By Chris Nobbe

sports @ goBEACONnews . com

Ava McMahan is Perfecting Her Swing

The game of golf is one that certainly takes a great deal of practice and dedication to achieve success at a high level . That is exactly what nine-year old Aurora Elementary School fourth-grader Ava McMahan is working to do at a young age . She recently competed at various levels of the Chip , Putt , and Drive Championship sponsored by the USGA , The Masters , and the PGA golf organizations .

Ava first competed at the local qualifier at The Legends Golf Course in Franklin , Indiana . She achieved a secondplace finish overall and also a second-place finish in the chipping competition at that level to advance to the subregional qualifier at Prairie View Golf Course in Carmel , Indiana .

Prior to this event and each of her competitions , Ava works with her father , Jim South , to continue to improve her swing in the various areas of the game . Ava someday hopes to play on the LPGA tour with her “ Daddy Caddy ” carrying her bag . She credits him for getting her involved in the sport and regularly practices with him at Hoosier Links Golf Course in Milan .

At the sub-regional competition at Prairie View , Ava was able to continue her success in the competition and , indeed , improved . Ava placed first overall at the sub-regional competition while also placing first in chipping and third in putting . This success allowed her to compete at the regional qualifier at The Honors Course near Chattanooga , Tennessee .

Although Ava did not advance to the national finals next April to be held at The Masters Championships , she did finish fifth overall and , again , did well in chipping with a third-place finish . One of the memories she will take away from the regional qualifier is that she finished ahead of a girl in chipping who had been a world champion at age 7 .

Ava said that she is able to keep from getting nervous in competition by staying focused and positive , yet she did mention that her nerves were a bit heightened in the third level of competition . Nonetheless , it is certain that her continued work in the sport will lead to greater success in the years to come .

Having started in the sport at age eight as an enjoyable way for the entire family to spend time together , Ava remembers that she “ would often swing and totally miss the ball !” The family enjoys creating fun and competition together on the course . They often make small bets on the course over such things as Flavors Ice Cream or fending off chores to someone else at home .

In order to continue to practice during times that it is difficult to play on a physical course , she and her family also have a golf simulator . She practices every day and enjoys the fact that some days she can practice at any course in the world , “ even playing it in my PJ ’ s .”

Ava ’ s goals for next year are “ to shoot close to par and hit my drive 200 + yards .” She imagines one day being on the LPGA tour and having water poured on her head after winning a tournament . Her role model in the sport is “ Lefty ” Phil Mickelson . When she attended her first PGA event at age 6 , Mickelson acknowledged her with a wave when she shouted support . She also has a great picture of him giving her a high-five at The Memorial Tournament last year . Ava stated , “ He ’ s so nice , and when I ’ m a professional someday , I ’ m going to be nice to my fans like that .”

Members of the South Dearborn varsity wrestling team celebrate with a team photo following their 5-0 day and team championship and the Rex Leavitt Invitational in Elwood on Nov . 18 .

With a role model like Mickelson , wonderful parents in Jim and Jessica South , and her own attitude toward success , undoubtedly , Ava is going to be a fine person with wherever her path may lead . She is an honor roll student who loves to read , enjoys science and the cycles of life , and enjoys playing with her two Labrador retrievers , Harley and Ruger . We hope to write about you again on future success .

SD Wrestling Captures Leavitt Invitational

The South Dearborn wrestling team , headed by Coach George Gardner in his 31st year at the helm of the program , started off the season by traveling to Elwood to compete in the 10-team Rex Leavitt Invitational on Nov . 18 . This was a multi-duel competition with two pools of five teams . The Knights do not typically begin with a meet this early in the season , but they certainly looked like a team that was in late-season form in the early meet with strong performances throughout the day .

The Knights began pool wrestling with a duel against the Delta Eagles . The Knights were able to record 7 falls , or pins , in the duel out of 14 matches to come away with a convincing 64-15 win .

Next up for the Knights were the Decatur Central Hawks . Again , South Dearborn was putting the hammer on its competition with another seven falls and two major decisions en route to a 62-12 victory .

In the third duel of the day , the Knights were up against a Monroe Central team that was without some of its lineup as their football team had competed in the semi-state the night before and , thus , were not able to wrestle yet in this tournament . Of the six weight classes contested in the duel , the Knights were again able to record four falls and win 72-9 against the Golden Bears .

The last duel of the pool was against the host Elwood Panthers . The Knights continued their strong performance by tallying six falls in the duel and coming away with a 60- 24 win . This left the Knights at 4-0 in pool competition and facing Greenfield-Central in the finals for the championship after they won a pool that included New Palestine , Shenandoah , Union County , and Alexandria .

The Knights got off to a strong start in the finals with three straight falls from 220 Zach Dick , 285 Adam Bushorn , and 106 Eli Otto . The Cougars came back to make it 18-12 with two falls of their own before Bryer Hall scored an exciting 14-8 decision . The teams then traded a few matches with Garrett Walton recording a 13-7 decision at 138 before the Knights ’ Cameron Reed and Ryan Hueseman recorded back-to-back falls to seal the duel after 160 . Kelly Barnes recorded a forfeit at 182 and Luke Utterback ended the duel and the team championship with the sixth fall of the match to win 48-27 , claim the invitational title , and begin the season 5-0 .

Weight class champions for the Knights were senior Garrett Walton at 138 , and freshmen Eli Otto at 106 and Bryer Hall at 126 . Others with 4-1 records on the day were seniors Cameron Reed ( 152 ), Ryan Hueseman ( 160 ), and Luke Utterback ( 195 ); juniors Austin Boggs ( 132 ), Zach Otto ( 145 ), Zach Dick ( 220 ), and Adam Bushorn ( 285 ).

EC Football Heads Back to State Finals

East Central Football is no stranger to success with a state title and two runner-up titles in school history with the most recent run occurring in 2015 . The 2017 team has achieved its own claim as a standout team among all the others with a run back to the IHSAA State Football Championship game .

After capturing the sectional crown , East Central was faced with a formidable opponent in the IHSAA Regional against Evansville Central .

The Trojans , starting at their own 21 , welcomed them with a drive indicative of the East Central way , a primary ground game that resulted in a touchdown and took nearly 10 minutes off of the first quarter clock . With 2:22 left in the first quarter , Eric Rosemeyer put EC on the board off the power pitch over the left side . The PAT was missed , but the tone of the game was set .

Evansville Central ’ s highpowered offense was stifled by the Trojan defense .

The second half resulted in more of the same with Maxwell scoring two more touchdowns behind an offensive line and lead backs that regularly opened holes throughout the game for a running game that averaged over five yards per carry in the game and

Ava McMahan practices her putting before a stage of the Chip , Putt , and Drive Championships .

regularly ate up valuable minutes from the clock .

The Bears did themselves no favors in the loss . They showed glimpes of the explosiveness of their offense , but either the defense was able to hold or the Bears would cause their own troubles with multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties as frustration mounted .

Justin Roden ’ s Trojans were able to claim the eighth regional title in school history with a 35-13 victory on the night to set up an IHSAA Semi-state game against the Greenwood Woodmen that East Central was again fortunate to host on Nov . 17 .

Although the opponent was more disciplined in its approach to the game , the Trojans were again able to display a ball-control offense featuring the backfield of Alex Maxwell , Logan Storie , and Eric Rosemeyer to defeat the Woodmen 27-14 .

The first quarter only amounted to 18 actual minutes to play the entire 12 of the quarter clock and the first half only took 45 minutes . Both teams exchanged fumbles to one another on their first possessions after moving the ball well . East Central took over on their own 22 and sustained a drive to the Greenwood 27 before turning it over on downs .

The slick natural turf , which is a rare thing for the Woodmen to play on , proved fortunate again for the Trojans as the Woodmen returner on the kickoff slipped and put his knee down inside their own one-yard line .

East Central made another special teams play with a kickoff return by Maxwell out to nearly midfield . A 16-yard carry by Jayden Williamson and a waggle screen from Maxwell to Storie on third and 16 for the score highlighted a drive that would increase the lead to 20-8 at 6:40 in the fourth after the Browndyke kick .

The Trojans advanced to Lucas Oil Stadium for a Saturday afternoon ( 3:30 ) match up with the # 1 ranked and undefeated Lowell Red Devils coached by Keith Kilmer . Congratulations to Coach Roden and the Trojans on a fine tournament run once again this year .