By Bill Foley

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Liam Kosior on Wednesday had the lowest score of a Butler County Community College golfer competing in the national championship tournament since at least 2009 and moved into contention for All-American status with teammate Troy Loughry.

Kosior shot a second-round 1-under 71 and the Pioneers maintained fourth place among 11 teams to qualify for the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III national championship tournament.

BC3 followed a 321 in the first round with a 314 on Wednesday and with a score of 635 is six strokes behind third-place Jamestown (N.Y.) Community College.

Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, N.C., the two-time defending national champion, remains in first place with a 576. Georgia Military College, Milledgeville, Ga., is second with a 594.

The Pioneers have never been as high as fourth place after two rounds of the national championship tournament, coach Bill Miller said. The Pioneers’ best finish in five previous appearances was sixth in 2022.

Kosior shaved 13 strokes off his first round and had the third-lowest score Wednesday among 98 golfers competing for All-American status on the par-72 Chautauqua Golf Club Lake Course.

“An exceptional round for sure, shaving that many strokes,” Miller said. “Going from an 83 to a 71, that’s pretty impressive.”

The 18 golfers with the lowest scores after the 72-hole national championship tournament are selected to be All-Americans.

Only the lowest four scores of each player in each round are tallied in the team standings. The squad with the lowest score after four rounds wins the national championship.

Kosior is tied for 19th place. Loughry, who placed fifth in 2022 to become BC3’s first first-team All-American, shot a second consecutive 74 on Wednesday and is tied for sixth place, seven strokes behind co-leaders.

BC3’s Jack Mason had an 84; Cory Voltz, an 85; and Tanner Hohmann, a 94.

Kosior had one eagle and two birdies in his final six holes Wednesday and has a two-round score of 154.

“He just had one of those confident looks that I haven’t seen from him in a while,” Loughry said.

“Impressive,” Hohmann said, “is the word.”

“He played very smart,” Voltz said.

Kosior “didn’t make any mistakes at all,” Miller said. “I’m very excited for Liam. He came so close last year.”

Kosior finished the 2022 national championship tournament tied for 20th place and two strokes shy of becoming an All-American.

“At this tournament, every shot counts,” Kosior said. “And it’s going to come down to the last day. And one shot might be the difference between becoming an All-American or not.

“As this third day comes in, you look back on the mistakes you made, and think, ‘OK, if I made this putt, I could be an All-American.’ It’s little things like that. It’s things you don’t think about in the moment, but afterward, you definitely do.”

Noah Maness, Sandhills, shot a 69 on Wednesday and teammate Ben Read, a 70. Nick Johnson, Georgia Military College, and Alex Martin, Sandhills, are tied for the lead with scores of 141.

Kosior’s best round in the national championship tournament in 2022 was a second-day 79.

BC3 earned its sixth automatic berth in the national championship tournament by winning its sixth NJCAA Division III Region 20 championship in May.

BC3’s lowest individual scores in the national championship tournament were 73s by Loughry in 2022; a 75 by Noah Morgan in 2019; a 73 by Tommy Dimun in 2015; and 77s by Matt Eshelman in 2013.

Individual scores from 2009, BC3’s only other appearance in the national championship tournament, were not immediately available.

BC3 golfers have won six All-American awards since 1996.

The college’s athletics programs have earned berths in NJCAA national championship tournaments 11 times since 2002.

Loughry and Hohmann are graduates of Grove City High School; Kosior, of Neshannock High; Voltz, of Knoch; and Mason, of Freeport.

Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content for Butler County Community College