Staff photo / Neel Madhavan The Cardinal Mooney boys golf team takes a photo after winning the Division III district championship on Monday.

ALLIANCE — After finishing behind two-time defending state champion Warren JFK during each of the last two years, Cardinal Mooney finally got the better of the Eagles at the Division III Boys Northeast District championship on Monday.

On a day with lots of high scores, the Cardinals remained steady to shoot a 23-over 311 to win the district title at Tannenhauf Golf Club in Alliance. JFK finished four shots back with a 27-over 315 to earn district runner-up, as both teams qualified for the Division III state tournament next week at NorthStar Golf Club.

“We knew we had a good chance of going to state,” Mooney coach Mary Theresa Bellino said. “So for us to come out on top this year was really a big accomplishment for us. That was more our goal than going to state, to be honest. But we love playing JFK every year.”

Mogadore also qualified for state by finishing third with a team score of 346. Brookfield just missed out on a trip to state by finishing five shots back of Mogadore in fourth with a 351, while Columbiana was fifth with a score of 354 and LaBrae shot 372 to finish ninth.

Mooney senior Alex Eckstein won individual medalist honors for the second straight year, as he was the only player in the field not to shoot over-par.

“Last year I won districts too, so back-to-back felt really good,” Eckstein said. “I was hitting the ball really well, made a few good putts and had a few good up-and-downs. I think that’s going to be really good momentum going to state.”

Eckstein was under-par for a portion of the round and finished with two birdies and two bogeys for an even-par 72.

“This course is very narrow, so you gotta stay consistent,” Eckstein said. “You gotta miss in the right spots. That’s something I did really well today — I minimized all the high numbers. I only made two bogeys. That’s a really good recipe for a good score.”

Senior Dante Turner shot a 2-over 74 to finish second overall and gave the Cardinals each of the top-two individual spots on the leaderboard. Junior Tyler Guerrieri finished tied for 11th with an 82, while senior Constantine Stamp shot an 83 to tie for 14th and senior Pierce Jones shot a 102 to tie for 51st.

“No matter whether we’re playing a tournament like this or just an individual match, I tell my kids to take it one match at a time, one shot at a time,” Bellino said. “If you have a bad shot, you leave it behind and you move on. We try to focus on trying not to get those big scores. A couple of our kids, Tyler and Constantine, shot a little higher than we wanted, but we’ll work on it before state and hopefully we clean that up. But I couldn’t be more proud and I’m bursting at the seams with how proud I am of these kids.”

Senior Henry Phillips led JFK with 4-over 76 to finish third. Senior Julian Bolino finished right behind him in fourth with a 5-over 77, while senior Andrew Fredenburg shot an 80 to finish seventh and senior Andrew Lapolla shot 82 to finish tied for 11th. Preston Geracitano rounded out JFK’s lineup with a 90 to tie for 28th.

JFK got off to a slow start, posting a couple big numbers on the front-nine, and was never quite able to recover throughout the rest of the round as Mooney maintained its lead.

Lapolla had a triple bogey on the first hole, while Fredenburg had a triple bogey on the third hole and a double bogey on the fourth hole.

“I just don’t think it was a couple people’s day today,” JFK coach James Lapolla said. “I don’t think (the course) was playing extremely difficult. The greens look like they had some tricky pins. But I just think, ultimately, it was more along the lines of just poor starting, poor attitude from there and never being able to take that and recover from those few bad holes.”

While James Lapolla said he was a “little disappointed” in the Eagles’ performance, ultimately JFK’s goal this fall was to get back to state and try to again defend its state title.

That goal is still attainable for JFK, as it hopes to use Monday’s disappointment as motivation for next week at NorthStar.

“We’re still moving on, and I’m happy that we are,” James Lapolla said. “I like going to that extra level, and I think the competition is great down there. I think that this experience might put a little smoke behind them. They see that you all have to start off well. You can’t win it in one day, but you can surely lose it. And I’m hoping that this is the little extra gumption that they need.”

OTHER LOCAL FINISHERS

Springfield senior Jackson Ensley qualified for the Division III state tournament next week by finishing as the top individual not on a qualifying team. He shot a 6-over 78 to take fifth. Tigers teammate Cooper Ensley shot 91 to finish tied for 30th.

A few other local golfers made it to districts as individuals. Bristol’s Kaleb Otey shot 91 to finish 30th. Meanwhile, Jackson-Milton’s Blake Hochendoner was 26th with an 87 and Blue Jays teammate Colton Elliott shot 89 to finish 27th.