Oct 6, 2022 3 min read

SEWICKLEY – During what turned into a four-hour walk, complete with stops every once in a while to smack a golf ball, Rocco Salvitti silenced the naysayers and in the process became a WPIAL 3A champion.

Salvitti, a resident of Canonsburg and senior at Central Catholic High School, was untouchable, leading from start to finish on a cool Thursday afternoon over the 6,467-yard, par-70 course at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley.

Though he was heavily favored but failed to win in the past two WPIAL events, Salvitti came through yesterday, chalking up four birdies, two on the front 9 and two on the back 9, to end up with a 2-under 68, the best score in the WPIAL finals since 2019, when Scott Bitar of Fox Chapel shot 66 at Fox Chapel Country Club.

Salvitti shot a two-round total of 139, counting the 71 he fired at Champion Lakes Golf Club last week to earn medalist honors. Golfers carried their scores from Champion Lakes into the next round. He was the only golfer in this event to finish under par.

The top 14 golfers yesterday advanced to the PIAA Championships, which will be held Oct. 17 and 18 at the Penn State Blue & White Course.

“I have never played the White course but I’ve played the Blue course many times,” said Salvitti, who will attend Notre Dame University next year. “I’m going to go up there and get a few practice rounds in and prep for winning states.”

Nick Turowski, a junior from Penn-Trafford, and Salvitti’s teammate, Connor Walker, finished tied for second with identical rounds of 72-73-145.

“This means a lot to me,” said Salvitti about bringing the golf championship back to Central Catholic. “No one’s won it since Brent Rodgers (in 2012). There’s been a lot of pressure on me. I think I’ve handled it pretty well everywhere I go, whether that would be locally or nationally. Losing the past three years, it means a lot bringing it home my senior year.”

The round didn’t start well for Salvitti. A poor approach shot to the first green left him with a bogey. But he birdied the par-3 third and the par-5 fifth to make the turn in 1-under 34.

“I made birdie on 6 and a good par on 7,” Salvitti said. “Ultimately, I pulled away.”

Salvitti bogeyed the par-3 13th but came right back with birdies on the par-4 14th and the par-3 15th.

“Individually, winning states has always been the goal,” Salvitti said. “Ulltimately, I’m up there to bring a team championship back to Central Catholic.”

Colton Lusk, one of four golfers from Peters Township in the tournament, was the Indians’ only state qualifier after shooting 75-79-154 for the two rounds. He finished tied for eighth place.

“The greens were very hard,” said Lusk. “The fairways weren’t bad as long as you hit them (in the right spots).”

Lusk bogeyed four straight holes on the on the back 9 but rallied by playing 1-under over the last three for a 75.

“He’s just solid. One word, solid,” said Peters Township head coach Dave Kuhn. “He’s had to pull himself out before. He’s won some big events. He’s slowly accumulating this data bank of positives that will help him to keep moving forward.”

Nick Wetzel of Peters Township shot 86-81-167 to finish in 29th place. His teammates Austin Malley and Ben Milller finished 32nd and 33rd, respectively, after shooting 170 and 171.