Prep Golf November 25 Fairfield Prep Athletics

Prep golf repeats as State Champions to cap off undefeated season

Jesuits win 9th CIAC State Championship

A boys golfer finishing with a cumulative under par total for all of his regular season nine-hole matches is an impressive accomplishment.

Fairfield Prep had two golfers, Caden Piselli and Rob Rosati, members of last season's GametimeCT All-State fall golf team, accomplish that through 16 nine-hole matches. The other two members of Prep's starting lineup, Luke Kowalchik and Luke Hoglund, finished over par, but the combined stroke differential total of all four was under par for the regular season, practically unheard of.

"I'd show up at the golf course for every match and wonder what they are going to do to surprise me." Fairfield Prep golf coach Bob Bernier said. "Without fail, almost daily, they would do something they hadn't done before. There were so many rounds where the team was under par. When you get a team as a whole that's under par for scoring average, I don't know if that ever has been done."

Bernier feels this was the best Prep golf team in his 20 seasons as head coach. But in order for that to be true, the Jesuits had to repeat as CIAC Division I champions on Monday afternoon. Prep did so, winning by six strokes at Chippanee Golf Club. The Jesuits finished with a 21-over-par 301 total. "Right now, it feels a little bit more like relief, having come through the back nine and given a bunch of shots back to the field," Bernier said. "I'm just proud of these kids. They showed up to play every time, they love to play. They've become a family. They are golf brothers in the best sense and I couldn't be happier."

Piselli and Rosati — both co-medalists in last year's Division I meet along with former Conard-West Hartford standout Will Gregware — shot 70 and 71, respectively. New Milford's William Neeb was the medalist, shooting a 1-under-par 69.

This is the fourth CIAC golf championship this decade for the Jesuits, the first two coming in the spring season (2021 and 2022) when Prep was still in the SCC for golf. Then the program moved to the fall in 2022 and became an independent program. It's the ninth CIAC Division I title overall for Fairfield Prep. Piselli, who will join Gregware at the University of Maryland next fall, blistered the front nine for five birdies, but gave it away on the back nine where he made a pair of double-bogeys.

"We knew we were capable," Piselli said. "We had to make a lot of pars. I got off to a hot start. Even par is fine, its enough to get the team win. That's all that matters."

Bernier did say there were some challenging holes on the back nine and the players "were leaking a little bit" but had enough of a cushion to withstand it.

Team results: 1. Fairfield Prep, 301; 2 (tie) Conard and New Milford, 307; 4 (tie) Glastonbury and Fairfield Warde, 312; 6. Farmington, 313; 7. Darien, 315; 8. Ridgefield, 317; 9. Staples, 318; 10. Greenwich, 321; 11. Wilton, 322; 12. Newington, 324; 13. Simsbury, 327; 14. Southington, 328; 15. Trumbull, 329; 16. Hall and New Canaan, 335

Individual results: William Neeb (New Milford), 69; Caden Piselli (Fairfield Prep), 70; Rob Rosati (Fairfield Prep), 71; Brady Anderson (Fairfield Warde), 72; Ryan Barnum (Conard), 74; Mark O'Donnell (Southington), 74; Harry Wamester (Glastonbury), 74; Zach Magner (Fairfield Warde), 75; Griffin Rourhe (Farmington), 75; Chase Robustelli (Glastonbury), 75; Derek Thomas (Glastonbury), 76; Graham Geisler (Greenwich), 76; Aiden Cho (Farmington), 76; Thomas Barnett (Darien), 76; Chris Taylor (Staples), 77; Quinn Brennan (Conard), 77; Mac Lawton (McMahon), 77; Torin McGoldrick (Conard), 77; Hudson Hagmann (Wilton), 77.

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Players Mentioned

Luke Hoglund: Sophomore

Caden Piselli: Senior

Luke Kowalchik: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Luke Hoglund
: Sophomore

Caden Piselli
: Senior

Luke Kowalchik
: Freshman