The Harford Tech golf team pulled off a bit of a surprise Tuesday at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace.
The Cobras shot a team-low score of 237 to edge defending champion Fallston by one stroke, 238. Aberdeen was third with 239. Six players from each school played the front nine from the blue tees.
The length was one issue, but a steady and gusty wind hampered the play of most. The five best scores per team counted toward the team score. Perryville was fourth with 241 followed by North Harford's 245.
Bo Manor, 251, and C. Milton Wright, 259, rounded out the field.
"I knew we could compete, we have some, three or four real good golfers and five and six have been playing well lately," Tech coach Paul Daniele said. "I keep preaching to them, just one hole at a time, one shot at a time and anything can happen. They've done some work here in this short amount of time and you can see in these conditions it paid off against tremendous competition."
Tech senior Josh Kopeck shot a round of 42 under the challenging conditions, but was still a stroke behind winner Hunter Tollinger, of Bo Manor, who shot 41.
"I felt great going into the last par three I played and with the double par, I was two over and I knew I just had to keep playing as well as I was playing before, keep going," Kopeck said. "Hole nine I had the foot and half par putt and the first hole, I had a spectacular par."
Joining Kopeck in the team scoring were Noah Lloyd, 45; Ryan Shuck, 48; Loy Clements, 51; and Adam Haviland, 51.
"It makes me feel great, we were nervous about Fallston, Aberdeen and North Harford," Kopeck said of the team title. "All the teams honestly, if we didn't have a good day, they were going to be tough to beat. I think it was great to come out here and do what we do."
North Harford sophomore Jacob Nemeth had the third best score, shooting 43. Nemeth played par golf over the first three holes, before carding a bogey on the fourth hole. A triple bogey on the par 5 eighth hole, however, kept Nemeth from taking top player honors.
Curtis Jackson had a 44 for North Harford's second best a score.
Aberdeen senior Mitchell Hardin, one of the pre-event favorites, got off to a tough start, shooting five over through the first four holes. Hardin finished with 45. Teammate Audrey Moon, the lowest of a few female players, shot 44 to lead the Eagles.
Dylan Wolf, a Fallston senior, was also a favorite, but he struggled on the first hole with a lost ball and finished with a 46. Teammate Everett Cox shot 45 to lead the Cougars.
Alex Mattes paced CMW's scoring, shooting 50.
Looking ahead to the important events later in the season and whether this could be a springboard for better things, Coach Daniele said, "Absolutely, it just gives them the confidence and hopefully they can build off of that and when districts come, hopefully we'll be able to do that and help us qualify for states. We qualified there last year for the first time in school history, so we're trying to build on last year and get back there this year and make a little bit more noise."