Staples Boys Golf Is Still Thriving

Even without Andrew Gai, who is winning events on the International Junior Golf Tour, the Staples High School golf team isn't missing much of a beat this spring.

An an all-state player who helped the Wreckers finish 20-0 last season and win the CIAC Division I state championship, Gai opted not to play for the Wreckers this year so that he could concentrate on junior tournaments. He will be back with the Wreckers in 2011.

Staples started 16-0 this season before losing to Trumbull on Monday, snapping a 36-match winning streak.

Coach Tom Owen admitted the Wreckers, now 16-1, might have been guilty of looking ahead to Tuesday's match against Greenwich, which figured to be the Wreckers' toughest competition before the loss to  Trumbull.

Helping pick up the slack in Gai's absence all year has been the trio of senior Dylan Murray, junior Kirk Massie and sophomore Austin Alianiello. Massie was an all-state player last year while Murray just missed after earning that honor as a sophomore.

"Obviously, when you lose a kid like Andrew Gai, it's a hard hit for the program," Owen said. "However, I had the three solid guys from last year. I expected to be maybe not this good, but I knew we had a chance to be in the top two or three in the FCIAC."

Murray is averaging 37.0 strokes for nine holes, with Alianiello at 37.33 and Massie at 38.0, which means the three are generally playing 1- or 2-over par golf.

To complete the starting group of four, Owen choses one of the following three players — sophomore Sam Schaffer, junior Conor Mahoney and junior Brian Wolgast.

"It's just a matter, from my perspective, of getting lucky and picking one of the three to have a hot hand that day," Owen said.

After hosting Fairfield Prep in their final regular-season match on Wednesday at Longshore, the Wreckers play in the  Chappa tournament, a event involving local schools, on Thursday.

The boys' FCIAC championship takes place June 1 at Fairchild Wheeler in Bridgeport at noon. That will be followed by Division I state championship on June 7 at Crestbrook Park in Harwinton.

"It's nice to go undefeated," Owen added, "but the kids realize the big prize is the FCIAC."

Staples' best combined four-man score this year was a 143 in a quad-match against Danbury, Ridgefield and Norwalk on May 19.  The Wreckers also posted a 149 against McMahon on May 11 and a 147 against Westhill last Thursday.

"We're starting to score pretty consistently now," Owen said. "I really think we definitely have a chance for both the FCIAC and Division I titles again. We'll be competitive. I have three kids that went through it last year. That's 75
percent of the team."

Regardless of what happens, Owen knows he will have his best player back next year, which should thrill the Wreckers' opponents.