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Wheeling Park coach Don Headley, left, stands with his team, from left, Campbell Keogler, James Salvatori, Noah Seivertson, Gavin Goodrich and Owen Leary after winning the regional tournament.

WHEELING — When the high school golf season began, there were questions on whether or not we would get to this point of the season.

Well worry no more. We made it. The 2020 West Virginia High School Golf Championship tees off Tuesday and will wrap up Wednesday at Oglebay’s Jones Course, where the best individual golfers and best teams in the state will be crowned champions.

In the team category, Wheeling Park is a top competitor in Class AAA after finishing runner-up a year ago. The Patriots, led by seniors Noah Seivertson and James Salvatori, are looking for their first title since 2014.

“This will be their fourth year of playing in the state championship in a row,” Park coach Don Headley said of his senior duo. “Those two are a part of three OVAC championships in their four years and this is the last time they get a shot at state. They’ve been prepping for it all season, they are really focused and they know what they have to do.

“They know how to play the Jones Course. It’s just a matter of them finding their stride and taking good swings. If they get in trouble, they have to get out with minimal damage. Both played great all year and they are both looking forward to having a good couple of days at Jones.”

Salvatori and Seivertson finished second and third, respectively, at the Williams Country Club in the regional with scores of 76 and 78.

Seivertson finished second at state as a junior with a two-day card of 155 and Salvatori scored a 169.

Also for Park, sophomore Gavin Goodrich turned in an 81 at the regional and will look to improve on last year’s 178 score at the state tournament.

“Gavin has experience,” Headley said. “Owen (Leary) played in it last year, too, so he also has some experience at state. Freshman Campbell Koegler will golf Tuesday to gain experience for next year and Owen will finish for us on Wednesday. We’ll have all three of those guys back next year but our main objective is to send our two seniors out with two good days of golf.”

Huntington won its first title since 1999 last year but Cabell Midland and George Washington may be the teams, along with Wheeling Park, in the race for first place this time around.

“We’ve only played a couple of times together but GW is always competitive and so is Cabell Midland,” Headley said.

Buckhannon-Upshur finished second at the Class AAA Region One Tournament to qualify for state but with the latest COVID-19 map of West Virginia putting Upshur County in the orange category, it doesn’t look as though the Buccaneers will make the trip to Wheeling.

“Buckhannon-Upshur won’t get to play from what I hear,” Headley said. “I hope they can test negative for COVID and come and be able to compete but from what I’m hearing they can’t play.”

Defending state champion from Brooke, Ryan Bilby, won the regional with a course record 8-under par 64 and he is ready to defend his title.

A year ago, he fired a 145 to take home top honors at state.

Also in Class AAA, John Marshall’s Colton Sprowls earned a spot at state with a card of 82 in the regional tournament.

In Class A, Wheeling Central will be represented by Justin Doerr, who earned regional title honors with an amazing round of 66 at Crispin.