Westfield’s Cesare & Guerin Catholic’s Wessel make it to Round of 16 at Boys State Junior Championship

The REPORTER

Two Hamilton County golfers are into the Round of 16 at the Boys State Junior Championship, which is taking place at Purdue University’s Ackerman-Allen course.

The match play portion of the tournament began Wednesday with first-round play, immediately followed by second-round play.

Jake Cesare, an incoming senior at Westfield, advanced with a 2 Up victory over Charlestown’s Samuel Harris in his second-round match. Recent Guerin Catholic graduate Leo Wessel also won, cruising past Lafayette’s Charlie Seaburg 6 & 4.

Jake Cesare and Wessel will play each other in this morning’s Round of 16, with their match beginning at 8:40 a.m. The winner advances to the quarterfinals, which take place this afternoon.

Westfield junior-to-be Ryan Cesare also played in the second round, falling to Fort Wayne’s Alex Holder 3 & 2. Ryan Cesare edged out Hamilton Southeastern incoming junior Mattingly Upchurch in 20 holes in a first-round match.

Wessel defeated Bargersville’s Brody Holubar 5 & 3 to win in the first round, while Jake Cesare won a first-round match over HSE graduate Jordan Huxford 2 Up.

In other first-round matches, Guerin Catholic senior-to-be Robbie Burt fell to Richmond’s Brady Moore 2 & 1, while Westfield incoming senior Will Harvey was edged out by Ellettsville’s Luke Garrett in 19 holes. Fishers junior-to-be Thomas Klinker lost to Indianapolis’ Johnny Leaman 2 & 1, while incoming Westfield junior Hudson Kutchma dropped a 3 & 1 match to Lafayette’s Sam Peter.

Incoming Southeastern senior Kai Warner fell to Whiteland’s Jack Besner 2 & 1, with recent HSE graduate Vijeet Akala dropping a 2 & 1 match to Lafayette’s Charlie Seaburg. Noblesville senior-to-be Lance Decker lost 5 & 4 to Fort Branch’s Peyton Blackard, while another Noblesville golfer, incoming junior Dustin Turpin, fell to Roanoke’s Landon Snyder 5 & 3.