WHEELING, W.Va. — Midland Trail reached the pinnacle a year ago when its golf team captured the school’s first state championship.
The Patriots clearly weren’t satisfied.
Behind a low medalist effort from junior Jacob Brown, Midland Trail notched its second straight Class AA state championship, claiming a 21-shot victory at the Jones Course at Oglebay Resort’s Speidel Golf Club.
The team’s score of 476 over two days was largely buoyed by Brown. One year after finishing low medalist by two strokes as a sophomore, Brown again earned that honor — this time by a much wider margin of eight after carding rounds of 74-76 and topping his 2025 total by 10 shots.
“My putting and short game have both gotten a lot better and I feel are pretty good,” Brown said. “Tee to green here is not that challenging, but when you get around the greens, you have to lock in. Doubles will kill you. You can make bogeys, but double bogeys hurt you. If you’re in a bad spot, find a way to make a bogey.”
Brown’s 3-over par 74 in Wednesday’s opening round allowed him to hold a two-shot lead over Cayden Swink of Berkeley Springs. Swink shot 82 Thursday, while Brown stayed relatively steady and turned in a round of 5-over par.
“I’ve seen it all at this point — bogeys, double bogeys, the worst lies,” Brown said. “You just have to hit the ball and go on to the next shot. If it happens early in the round, don’t let it affect the whole round. You have to put stuff behind you.”
Midland Trail’s Jacob Brown finishes low medalist in Class AA for a second straight year at 8-over par with rounds of 74-76 while also leading the Patriots to a second straight team title. https://t.co/YMO1zFgY6u
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) October 15, 2026
Midland Trail’s Camryn Thomas bested his opening round 81 by three shots to finish in a two-way tie for third with Wei’d Guy Meneely at 17-over par.
“When our emotions get out of order, our senior [Thomas] usually calms us down, but Jacob’s also been our leader all year,” Patriots’ coach Justin Barnhouse said.
Landyn Cordle finished ninth at 25-over and fellow Patriot Jaxon Barnhouse was tied for 13th at 32-over to factor into the winning team.
Despite being a good distance from home, Midland Trail was comfortable on a course where it had some familiarity. After all, the team intentionally played only two home matches this season.
“We’re not comfortable with just one visualization. We’ve seen many different looks and shots and that’s been key to our success,” coach Barnhouse said.
Isaac Tiu was fifth at 19-over and his effort paced Wheeling Central to a runner-up finish with a two-day total of 497.
Class A
Wirt County freshman Jude Walker felt confident in his and his team’s play entering the WVSSAC State Golf Championships.
It’s easy to see why.
The stage was anything but too big for Walker, who made his opening-round lead hold up and fired rounds of 74-80 to claim low medalist honors by five shots at 12-over par.
Walker’s showing was critical in guiding Wirt to a team title as well as the Tigers totaled a 493 to finish 15 shots ahead of runner-up St. Marys.
“I thought we were the best team here. I felt pretty confident going into it individually,” Walker said. “I just tried to go play, worry about myself and control what I can control.”
Walker’s 74 Wednesday left him with a 7-shot advantage over his closest competitor — St. Marys’ Trevor Maley.
Maley’s 78 Thursday allowed him to cut into Walker’s lead, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the high school newcomer from winning in his first try at states.
“I had to stay in my routine, keep it going and execute,” Walker said. “I tried to throw it away a little bit today, but just tried sticking to my process.”
Wirt County freshman Jude Walker finishes as Class A low medalist at 12-over par with rounds of 74-80 and leads the Tigers to a team title as well. https://t.co/UYC7ril9LR
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) October 15, 2026
Walker felt his short game was key in creating separation.
“Some of the greens on the back nine, the slopes are just crazy,” Walker said. “There’s crazy undulation and it can be really hard to read them. Speed control is a really big part of it.”
Wirt also benefited from another solid showing from a freshman in Titus Smith, who shot 27-over par to finish fifth. Teammate JJ Smith was sixth at 28-over and Kate Dotson took 22nd with a 187 to factor into the winning team total.
“I feel like we have a really good squad,” Walker said. “We’ve all played a lot of golf and put in the time.”