WHEELING — Facing two local golfers in the final round of the 10th annual Kalkreuth Amateur Golf Championship was a special day, but for completely different reasons.

Wheeling Central graduate Kyle Wensel breezed through the back nine on the sun-drenched Robert Trent Jones-designed course at Speidel Golf Club in Oglebay Park. Just one shot behind perennial leader Bart Mease with two holes remaining, the 25-year-old project manager at Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal made birdies on the 17th and 18th holes after Mease, a 2004 Robert Morris University Hall of Fame inductee, made bogeys on both.

Wensel finished the day at 140 for two, including a round on the Arnold Palmer-designed course at West Virginia 88. Wensel shot 68 on Saturday to finish one stroke behind Mease, a native of Gaithersburg, Maryland, who was the 1996 Northeast Conference Tournament champion at RMU.

“I had heard whispers about what everyone was going through, and I actually thought the individual part was over.” Wensel admitted the last few holes. “I thought the best ball was close. I made birdie on 18 which helped the team, I’m team-first. When we got to the top, I found out I won the individual with that shot.

“I didn’t think 72 would be enough today, but I guess it was.”

Wensel said the Maroon Knights have not won a tournament since winning the West Virginia Class A state championship in 2016-17 during their senior season.

“I feel about 40 pounds lighter since I got rid of the monkey on my back.” Wensel gave permission. “I’ve been in the running for the title a few times but I’ve never been able to come out on top. It feels really good and I’ll be letting the guys know who won for a while.”

On the women’s side, Buckeye Local High School and Wheeling University golf star Emily Holzopfel took first place in the medal category with a two-day total of 140 strokes. She finished seven strokes ahead of second-place Kailey Pettit, head golf coach at Bethany College, and two strokes under.

The 23-year-old Holzopfel, who scored 73 points on Saturday, took a step ahead of his rivals by scoring 67 points on Sunday.

“Both golfers added best-ball titles to their days, with Wensel and Bryan Myers edging out Mease and Jason Lis on the first playoff hole. Both duos had two-day totals of 133.

“I come for the team. The team always comes first in my genre and I’ve been playing with BT since I was 12.” “He helped a lot,” the 25-year-old said after the one-hole playoff. “I started badly and he’s telling me to be patient and just have fun. We’re a good team. Jones (on the field) on the back nine and anything can happen.

“It’s a great feeling. I couldn’t be happier.”

Holzopfel and former Wheeling University teammate Marra Johnson combined for a two-day total of 133 points, nine strokes ahead of Bailey Frederick and Pettit.

“This means everything to me,” Holzopfel suppressed her emotions as she thought of her mother, Mary, who died earlier this summer. “I know you’d be proud of me.”

Other winners include Seth Abraham (men’s major league); Bob Clark (men’s major league); Jeff Sparks (men’s super major league); Brodi Foster (junior league); Abraham and Ron Stephens (men’s major league best ball); and Sparks and Dean Staber (men’s super major league).