Okemos' Masih Completes Homecoming, DCC Finishes Finals Repeat Under New Leader
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 7, 2025
EAST LANSING — Two years ago, Ian Masih of Okemos was envisioning high school golf success in Michigan, although he wasn’t even living in the state at the time.
Masih grew up in Michigan, but spent his freshman and sophomore years of high school living in the Orlando, Fla., area with his grandpa. He took online classes and enjoyed the luxury of being able to play golf year-round with a coach he had there.
But before his junior year, he decided to move back to cold-weather Michigan in spite of his golfing ambitions.
“I wanted to come back for family and friends,” he said. “It was good to be down there practicing all the time. But it was nice to come back.”
Masih was really thankful he came back to Michigan on Saturday after he won the medalist honor at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West.
Not surprisingly, the team championship was once again claimed by Detroit Catholic Central, which won its second-straight title and third over the last four years.
Back to Masih, he shot identical scores of 69 for a two-day total of 138 – one shot ahead of Catholic Central junior Jack Whitmore (139) and two shots ahead of Warren De La Salle Collegiate senior Julian Sinishtaj (140).
Signed with Grand Valley State, Masih had five birdies and just two bogeys and finished his day by birdieing the par-4, 386-yard third hole.
“Patience,” Masih said of the key to his round. “There were a lot of times I wanted to hammer it at the hole. But I stayed patient and made the putts I needed to.”
Masih said he didn’t know he needed a birdie on his last hole to sew up the title.
“I tried my best not to look,” he said. “It worked out.”
All of that certainly made coming back to the cold of Michigan worth it, even as he had to readjust to hitting balls in a dome during the winter. “A lot of (simulator) golf also,” he said.
Behind Masih, Catholic Central had two players finish among the top 10 – Whitmore and senior Dillon Che, who placed as part of a five-way tie for 10th (146).
Juniors David Krusinski and Collin Davis flanked those two with identical two-day totals of 151 for the Shamrocks, who had to deal with a little bit of a transition this year.
Head coach Mike Anderson retired after leading Catholic Central to five Finals titles over 10 years, but the train kept rolling behind new coach Mike Fras, an assistant with the team the past three seasons.
Catholic Central finished with a final team total of 587, seven shots ahead of Rochester Adams, which finished as the runner-up for the second-straight season with a total of 594.
“It was definitely a change with Coach Fras coming in,” Whitmore said. “We did things different. We actually had team practices this year. There really wasn’t any pressure. Just have fun, go out there and play good.”
Catholic Central entered the day 11 shots ahead of second-place Brighton and 15 shots ahead of fourth-place Adams.
The Highlanders had a strong second day, shooting a team score of 296 to climb into second position. But it wasn’t quite enough to make up the difference with Catholic Central.
“We only cared about the team, and that is what our priority has been all season,” Fras said. “Our first tournament of the season, Rochester Adams beat us pretty good. We knew Adams was going to be right back and we’d be going back and forth all season. Fortunately we had a really good first day, because Adams had a really good day today.”
Brighton (601), Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (602) and De La Salle (602) rounded out the top five.
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Marquette Boys Repeat as Moore Takes Next Step to Top Finals Leaderboard
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 28, 2025
BARK RIVER— Marquette junior Boden Moore prides himself on being a team player and supporting teammates.
But he admitted finishing one shot behind teammate Kaleb Chipelewski at last year’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 Final provided incentive going into this year’s event.
“It definitely motivated me a little bit,” Moore said.
This time, it was Moore who got to celebrate being on top of the leaderboard, as he carded a sizzling 2-under-par round of 70 on a tough Sage Run course to win the medalist honor Wednesday.
Moore eagled the short par-4, No. 8 hole, and recorded birdies on two par-5s, Nos. 3 and 9.
“I was just making all the six and seven-footers and hitting good drives,” Moore said. “I was throwing darts with the irons. The irons were locked in. Just putting them close and making some putts.”
Moore’s total and Marquette’s depth helped propel the Sentinels to their second straight team title.
Marquette finished with a total of 311, 11 shots ahead of runner-up Escanaba. Menominee (331), Houghton (334) and Kingsford (335) rounded out the top five in the 15-team field.
“We’ve had a really solid year as a group and individually,” Marquette head coach Ben Smith said. “Boden was playing the five slot today. Based on our scoring averages, that’s how it fell. These kids grind, they play really well together, they compete a lot, but they also know they are pulling for each other.”
In addition to Moore, junior Easton Aho shot a 78, junior Jack Pond shot an 80 and sophomore Seve Swanson carded an 83, meaning Chipelewski’s solid score of 85 could be thrown out from the team total.
“Today, they really didn’t have good vibes of things going the right way the whole time,” Smith said. “But they hung in there.”
On a pleasant day with little wind, individuals took advantage, with nine golfers breaking 80.
Ishpeming Westwood senior Tanner Annala finished as the runner-up with a 1-over-par round of 73, while Iron Mountain senior Cooper Pigeon was third with a 77.
For Escanaba, it was its best finish at the tournament since winning the second of back-to-back titles in 2018. Sophomore Carson Artley shot a 79 to finish in a tie for seventh and lead the way. Sophomores Jared Plourde (80) and Lincoln Bradfield (81), and junior Graham Johnson (82) weren’t too far behind and helped keep Escanaba within striking distance of Marquette.
“We’ve been looking at Marquette multiple times this year, and I think a lot of our success today was due to the fact we’ve been battling that team,” Escanaba coach Brian Robinette said. “Drafting off of them. We know they are going to play well, they’re not going to relent and not going to give us much. They made it a little interesting on the front nine, which allowed us to get a taste there. That’s just what golf does to you. As good as you are, you have to perform.”
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's boys golf team poses with the championship trophy after capturing its second-straight UP Division 1 title Wednesday at Sage Run Golf Course. (Middle) Carter Campioni of Houghton gets ready to tap in a putt on the ninth hole. (Photos by Keith Dunlap.)