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Incline golf: Mitchell Cornell wins back-to-back state titles

Sylas Wright
swright@sierrasun.com
Incline senior Mitchell Cornell, shown winning his fourth consecutive Northern Division III regional title last Thursday, claimed back-to-back state titles in Pahrump on Wednesday.
Anthony Gentile / Tahoe Daily Tribune |

Division III state championship

Team results

1. North Tahoe 422, 451 — 873

2. Incline 446, 442 — 888

3. Meadows 444, 444 — 888

4. Lake Mead 453, 446 — 899

5. Needles 465, 438 — 903

6. Whittell 463, 466 — 929

Individual results (top 10 plus Incline)

1. Mitchell Cornell, Incline, 69, 67 — 136

2. Griffin Cooper, Yerington, 72, 66 — 138

3. Kevin Inthachack, Meadows, 73, 76 — 149

4. Collin Young, White Pine, 72, 76 — 148

5. Nick Herrero, Lake Mead, 77, 73 — 150

6. Bryan Golombik, Incline, 77, 78 — 155

7. Quinn Earley, North Tahoe, 74, 85 — 159

8. Murphy Scott, North Tahoe, 81, 81 — 162

9. Joe Garcia, Needles, 84, 80 — 164

30. Peter Larson, Incline, 97, 96 — 193

34. Brandon Swick, Incline, 103, 102 — 205

37. Matthew Poalillo, Incline, 100, 107 — 207

42. Cooper Lyons, Incline, 122, 99 — 221

Mitchell Cornell needed to bring every bit of his A-game to win the Division III state golf title.

He did. Playing on a challenging course at the Mountain Falls Golf Club in Pahrump, the Incline senior fired a 3-under-par 69 on Tuesday and a 5-under-par 67 on Wednesday to edge a game opponent, Griffin Cooper of Yerington, by two strokes.

The two-day score, 136, set a new Division III state record, said Joe Humasti, Incline’s longtime golf coach.



“Mitchell played really well. I’m really proud of his accomplishments,” Humasti said. “He had some tough competition. Griffin Cooper shot a 66 on the second day (72 on the first day) and still didn’t win it.”

The state title was the second straight for Cornell, whose Highlanders also won the team championship last year.



While the Highlanders did not repeat as a team, they put in a solid effort to finish second behind North Tahoe, which won its first boys golf championship in school history.

Like Incline did en route to the 2015 title, the Lakers built an insurmountable lead Tuesday and cruised to victory Wednesday, claiming the crown by a 15-stroke margin, 873 to Incline’s 888.

“North Tahoe was very impressive,” Humasti said. “They had a great first day and were tough to catch. They have a very balanced team.”

The Highlanders, who came back from a third-place showing on Day 1, finished with the same score as The Meadows, but they won the “sixth-man” tiebreaker thanks to Matthew Poalillo.

In addition to Cornell’s performance, Incline senior Bryan Golombik posted a top-10 finish, placing sixth with a two-day score of 155 (77, 78).

Golombik was trailed by teammates Peter Larson in 30th (193), Brandon Swick in 34th (205), Poalillo in 37th (207) and Cooper Lyons in 42nd (221).

“Our kids, as defending state champions, have nothing to be ashamed of,” Humasti said. “They represented themselves well. I’m really proud of their play.”


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