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LH’s Laskey earns props as top high school golfer

By Jim Downey jdowney@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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Holly Tonini

In this Oct. 2nd file photo, Laurel Highlands’ Harison Laskey shakes hands with legendary golf professional Arnold Palmer at Latrobe Country Club before the start of the WPIAL Boys Class AAA Individual Golf Championship. Laskey is the Herald-Standard’s “Golfer of the Year” for 2014.

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Holly Tonini

In this Oct. 14th file photo, Beth-Center’s Tyler Kuntz chips onto the green on the first hole during the PIAA Class AA Western Regional qualifier at Tom’s Run Golf Course in Blairsville. Kuntz shot a 76 to qualify for the PIAA Championships.

Harison Laskey had quite a year golfing in 2014. The Laurel Highlands senior qualified for the West Penn Open and Pennsylvania Amateur in the summer and then capped his final year of high school competition with a WPIAL bronze medal, two PIAA medals and second place in the county open.

Those accomplishments earned Laskey “Golfer of the Year” honors as the area’s top golfer.

Belle Vernon’s Melvin Gouker and Carmichaels’ Dave Briggs share honors as the top coaches.

Laskey led the WPIAL Class AAA Championship at Latrobe Country Club with three holes to go and Arnie Palmer looking on, but misjudged the distance off the No. 16 tee which led to a wayward drive, a bogey and a two-stroke swing.

Laskey tied for fourth in the PIAA Western Regional on a raw October day at Tom’s Run in Blairsville, and then capped his senior season by finishing tied for sixth in the state championship held at Heritage Hills in York.

“I told whoever was playing Harison, ‘Don’t go out and beat him. Stay consistent with the way you play and play your own golf shots,'” said Uniontown coach Ryan Santovich.

Belle Vernon sophomore Michael Lubrani won the county tournament to start the season and helped Gouker and the Leopards finish second to Elizabeth-Forward in Section 2-AAA. The Leopards beat the Warriors in the final match of the season to hand E-F its lone section loss.

Lubrani nearly played himself out of the WPIAL championship with a couple shots into the trees on the front nine, but rebounded to finish tied for ninth and earn a berth into the western regional.

Lubrani then finished tied for seventh in the regional and tied for 18th in the PIAA finals.

Beth-Center’s Tyler Kuntz joined Laskey as a 3-time medal winner in Class AA. Kuntz finished tied for 13th in the WPIAL finals at Youghiogheny Country Club. The senior played strong in the western regional to finish second and then earned his third medal by finishing tied for ninth in the PIAA finals.

Liam Shea helped Briggs and the Mikes to an 11-1 record for the Section 8-AA title. The sophomore finished fifth in the WPIAL Class AA championship.

Rounding out the rest of the lineup are Belle Vernon’s Frank Guarinoni and Zach Cicchini, Uniontown’s Tyler Frazee and Albert Gallatin’s Tanner Kutek.

The girls made a statement this year, too, notably Uniontown senior Callahan Abel and Frazier junior Annika Erdely.

Both girls earned all-county status with Abel finishing third and Erdely 10th. Erdely finished tied for seventh in the WPIAL Class AA finals, while Abel just missed the cut. Erdely then just missed the cut for the state tournament at the western regional after finishing tied for 12th.

“Callahan was the second coach on the team. Callahan was the ‘on course’ coach,” Santovich said of his senior captain. “Whoever she played with, she’d help coach. I couldn’t be everywhere. She was another set of eyes.”

Although she did not attend one of the 14 local golf programs, Greensburg Central Catholic’s Olivia Zambruno gets special recognition. The Bullskin Twp. resident won both the PIAA and WPIAL Class AA titles and was third in the western regional.

Albert Gallatin coach Bernie Wydo likes his chances with the aforementioned team against another squad.

“I would take that team against anybody,” said the veteran coach. “There’s the two mainstays with Harison and Michael. The rest have potential to get scores.

“I wouldn’t be upset taking that team to play anyone else.”

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