Stay within yourselves. Trust each other. Play as a team.

To some, those remarks are shopworn cliches. To the Maranacook golf team, they played a role in program’s first state title.

The Black Bears’ Class C triumph Oct. 8 at Natanis Golf Course’s Arrowhead layout in Vassalboro was one of the highlights of the central Maine high school golf season, as Maranacook’s 334 team total beat out St. Dominic (343), Dexter (348), Fort Kent (359) and Mattanawcook (372).

A balanced roster and, yes, some simple wisdom had a lot to do with it, coach Ryan Meserve said.

“We knew we had a chance,” he said, “but so many variables come into play on that last day that you don’t want to overspeak something and get overly anxious. Trying to keep calm and play within themselves is something we really tried hard to work on as a team.

“The team trusted each other, too, which is a huge thing. They always knew that someone could pick them up from any one of the six spots. That’s a huge advantage and doesn’t happen very often at the high school level.”

Junior Wyatt Folsom shot a 2-over 74 at the state tourney, but he received plenty of support from Ben Jewett (85) and brothers Brandon Chilton (86) and Ethan Chilton (89). 

The Black Bears rumbled through the regular season undefeated, highlighted by a pair of close victories over Cony. In both cases, it came down to their No. 5 or 6 golfers coming through with a score in the low 40s, Meserve said.

“The team knew that they were never really out of it; they always trusted each other,” Meserve said. “It just made them play more relaxed, more confident. They didn’t have to try to make a number that was outside their control on any given hole.”

Although Maranacook stumbled to a third-place finish behind eventual Class B state champion Leavitt and Belfast in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B Shootout, the result was a blessing in disguise, Merserve said.

“I think in some ways that was good to have a bad day in those high-leverage situations,” he said. “I think they realized it wasn’t the end of the world, so that helped us going into the state day.”

Folsom went on to shoot a 77 at the New England High School Golf Championship on Oct. 31 at Mohegan Sun Golf Course in Connecticut.

The best part for Maranacook? Everyone returns next year. James Marr, who shot a 43 at the Class B Shootout despite battling an injured finger, joins Folsom, Jewett and the Chilton brothers, among others. But don’t expect a premature trophy celebration in 2023. 

“Just (have to) temper those expectations,” Meserve said with a laugh. “It’s good to be confident but not cocky. Everything’s got to be earned.”

• • •

Maranacook wasn’t the only area team to generate some buzz this fall. A year after Gardiner won just one match, a pair of youngsters helped the Tigers to a surprising season that culminated in a tie for third with defending champion Yarmouth at the Class B championship Oct. 8 at Natanis’s Tomahawk course. 

Jack Quinn, who despite being a freshman was deemed Gardiner’s No. 1 golfer from the beginning of summer practice, shot a 73 to finish second by one stroke. At the KVAC qualifier four days earlier, Quinn shot an 81, one stroke ahead of sophomore teammate Austin Gould as the Tigers placed fourth, a finish that made the team “crazy excited,” coach Ryan Low said.

“We have a couple really strong players at the top of the lineup and we knew they were going to be good going into the season,” Low said. “We knew that Jack Quinn would be a good player, and he was spectacular the whole season long. Having someone like that at the top of your lineup is going to make any team strong, and that was certainly the case for us.”

Quinn, who posted an average nine-hole score of 36 during the regular season, according to Low, went on to tie for 16th out of 72 golfers at the New England championship. Teammate Dakota Lovely participated on the girls’ side, shooting a 101.

Elsewhere, Leavitt captured the Class B team title, led by girls’ individual champion Jade Haylock (80) and Billy Visconti (81), followed by Alexis McCormick (83), Aidan Lind (86) and A.J. Davis (91).

Haylock went on to tie for ninth place at the New England championship, tops among Maine golfers, while McCormick tied for 18th.

Nokomis’ Alex Grant shot a 78 to take fourth among Class B individual boys, while Oliver Rodrigue (82) was seventh for Cony, which also got an 86 from Alex Fournier to place sixth as a team.

In Class C, Maine Central Institute swept the individual titles, as Owen Moore shot a 73 to beat out Maranacook’s Folsom by one stroke. Jillian Plamondon shot a 92 to take the girls’ crown.

Carter O’Donnell (91) led Monmouth at the Class C championship, and Winthrop’s Colton Baird shot a 94.

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