St. Marys’ Trevor Maley reacts after missing a putt during the state golf tournament Wednesday in Wheeling. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

WHEELING, W.Va. — As if the golf course and its difficulty didn’t create enough anxiety the past two days at the West Virginia High School State Golf Tournament, the waiting game for the announcement of all-state recognition added another layer of stress for Williamstown junior Madilyn Buttrey following Wednesday’s final round.

Buttrey hovered around the cut-off throughout her final round. And for a split second, with one hole remaining, she was one place out of contention.

By the time she tapped in for par on her final hole, she had secured a tie for eighth place in Class AA and her first all-state honor.

Buttrey and Camryn Thomas of Midland Trail both finished with a two-day total of 173.

“Waiting for the official word was so nerve-wracking – you never know if something could go wrong with the scores even though I checked a billion times to make sure it was all right,” said Buttrey, who won this year’s Girls State Tournament. “I struggled with my putting all day, so I looked at my birdie putt forever, trying to figure it out. I missed it, but I knew it was an easy-tap-in for par.

Williamstown’s Madilyn Buttrey follows through on a swing during the state golf tournament Wednesday in Wheeling. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“It was definitely scary toward the end of my round. I saw I had a couple of holes left and I just needed to keep going. Being all-state means a lot. I couldn’t ask for more. I’ve had a really good season and I’m proud of it. Hopefully, I can do it again next year and do even better.”

Doddridge County’s Caleb Sutton joined the Class AA all-state team after a fifth-place finish (168) and led the Bulldogs to a third place finish in the team standings at 534 behind state champion Midland Trail (514) and runner-up Petersburg (526).

“Being a senior, this was my last time golfing so I figured I’d better put something together,” Sutton said. “Trying to win state as a team was a high bar to reach considering we didn’t even have a team until four years ago. I am going to miss the guys a lot, definitely.”

While Doddridge County slipped down a few notches on the final day of the state tournament, St. Marys flipped the script on the mood after the first round when the Blue Devils slipped into sixth place in Class A.

Behind Trevor Maley’s third place showing, a 22-stroke improvement from Desmond Parks and an 11-stroke improvement from Tripp Morrison, the Blue Devils shot up the standings for third place (561) behind state champion Charleston Catholic (495) and runner-up Wahama (517).

St. Marys’ Tripp Morrison putts during the state golf tournament Wednesday in Wheeling. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“After Tuesday’s round, I can tell you there was no conversation happening on the way back to the hotel,” St. Marys coach Catie Hamilton said. “Tuesday didn’t go so hot – we came off the course feeling really discouraged because we know we didn’t play our best.

“Tonight, I think it will be a much more pleasant ride home because they played their best, and that’s all we could ask for.”

Hamilton looked to Morrison as a team leader this season, and in all likelihood will follow the same path next season when the team returns all four golfers who played at the state tournament this year plus the host of golfers joining the high school ranks who won the Wood County League Tournament this past week.

“We just came into today trying to have fun because we were missing out on school,” Morrison said. “I definitely played better today. I kept myself in a better mindset than yesterday. I know I lost myself during that first round.”

A total of three area golfers earned all-state honors in Class A, including Maley (166), Wirt County’s JJ Smith placing fifth (169) and Gilmer County’s Troy Woodford finishing in a tie for seventh (175).

St. Marys’ Trevor Maley putts during the state golf tournament Wednesday in Wheeling. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Maley, just a freshman, held his own playing in a group consisting of medalist Will Gruse of Charleston Catholic, and fellow all-staters Avery Skeens from Sherman and Grant Roush from Wahama.

“It seems Trevor has been the talk of the tournament,” Hamilton said. “I think he surprised a lot of people out here. He just had the best composure on the course. He was able to stay very composed because everybody out here had bad holes today and yesterday.”

While his teammates were improving their game during the second round, Maley actually felt better about his first round effort of 10-over par 81.

“On Tuesday, I was able to do well all-around – today, I did all right,” Maley said.

For Smith, he settled into the fifth place slot close to the halfway point and remained there throughout. Last year as a freshman, he shot two rounds in the mid- to upper-90s.

Williamstown’s Madilyn Buttrey reacts during the state golf tournament Wednesday in Wheeling. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“This year I was able to keep my cool despite any bad holes – I just kept battling,” Smith said. “If I hit a bad shot, I was able to come back and limit the big numbers.

“Overall, I hit the ball great. I could have played better, but I definitely did not play bad.”

Woodford joined Smith in the category as an individual qualifier who was not a member of a qualifying team. The sophomore is 2-for-2 in high school career in terms of qualifying for the state tournament.

“I learned the course from last year,” Woodford said. “I couldn’t ask for much more out of this season. I did a lot better than I thought I would.

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com