{"id":890386,"date":"2026-10-22T05:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/890386\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T05:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:10:19","slug":"state-college-falls-in-two-hole-playoff-at-piaa-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/890386\/","title":{"rendered":"State College falls in two-hole playoff at PIAA final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ferguson Township<\/p>\n

A State College golfer gripped the brim of his hat in disbelief, while his group partner stood motionless on the green Wednesday evening after his putt to force a third playoff hole went inches wide left.<\/p>\n

The State College boys golf team placed second for the second straight year<\/a> in the single-day PIAA Class 3A team championships at Penn State\u2019s White Course, falling to La Salle College High School in a playoff after surrendering a four-stroke lead in the final five holes and a one-stroke advantage on the first playoff hole.<\/p>\n

Even though the emotional loss led to tears and flushed faces, the Little Lions are proud of their season, one where they went undefeated up until the state championship and shot a whopping minus-eight on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I\u2019m a little disappointed, but it\u2019s really hard to be disappointed,\u201d senior Luke McGraw said Wednesday evening. \u201cI\u2019m so proud of the guys. We played great all season. We played great today. Just fell a little short. I mean, there\u2019s obviously things that could have gone our way out there. A few putts could have dropped, but I\u2019m really proud of our guys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy how we fought. We didn\u2019t give up. We gave a great fight. That was a great team. Two really good teams out there. I\u2019m just super, super happy with how we played all season, and sure, we did lose today, but it doesn\u2019t really feel like a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"State State College\u2019s Luke McGraw tees off on the first hole of the playoff for the PIAA Golf Team Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 at the Penn State Golf Course. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com <\/p>\n

Wednesday was about as pressure-filled a golf match could get. Again, La Salle rallied back from a substantial four-stroke deficit thanks to golfer Liam Littleton, with each drive, chip and putt for five holes potentially deciding the championship.<\/p>\n

Littleton, the last golfer to go Wednesday, erased State College\u2019s lead after shooting a birdie on Hole 17. He then shot par on the final hole in regulation to force a playoff, just missing wide right on a putt with a chance to win, which drew audible gasps from the crowd.<\/p>\n

The playoff was about as nail-biting as you\u2019d expect. Two groups of four golfers (two from each team) faced each other, where whoever won the next hole took home the championship. The Little Lions initial unit struck first, taking a one-stroke advantage. However, the Explorers answered in the second group to force another hole.<\/p>\n

\"State State College golf team cheers on their teammates during the playoff for the PIAA Golf Team Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 at the Penn State Golf Course. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com <\/p>\n

La Salle quickly took the advantage on the second hole, as its initial group grabbed its first lead of the playoff, giving the second unit a one-stroke edge. Despite two impressive drives and chips, State College couldn\u2019t bury its putts, with both golfers shooting par and sending the La Salle team berserk, while members of the golf team stood motionless, collecting their thoughts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the guys probably feel it more than the coaches do,\u201d coach Greg Wilson said. \u201cThey played phenomenal all season long, and as I told them, their only loss this entire season was in a two-hole playoff by one stroke. What more can you ask for? It was an incredible run. Knew them since they were young kids all the way through their senior year. They stuck together. They worked hard. Nothing but pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"State State College boys golf coach Greg Wilson talks to his players after they finished second in the PIAA Golf Team Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 at the Penn State Golf Course. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com <\/p>\n

Wednesday was the team\u2019s sixth straight year State College qualified for the team race. The Little Lions won in 2021 before four top-five finishes \u2014 including second place last season.<\/p>\n

McGraw anchored the State College golf team in the championship, shooting a team-best 7-under 65. His teammates, all seniors, played well, too, with Charlie Ladrido (69), Jacky Sun (71) and Luke Ladrido (75) recording respective performances.<\/p>\n

\"State State College\u2019s Charlie Ladrido chips on the second hole of the playoff for the PIAA Golf Team Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 at the Penn State Golf Course. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com <\/p>\n

Regardless of the result, the Little Lions were thrilled to see the crowd it drew. At least 100 fans were in attendance to watch them, and McGraw couldn\u2019t have been more grateful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so cool to have everyone come out and support you,\u201d he said. \u201cI kind of tune all the crowd out and just focus on my process really, just see what I can do to create the best outcome, and so I don\u2019t really focus on the crowd that much. I think it\u2019s awesome, though, that so many people came out to support us, and I thought it was really cool and pretty unique. There\u2019s not many times I can say I\u2019ve had hundreds of people come out and watch me play golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"State State College\u2019s Jacky Sun tees off on the first hole of the playoff for the PIAA Golf Team Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 at the Penn State Golf Course. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com <\/p>\n

McGraw said after his match that last year\u2019s second-place finish fueled the team all season, leading the group to work harder and put in plenty of extra hours of effort.<\/p>\n

And for Wednesday to come down to a two-hole playoff, he hopes it\u2019ll motivate the juniors, sophomores and freshmen on the team that watched.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m OK ending my high school golf season and career right there,\u201d McGraw said. \u201cI feel like we left a good impact on the program, left the younger guys a little hungry, and gave the program in a good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"State State College\u2019s Jacky Sun and Luke Ladrido fist bump after the second hole of the playoff for the PIAA Golf Team Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 at the Penn State Golf Course. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com \"State State College\u2019s Charlie Ladrido tees off on the first hole of the playoff for the PIAA Golf Team Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 at the Penn State Golf Course. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com \"State State College\u2019s Luke Ladrido tees off the second hole of the playoff for the PIAA Golf Team Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 at the Penn State Golf Course. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
\n Related Stories from Centre Daily Times<\/p>\n

Chase Fisher<\/a><\/p>\n

Centre Daily Times<\/p>\n

Chase Fisher is a fall sports intern with the Centre Daily Times. He is currently studying finance with a minor in journalism. You can find his work at Penn State on SI and The Daily Collegian as a football and men\u2019s hockey reporter.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ferguson Township A State College golfer gripped the brim of his hat in disbelief, while his group partner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":890387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-890386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=890386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/890387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=890386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=890386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=890386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}