Owen Castle is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Paradise Valley High School for AZPreps365.com

With state tournament implications on the line, Paradise Valley defeated Sunnyslope, Centennial and Thunderbird in an away match Oct. 3 at Moon Valley Country Club. 

Paradise Valley was able to take advantage of the days' prime conditions, posting a team score of 16-over. The Trojans were led by senior Kylen Metzner, who shot a 35, followed by Nooa Riecks with a score of 4-over-par, Carter Bones with a 6-over-par round and Alex Filipe with a 7-over-par round.

Metzner needed a solid outing to lock in his spot at the Division II Arizona State Championship. The individual field of the state tournament is not set in stone, but the players should be notified in the coming days. 

After a tap-in-par on his first hole of the day, Metzner settled his nerves and looked to carry that momentum for the rest of the round.

Metzner continued his even-par round for the next four holes and then dropped in a putt for birdie on the par-4 seventh hole. 

“I almost holed it from the fairway,” Metzner said, “It was on-line for like three seconds and I was begging for it to go in.”

Metzner was forced to lay up on the par-5 eighth hole after his drive ended up next to the base of a tree, forcing him to punch back out into the fairway. However, a strong lag putt for his fourth shot gave him a much needed up-and-down for par to stay 1-under par. 

“He just needs to finish the round,” head coach Mark Macgowan said, “I want to see him get one.”

On the closing two holes, Metzner rolled in two 10-foot putts to keep him at 1-under. If he makes the tournament, those two putts will be remembered as the most memorable moments of the season. 

“If anything were to go right today, I knew that I was going to make that putt,” Metzner said. 

Riecks, a junior in his first year on the team, bogeyed the first hole of the day but was able to get back on track and played the next four holes even-par. Unfortunately, the par streak ended when he double-bogeyed the sixth hole. 

After his tee shot on the ninth hole fell short of the fairway, he was forced to layup and ultimately made a bogey to shoot a 40.

Bones bogeyed the first hole, but a birdie on the par-4 third hole got him back to even par. However, a triple-bogey on the next hole would derail his round. Bones would finish at 7-over par.

Filipe started the round even through two holes, however a double-bogey on his third hole of the day would be a symbol for the rest of his round. He played his last six holes in 5-over par to shoot a 43. 

Paradise Valley finished first in the match, followed by Sunnyslope, which shot a combined score of 164 strokes, and then Thunderbird with a combined score of 166. 

Centennial had only two players in the match, with the goal of posting a score good enough to individually make the state tournament. Centennial sophomores Brady Ruddell and Jacob Robles shot a 37 and a 41, respectively.