhrer, a name synonymous with success on the golf course in western Pennsylvania, had opened with a 2-under 69, but struggled a little with a 3-over 74 in the final round.

   Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club’s Ajeet Bagga, who led Germantown Academy to Inter-Ac and Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association championships as a sophomore last fall, headed a group of five players tied for 11^th place at 2-over 144. Bagga, who had matched par in the opening round with a 71, closed with a 2-over 73.

   Applecross Country Club’s Sam Feeney, who capped a bustout freshman season at West Chester Rustin by finishing in the group tied for fourth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship along with Paczewski and Turowski last fall, was also in the group at 2-over as he carded his second straight 1-over 72.

   Rounding out the group at 144 were Cedarbrook Country Club’s Christian Matt, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a senior at Wissahickon last fall, Lancaster Country Club’s Jack Novis, the District Three Class AA champion as a senior at Lancaster Catholic last fall, and Brookside Country Club of Allentown’s Matt Zerfass, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Emmaus.

   Matt and Novis had the same splits, each adding a 3-over 74 to an opening-round 70. Zerfass, who will join Mulhern at St. Joe’s later this summer, added a 4-over 75 to his opening-round 69.

   Paczewski also led Huntsville to the Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ team championship as it added an even-par 213 to its opening round of 1-under 212 for a 1-under 425 total that was three shots better than Aronimink.

   Lake-Lehman’s Michael Lugiano and Wyoming Seminary sophomore Nick Werner backed up Paczewski as each added a 2-over 73 for the final two counters for Huntsville in the four-score-three format. Cael Ropietski, another Lake Lehman standout, rounded out the Huntsville lineup as he posted a 77.

   Ciocca and Stetson led the way for Aronimink, which added a 2-over 215 to its opening round of even-par 213 for a 2-over 428 total. Recent Malvern Prep graduate Jack Davis was the third counter for Aronimink with a 2-over 73. Rounding out the Aronimink layout was Grayson Jakuc, who signed for an 84.

   At nearby Lebanon Country Club, Kennett Square Golf & Country Club’s Mary Grace Dunigan held onto the lead she had built with an opening round of 3-under 69 by matching par in Tuesday’s final round with a 72 that gave her a three-shot victory in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship, also presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

   Dunigan burst onto the scholastic scene by finishing in fifth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a freshman at Unionville in 2019. Although she failed to qualify for states as an individual in 2020, she helped the Longhorns capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown.

   Dunigan, the daughter of Golf Digest Top 50 instructor John Dunigan, was back at Heritage Hills as an individual in her junior year last fall, finishing in a tie for 14^th place.

   Dunigan’s tournament experience was on display in Tuesday’s final round as she offset three bogeys with three birdies and had 12 pars on her scorecard. Dunigan’s final-round 72 gave her a 3-under 141 total.

   Bucknell Golf Club’s Hannah Rabb, who finished ninth in the PIAA Class AA Championship as a sophomore at Warrior Run last fall, could never quite catch Dunigan as she added a 1-over 73 to her opening-round 71 to claim runnerup honors with an even-par 144 total.

   It was a nice showing by The Springhaven Club’s Grace Smith as she added a 2-over 74 to her opening-round 75 to finish alone in third place with a 5-over 149 total, five shots behind Rabb.

   Smith was a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at Strath Haven in 2019, helping the Panthers win the program’s first Central League and District One Class AAA crowns. The coronavirus pandemic cost Smith much of her junior season, although she did help Strath Haven win the team title in the delayed Central League Championship at Downingtown Country Club.

   Smith will play college golf at Stetson after spending parts of her senior year at Strath Haven at the Heritage Academy in Hilton Head, S.C.

   South Fayette senior Marissa Malosh, a PAGA Individual Member, was another shot behind Smith in fourth place as she added a 4-over 76 to her opening-round 74 for a 6-over 150 total. Malosh captured the WPIAL Class AAA crown last fall.

   Whitford Country Club’s Ava O’Sullivan, who led Downingtown East to the PIAA Class AAA team crown as a senior last fall, Allegheny Country Club’s Eva Bolger and Connoquenessing Country Club’s Lihini Ranaweera finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 7-over 151 total.

   O’Sullivan, who shared second place with Dunigan in the District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Course last fall, shaved three shots off her opening-round 77 with a solid 2-over 74 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Bolger, a three-time WPIAL Class AA champion at Quaker Valley, added a 3-over 75 in Tuesday’s final round to her opening-round 76. Ranaweera, a junior at Seneca Valley, was just two shots behind Dunigan following an opening round of 1-under 71, but struggled a little on her way to an 80 in the second round.

   French Creek Golf Club’s Stefania Fedun and Diamond Run Golf Club’s Lindsey Powanda, shared eighth place, each ending up with an 8-over 152 total.

   Fedun, a senior at Owen J. Roberts, was a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in 2020. She bounced back from an opening-round 78 with a solid 2-over 74. Powanda, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Mt. Lebanon, added a 79 to her opening-round 73.

   Ysabel Liu, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, finished alone in 10^th place as she added a 78 to her opening-round 75 for a 9-over 153 total.

   Recent West Chester East graduate Victoria Kim and Episcopal Academy sophomore Clarissa Leung, who helped White Manor Country Club capture the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ team championship, were two of the three players tied for 11^th place at 10-over 154.

   Kim, the PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior in 2020, carded her second straight 77. Leung, who finished in third place in last month’s Inter-Ac League Championship at French Creek and helped the Churchwomen capture the league title, added a solid 3-over 75 to her opening-round 79.

   Moselem Springs Golf Club’s Kayla Maletto rounded out the trio at 154 as she added an 81 to her opening-round 73. A PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman at Wilson in 2020, Maletto’s sophomore season was cut short by injury.

   Leung’s 75 and Kim’s 77 gave White Manor an 8-over 152 total in the three-score-two format for a 20-over 308 total that was three shots clear of Whitford for the team crown.

   Rounding out the White Manor lineup was Jillian Burks, who posted an 89.

   O’Sullivan and her teammate on Downingtown East’s PIAA Class AAA championship team, Mia Pace, led the way for Whitford as it carded an 8-over 152 for a 23-over 311 total. Pace, who finished in a tie for sixth place in the PIAA Class AAA individual chase as a sophomore last fall, registered a 78 in Tuesday’s final round and finished alone in 20^th place in the individual scoring with a 160 total.