It didn’t happen in the conventional way, but winning the Division III individual golf championship was still a special moment for Bishop Brady senior Nick Grimbilas.
Grimbilas shot a round of 1-under-par 71 at Laconia Country Club on Saturday, topping 27 other competitors to claim the crown.
The individual championship for each division typically consists of two rounds, one round earlier in the week at the team championship with the top golfers from the division making the cut to play another round at Saturday’s individual championship. However, with Thursday’s Division III team championship cancelled due to weather, each team sent their two best golfers to take one shot at the individual title.
The individual championship was also supposed to be contested at Derryfield Country Club, but ended up being played at Laconia CC, the site of the cancelled Division III team championship.
The change didn’t matter to Grimbilas, who hadn’t played at either Laconia or Derryfield, but studied the course online to get a feel for the course and it paid off.
“I just kept the ball in play today,” Grimbilas said. “I hit some great putts and just missed some that were so close … I looked at the course (Friday) night. I saw there were a couple unique holes, but I was seeing the course (in person) for the first time.”
Grimbilas played especially well over the first nine holes, carding three birdies and making par on the other six holes to shoot a 33.
He wasn’t quite as sharp on the back nine, but still made a birdie on the 10th hole, made par five times and never shot worse than a bogey to score a 38.
His total score of 71 bested the runner-up, Lebanon’s Kyle Pelletier, by three strokes and third-place Colin McCaigue, of Derryfield, by five.
“I want to say thanks to my family, coach and athletic director who have helped me out over my four years (at Brady),” said Grimbilas, who was the medalist several times in regular-season matches, helping Brady to a 16-5 record and qualification to the team championship. “It’s a truly special moment I will never forget. Congratulations and good luck to all of the other competitors.”
Bow’s Jake Mielcarz (ninth, 82) and Jason Howe (14th, 92) also finished in the top half of the D-III standings.
Bishop Brady freshman Matt Wiley and John Stark’s Tyler Hazzard tied for 19th with a score of 95 and Belmont’s Michael Marrone finished 28th with a 118.
The Division I, II and IV championships were decided by one round from the team championships played earlier in the week and one round played Saturday at Derryfield as scheduled.
Hopkinton junior Dan Miner finished fourth in Division IV after finishing as the medalist at Tuesday’s team championship at Nippo Lake, leading the Hawks to their first team championship title.
Miner shot a combined 170, 10 strokes behind the winner, Thomas Hickey of Moultonborough.
Miner’s teammates Larsen Burack (eighth, 180), Kody Dexter (11th, 183) and Brandon Boris (13th, 189) also made the cut.
Concord’s Evan Makris tied for 10th in Division I with a 160, nine strokes off the winner, Nashua North’s Bryce Zimmerman.
Teammates Matthew Hauschild (168) and Sean McDonough (170) finished 17th and 19th, respectively.
Justin Grondahl of St. Thomas won the D-II title.
Concord 1, Windham 0, OT
Key players: Concord – Autumn Nudd 8 saves), Grace Devanny (G), Allison Silverstein (midfield)
Highlights: Devanny stole the ball off a Jaguar defender, went on a breakaway and slotted home the game-winning strike for the Tide in overtime.
Coach’s quote: “We had a solid effort today. We just played last night and less than 24 hour later the girls were out here again. Glad to get another win and excited to go into the final week of the regular season in fourth place. ” – Concord’s Phil Tuttle
Records: Concord 11-2-1; Windham 5-8-1
Kearsarge 3, Pelham 0
Key players: Kearsarge – Kaylyn Storozuk (G), Taryn Hubley (G, A), Jordan Busch (G), Gabby Paquette (A), Livia Hernon (A)
Coach’s quote: “It was a good team effort with everyone involved” – Kearsarge’s Emily Wagaman
Records: Kearsarge 7-5-2; Pelham 2-11-1
Merrimack Valley 2, Plymouth 1, OT
Key players: MV – Coby Mercier (G), Logan Cassin (G), Griffin Wheeler (A)
Highlights: Cassin scored the game-winning goal a minute into overtime and Mercier tied the game 15 minutes into the second half. The Pride did a great job possessing the ball throughout the first half, but the Bobcats came out in the second half with a lot of intensity and were able to score nine minutes into the half for a 1-0 lead.
Coach’s quote: “This was a great team win. These guys needed this win as we get ready for Kearsarge and the playoffs. We had some let downs in the second half, but continued to fight and get the win. If we play like this moving forward its going to make for some great games in the playoffs.” – MV’s Ken Fuller
Records: MV 9-6-0; Plymouth 7-6-1
Pittsfield 1, Concord Christian 0, 2OT
Key players: Pittsfield – Joseph Cote (G), Kyle Stockman (A), Decota Maura-Giddis (shutout)
Highlights: Stockman found Cote in open space at the top of 18-yard box and one-timed a pass out of reach of the Kingsmen goalkeeper to give the Panthers their third straight win.
Coach’s quote: “We got a tremendous effort from everyone this afternoon. Our midfielders and backs won the 50/50 battle and limited Concord’s scoring opportunities. The back line of Jacob Marcotte, Jah Gordon, Cory Gilleney, and David Cote played exceptionally well. We are hitting our stride during a key stretch of the season.” – Pittsfield’s Derek Hamilton
Records: Pittsfield 7-7-0; Concord Christian 10-3-1
Kingswood 22, Merrimack Valley 14
Key players: MV – Chase Keyser (84 yards passing, 23-yard TD pass, 62-yard TD run), Cameron Butt (23-yard TD catch), Ethan Drapeau (2-point conversion catch), Dylan Lessard (9 tackles), Christian Bortnick (8 tackles), Max Lacy (6 tackles), Rick Hazeltine (6 tackles), Harley Huddleston (4 tackles)
Highlights: The Pride mounted a comeback in the second half and gave up just 150 total yards to the Knights in the game, but MV fell short on Friday night.
Coach’s quote: “We played hard for four quarters but came up short in the end. We had a chance in the fourth quarter to tie the game.” – MV’s Joe Raycraft
Records: Kingswood 1-6; MV 0-7
Trinity 14,
Hillsboro-Deering-Hopkinton 6
Key players: H-D-H – Colby Quiet (97 rush yards on 19 carries, TD run, 4 catches for 12 yards), Caleb Yianakopolos (76 rush yards in 13 carries; 7 tackles, interception), Max Oberheim (9-for-13, 155 pass yards), Jack Horne (3 catches for 69 yards), Max Costell (2 catches for 56 yards), Vincent Waddell (9 tackles), Thayer Maughan (7 tackles), Aidan Hudak-Hall (forced fumble, 3 tackles)
Highlights: The Redhawks lost a tight contest to one of the top teams in Division III.
Records: Trinity 5-2; H-D-H 4-3
Concord 1st
Key players: Concord – Eli Boesch-Dining (2nd, 16:26), Forest MacKenzie (4th, 16:33), Aidan O’Hern (6th, 16:50), David Cook (7th, 16:57), Eben Bragg (11th, 17:09), Ryan Devine (12th, 17:13), Ryan Ciesluk (19th, 17:22)
Highlights: One week after sweeping the top teams from Connecticut, the Tide runners defeated the top team from Massachusetts, Concord-Carlisle, and 19 other Massachusetts schools to easily win the Bay State Invitational at the Northfield Mountain Recreation Center. Concord place four runners in the top seven and seven in the top 19 to score 29 points, besting Concord-Carlisle’s score of 48.
Coe-Brown 1st, Hopkinton 5th, John Stark 8th
Key players: Coe-Brown – Dawson Dubois (2nd, 16:33), Luke Tkaczuk (4th, 16:35), Wyatt Mackey (5th, 16:43), Gavyn Lewis (7th, 17:04), Logan Mihelich (9th, 17:14); Hopkinton– Theodore Mollano (23rd, 18:17), Simon Page (28th, 18:44), Michael Eggers (29th, 18:44), Shepyrd Murdough (33rd, 19:09), Parker Wuellenweber (43rd, 19:38); John Stark – Brandon Langdon (8th, 17:07), Collin Astholz (32nd, 19:05)
Highlights: Coe-Brown’s Dawson Dubois finished second at the Pelham Invitational, around four and half seconds behind the individual winner, Campbell’s Jeffrey Allen (16:28), leading the Bears to first place in the 12-team event. Coe-Brown scored 25 points, placing five runners in the top nine to easily top the rest of the field. Souhegan (66), Campbell (71), Sanborn (94) and Hopkinton (151) rounded out the top five. John Stark (221) finished eighth.
Conant 21, Hillsboro-Deering 40, Raymond 60
Key players: H-D – Zach Camp (1st, 18:10), Skyler Smith (9th, 21:27), Izaac Healey (10th, 21:33), Ken Veitch (11th, 22:24), Tucker Sheehan (13th, 23:36), Stephen Johnson (20th, 24:48), Nathan Ledvina (24th, 26:39), Kyle Bergstresser (26th, 33:58)
Highlights: Camp broke his personal record by nearly a minute to win his third straight Hillcat Homecoming Invitational on Friday against Conant, Raymond and Hinsdale (not enough runners to score).
Coach’s quote: “It was great to see our three seniors, Camp, Tucker and Bergstresser dig deep and come up with huge PRs in their last Homecoming race.” – H-D’s Steve Cousens
Winnisquam 1st, Bishop Brady 2nd
Key players: Bishop Brady – Oscar Miller (6th, 18:20), Will Spencer (7th), Joe Tierney (10th), Max Brown (18th), Charlie Miller (27th)
Highlights: The Giants finished second to the Bears at the seven-team Lakes Region Invitational hosted by Gilford on Friday.
Coe-Brown 1st, Hopkinton 5th, John Stark 9th
Key players: Coe-Brown – Addison Cox (5th, 19:17), Abby O’Connor (6th, 19:42), Ella Malon (8th, 20:07), Miranda Compton (16th, 20:40), Amelia Edmonds (30th, 21:16); Hopkinton – Cailey Stockwell (10th, 20:14), Anna O’Reilly (11th, 20:15), Emma Rothe (24th, 21:03), Sydney Stockwell (26th, 21:06), Cate Westbrook (50th, 22:33); John Stark – Brianna Langdon (21st, 20:56), Madison McDonald (35th, 21:31)
Highlights: The Bears put three runners in the top eight to win the 12-team Pelham Invitational. Coe-Brown scored 64 points for the win, defeating three-time defending D-I champion Pinkerton (71). Souhegan (86) and Milford (109) rounded out the top four. Hopkinton (118) finished fifth, defeating teams from D-I, D-II and two-time D-III defending champions, Campbell (seventh, 178). John Stark finished ninth with 236 points.
H-D Homecoming Invitational
Key players: H-D – Elizabeth Labier (5th, 25:40), Alannah Johnson (10th, 26:21), Emma Curley (11th, 27:07); Hinsdale – Magaret St. John (1st, 20:26)
Highlights: Hillsboro-Deering celebrated its homecoming with a race on the Hillcats’ home course against Conant, Raymond and Hinsdale on Friday. Conant (15 points) was the only team with enough runners to score. St. John won the race by over three minutes, while Labier, Johnson and Curley achieved personal bests.
Coach’s quote: “The Hillcat girls did a great job, crushing previous (personal records) in front of their homecoming crowd.” – H-D’s Steve Cousens
Bishop Brady 4, Kearsarge 1
Key players: Bishop Brady – Halle Laramie (2G), Ashlyn Toupin (3A), Abby Shagena (G), Riley Marsh (G, A), Emma Windsor (4 saves); Kearsarge – Abby Nadeau (G), Megan Norris, (A), Marissa Pickman (15 saves), Chase Lennon (offense), Eliza Cardillo (midfield), Kate Cochran (midfield), Jordan Pollard (defense), Hannah Tockman (defense)
Highlights: The Giants took a 2-0 lead before the Cougars got on the board shortly before halftime. Brady netted a pair of second half goals to close out the regular season with a victory on senior day. Both teams will be in the Division III tournament with Brady likely getting the No. 3 seed and Kearsarge getting No. 8 or No. 9.
Coaches’ quotes: “A continuing team effort put forth this morning with a strong contribution from the four seniors on their senior day.” – Brady’s Kelly Owen
Coaches’ quotes: “The girls played a good game today and kept up with the speed of field with smart passing. We had several missed scoring opportunities that could have kept us in closer range and we struggled with some errors in the second period. Still, they played quite well and I am so proud of them for their much improved record. Their work ethic is strong and they’ve adapted to challenges along the way. It’s been a terrific season with them and we’ll continue the hard work in playoffs.” – Kearsarge’s Dianne Chadwick
Records: Bishop Brady 12-2-0; Kearsarge 7-6-1