Catholic had a three-stroke lead after putting up a team score of 253 Tuesday but finished with a 260 Wednesday.

Senior Michael Bush led Catholic's second day effort with an 86. Freshmen Will Kimberling and David Miller both carded 87s after shooting 82 and 85, respectively, to help push the Irish into the lead after the first round. Kimberling (169, tied for fifth) and Miller (172, tied for seventh) both landed on the all-state team.

"If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that we were gonna lose our No. 1 and No. 2 players from [last year's] state championship team and replace them with two freshmen, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me we'd come within a stroke of repeating," said Catholic coach Bill Gillispie. "It's definitely a great accomplishment.

"I'm disappointed, but when your expectations are so high that you're disappointed with state runner-up, the program's in a good place."

Catholic's other player, Justen Holstein, shot a 93 Wednesday after coming in at 86 Tuesday.

Gillispie agreed that the conditions Wednesday were trying.

"It was about a seven-hour round, and it rained for probably five of the seven hours," the Irish coach said. "Plus it was 40 degrees and windy. It'd been dry up there for a long time, so the course was able to soak up a lot of the water, but it was still tough on everybody."

Catholic, which also finished as Class A runner-up in 2006 and has finished in the top two for three straight years, returns five of its top six players next year. Bush is the only senior.

St. Marys' Alex Seago and Trinity's Matt McLaughlin finished regulation tied at 162 for Class A medalist honors, and finished that way after three playoff holes failed to produce a winner. With darkness settling in, they were declared co-medalists.

Buffalo's Garrett Burdette, whose 87 Wednesday gave him a 169 total, ended up tied for fifth with Kimberling and earned all-state honors. Parkersburg Catholic's Jacob Hensley had Wednesday's best score in Class A, a 79, and finished two strokes behind the co-leaders.

In Class AA, Ritchie County (522) took the team championship and Scott (532) finished second. Scott's Harry Howell, whose 87 Wednesday gave him a 164 total, was the AA medalist, edging Wyoming East's Evan Muscari by one stroke.

Poca's George Hamrick earned AA all-state recognition after finishing in third place at 166.

Ritchie County's Matt Metz, who finished in fourth place at 168, turned in Class AA's best round Wednesday, shooting an 81.

Reach Nick Scala at 348-7947 or nsc...@wvgazette.com.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It looks like there's a high school golf dynasty emerging in Hurricane.

Playing in rain, wind and 40-degree temperatures, Hurricane successfully defended its Class AAA championship, registering a 16-stroke victory over runner-up Wheeling Park Wednesday in the state tournament at Wheeling's Oglebay Park.

Hurricane finished with a two-day team score of 475. Wheeling Park, playing on its home course, finished at 491, followed by Cabell Midland (493), Greenbrier East (507) and George Washington (508).

Bridgeport (518), Brooke (529) and Robert C. Byrd (532) completed the field in the team competition. (See results, Page 2B.)

The four Hurricane players who competed - Aaron Barna, Brian Anania, Wyatt Burgess and Sam Booth - are all juniors, and all will return next year with an eye on a third straight state title.

"They're good kids, they're good friends, they're around the game all the time - they live, eat, sleep, breathe golf,'' Redskins coach Glenna Ragle said in a phone interview while returning home Wednesday night. "I've never seen anything like it."

The Hurricane foursome's home course is Sleepy Hollow Country Club, where Ragle is also a member.

"I've watched them playing together since they're 7, 8 years old," she said. "All four of them work there, so if they're not playing, they're working."

Barna, who took AAA medalist honors last year as a sophomore, had a chance to repeat but lost in a one-hole playoff with Wheeling Park's Marshall Hone.

After shooting a AAA-best 77 on the par-71 layout Wednesday, Barna bogeyed the playoff hole (No. 18), while Hone - who shot an 81 Wednesday - made a par for the win. Both finished regulation at 156 for the two rounds.

Anania shot a 78 Wednesday, while Boggess had an 83 and Booth checked in at 85. Each school's three best scores in each round count toward the team total.

"Everybody kept saying that anybody shooting in the 70s [Wednesday] is doing really good,'' Ragle said. "I don't know if [the foul weather] was to our benefit, because most players played worse [Wednesday] than they did [Tuesday], but three of our boys did better [Wednesday]."

By finishing among the top eight, Barna and Anania earned AAA all-state selection.

In Class A, Charleston Catholic was also going for a repeat title but the Fighting Irish came up a stroke short to Trinity, which won the team crown with a score of 512. St. Marys (528) was third, followed by Parkersburg Catholic (529), Notre Dame (573), Man (593), Pocahontas County (649) and Fayetteville (692).

Catholic had a three-stroke lead after putting up a team score of 253 Tuesday but finished with a 260 Wednesday.

Senior Michael Bush led Catholic's second day effort with an 86. Freshmen Will Kimberling and David Miller both carded 87s after shooting 82 and 85, respectively, to help push the Irish into the lead after the first round. Kimberling (169, tied for fifth) and Miller (172, tied for seventh) both landed on the all-state team.

"If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that we were gonna lose our No. 1 and No. 2 players from [last year's] state championship team and replace them with two freshmen, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me we'd come within a stroke of repeating," said Catholic coach Bill Gillispie. "It's definitely a great accomplishment.

"I'm disappointed, but when your expectations are so high that you're disappointed with state runner-up, the program's in a good place."

Catholic's other player, Justen Holstein, shot a 93 Wednesday after coming in at 86 Tuesday.

Gillispie agreed that the conditions Wednesday were trying.

"It was about a seven-hour round, and it rained for probably five of the seven hours," the Irish coach said. "Plus it was 40 degrees and windy. It'd been dry up there for a long time, so the course was able to soak up a lot of the water, but it was still tough on everybody."

Catholic, which also finished as Class A runner-up in 2006 and has finished in the top two for three straight years, returns five of its top six players next year. Bush is the only senior.

St. Marys' Alex Seago and Trinity's Matt McLaughlin finished regulation tied at 162 for Class A medalist honors, and finished that way after three playoff holes failed to produce a winner. With darkness settling in, they were declared co-medalists.

Buffalo's Garrett Burdette, whose 87 Wednesday gave him a 169 total, ended up tied for fifth with Kimberling and earned all-state honors. Parkersburg Catholic's Jacob Hensley had Wednesday's best score in Class A, a 79, and finished two strokes behind the co-leaders.

In Class AA, Ritchie County (522) took the team championship and Scott (532) finished second. Scott's Harry Howell, whose 87 Wednesday gave him a 164 total, was the AA medalist, edging Wyoming East's Evan Muscari by one stroke.

Poca's George Hamrick earned AA all-state recognition after finishing in third place at 166.

Ritchie County's Matt Metz, who finished in fourth place at 168, turned in Class AA's best round Wednesday, shooting an 81.

Reach Nick Scala at 348-7947 or nsc...@wvgazette.com.