Casteel, Ironwood Ridge win Arizona D-II high school golf championships

The Casteel girls and Ironwood Ridge boys teams emerged victorious in the Division II Arizona Interscholastic Association’s high school golf championships, held at the Aguila Golf Course in Phoenix over two days.

The girls’ tournament showcased the top 12 ranked teams in D-II, competing in rounds on Oct. 24-25. Similarly, the boys’ tournament, which also featured the top 12 teams, took place on Oct. 26-27. Both tournaments saw a repeat of last year’s leading teams fiercely battling it out until the end.

Here’s a breakdown of the tournaments:

Girls D-II

The first round witnessed a close competition among three teams: The Casteel Colts, who finished second in 2022, the Chaparral Firebirds, and Cactus Shadows, the defending D-II girls champion. At the end of the day, Casteel secured 298 total strokes, with Cactus Shadows closely following at 306, setting the stage for a showdown between the two teams for the second consecutive year.

On Day 2, the Falcons achieved a remarkable total of 297, the lowest team score over the two days. However, it wasn’t sufficient to surpass the Colts, led by Julia Herzberg and Jordin Cowing, who both shot under par in the first round. Herzberg continued her impressive performance with another under-par round on the second day, maintaining Casteel’s lead. The Colts concluded with 303 strokes in the second round, resulting in a total score of 601 for the tournament, narrowly defeating Cactus Shadows’ 603. Chaparral secured third place with a team score of 631.

The tournament’s lowest individual score was an impressive 6-under par over two days achieved by Raegan Capizzi from Chaparral, with a score of 5-under in the opening round. Herzberg secured second place with a score of 3-under for the entirety of the tournament. Charlene Lamb led Cactus Shadows with a score of 1-under over the two days.

Boys D-II

The D-II championship concluded through an exceptional tiebreaker, with Ironwood Ridge claiming the title over Notre Dame. Following Friday’s second round, both teams finished tied in a three-way race that also involved Catalina Foothills. Notably, these three teams occupied the top spots in last year’s tournament, which was won by Ironwood Ridge.

At the conclusion of the two-day event, Ironwood Ridge and Notre Dame, the top two finishers in the 2022 tournament, were tied with identical team totals of 580, while Catalina Foothills finished just one stroke behind at 581.

The tiebreaker hinged on the team with the lowest individual golfer’s score in the second round. This honor belonged to two Ironwood Ridge players, Wyatt Charnoki and Sean Kelly, both shooting impressive scores of 76, securing the title for the Nighthawks. Notre Dame’s lowest round on the second day was a score of 77 by Daniel Rowe.

Notre Dame boasted the top-performing individual golfer, Landon Ashcraft, who delivered a remarkable 8-under par performance throughout the two-day tournament, claiming the individual title with a score of 5-under on Day 1 and 3-under on Day 2.

Up Next:

The girls’ Division I two-day tournament will commence next Tuesday at the same course, while the boys’ tournament will kick off on Thursday and conclude on Friday. Xavier enters the tournament as the top-ranked team on the girls’ side, with Hamilton leading the rankings on the boys’ side.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Casteel, Ironwood Ridge win Ariozna D-II high school golf championships