St. Joe. On the Go

10/01/2026

The New State of the Flyers!

FLYERS ARE STATE-BOUND: ST. JOSEPH CAPTURES DIVISION III DISTRICT GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP—David Lucas, DLC Sports Network

(MEDIA REPUBLICATION NOTICE: News and sports media outlets are hereby granted permission to use, reproduce, publish, broadcast, or share this article, in whole or in part, provided appropriate credit is given to David M. Lucas (DLC Sports Network) as the original author and source. Copyright and authorship remain with David M. Lucas.)

Ironton’s St. Joseph Flyers continue a remarkable postseason run, firing a 314 at Portsmouth Elks to claim the district championship and earn a place among Ohio’s best.

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — The St. Joseph Flyers have spent the 2026 golf season building momentum.

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, that momentum became a championship.

Ironton St. Joseph captured the OHSAA Division III Southeast District Boys Golf Championship, posting a team score of 314 at Portsmouth Elks Country Club and punching its ticket to the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III State Golf Tournament.

For a small school from Ironton, it is a remarkable accomplishment—and one that comes after a season in which the Flyers have repeatedly demonstrated that they belong among the region’s elite.

The district championship came just days after St. Joseph had already secured the Division III sectional championship, continuing what has become an extraordinary postseason march. OHSAA’s tournament structure sent the top five teams from each Southeast Division III sectional to the district competition, with the district championship providing the pathway to the state tournament.

And the Flyers took full advantage of the opportunity.

A SEASON OF CHAMPIONSHIPS

The district title did not come out of nowhere. Earlier in September, St. Joseph captured the Southern Ohio Conference Division I championship for the second consecutive season. The Flyers dominated that championship round at Elks Country Club with a team score of 308, finishing 51 strokes ahead of runner-up Portsmouth Notre Dame.

Freshman Cohen Dressel fired a 71 to claim individual medalist honors and was named the SOC Division I Player of the Year. Teammates Mitchell Heighton, Christopher Phillips and Troy Erlenwein also earned First-Team All-SOC honors, while head coach Quinn Cole was named SOC Coach of the Year.

That conference championship established the Flyers as a team to watch heading into tournament play. Then came the sectional.

At Big Beaver Creek Golf Club in Piketon, St. Joseph shot 310, finishing 26 strokes ahead of Portsmouth West and taking the Division III sectional championship. The Flyers weren’t simply advancing. They were advancing with authority.

PHILLIPS SETS THE TONE

One of the most important pieces of St. Joseph’s postseason success has been junior Christopher Phillips.

At the sectional tournament, Phillips fired a 2-over-par 73 to claim individual medalist honors for the second consecutive year.

Coach Quinn Cole noted that Phillips produced some of his best golf when the stakes were highest. His sectional round included only three bogeys and one birdie.

The Flyers also received a 76 from Cohen Dressel, a 79 from Mitchell Heighton and an 82 from senior Jadyn Fields. Troy Erlenwein added an 84.

Heighton’s performance was particularly notable. According to Cole, the freshman battled a migraine throughout the sectional round but refused to surrender, grinding his way to a 79.

Cole jokingly referred to it as Heighton’s “Jordan Flu game,” a nod to the kind of performance athletes sometimes produce when they simply refuse to let circumstances determine the outcome.
That mentality has characterized this Flyers team.

FROM SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS TO DISTRICT CHAMPIONS

Then came Portsmouth. The Portsmouth Elks Country Club became the stage for the next chapter.

With a 314 team score, the Flyers claimed the Division III district championship and earned the right to represent Southeast Ohio at the state tournament.

The significance of the accomplishment is magnified by the nature of Ohio’s Division III tournament structure. St. Joseph had to navigate sectional competition before arriving at the district level, where only one team and one individual not belonging to a qualifying team would advance from the Southeast District to the state tournament.

In other words, there was little margin for error. One round. One team champion.
One ticket to state. The Flyers earned theirs.

THE ROAD TO NORTHSTAR

Now the target moves from Portsmouth to Sunbury, Ohio, and NorthStar Golf Club.

According to the OHSAA’s 2026 schedule, the Division III Boys State Golf Tournament is scheduled for October 12–13, 2026, at NorthStar Golf Club.

For St. Joseph, the state tournament represents the culmination of a season that has already included:

* Back-to-back Southern Ohio Conference Division I championships
* 2026 SOC Player of the Year honors for Cohen Dressel
* SOC Coach of the Year honors for Quinn Cole
* 2026 Division III sectional championship
* 2026 Division III district championship
* A 314 district score
* A trip to the OHSAA Division III State Tournament

And perhaps most importantly, the Flyers arrive at state having already learned how to handle tournament pressure. They have been here before.

They know what it feels like to stand over a shot knowing that every stroke matters. They know what it means to finish a round, gather around the clubhouse and wait for the final numbers. And now they know what it feels like to win.

A TEAM, NOT JUST A SCORECARD

Golf can look like an individual sport. One player. One ball. One club. One shot at a time.

But tournament golf is ultimately about a team finding a way to put five individual performances together into one collective score. That has become the identity of the 2026 Flyers.

Dressel has emerged as one of the area’s most exciting young golfers. Phillips has demonstrated veteran-level composure in postseason competition. Heighton has shown toughness. Fields has provided senior leadership. Erlenwein has supplied valuable depth. And behind them stands a coaching staff led by Quinn Cole.

The numbers tell part of the story. The championships tell another part. But the picture of these Flyers standing together with their championship hardware tells perhaps the clearest story of all. They have become a cohesive, unified team.

NOW, THE STATE

There is no need for the Flyers to look any farther ahead than the next shot. That has been their formula all season. The conference championship is behind them.
The sectional championship is behind them. The district championship is now behind them. Ahead they see the NorthStar.
Ahead is Ohio’s Division III state championship. And m, ahead, stands an opportunity that every high school golfer dreams about: representing his school, his teammates and his community on the biggest stage of the season.

The Flyers will carry with them the confidence of a championship season—but the state tournament will begin with every team back at even par. That is the beauty of tournament golf. Past scores don’t count.
Reputations don’t count. Championship banners don’t count.

When the first tee shot is struck at NorthStar, it will come down to the same thing that has carried St. Joseph all season:
One shot. One hole. One round. One team.

And for the St. Joseph Flyers of Ironton, Ohio, the journey that began with a goal of winning has now become something much bigger. They are going to STATE.

The Flyers have earned their place. Now they get to see how far they can take all of this.Possible? Oh yes, to beyond the stars. Because, as they say, “We know a Guy!”

ST. JOSEPH FLYERS — 2026 GOLF
By Favid Lucas, DLC Sports Network
SOC Division I Champions
Division III Sectional Champions
Division III District Champions
District Score: 314
OHSAA Division III State Tournament Bound
NorthStar Golf Club — October 12–13, 2026

09/03/2026

Celebrating our 2nd year on Facebook. Thank you for your continuing support. We could never have made it without you. 🙏🤗🎉

05/20/2026

We asked the graduating seniors from St Joe High School how they felt about their last day. 🤣😂😎 ?

05/19/2026

The teachers working in fully phone-free schools aren't describing incremental improvement. They're describing a different institution.

Not phone-in-bag. Not "allowed during passing period." The real thing: phones stored away from students' bodies for the duration of the school day, returned at dismissal. Consistent. Structural. Not dependent on individual teacher enforcement in each room.

What teachers in these schools report isn't primarily about test scores or focus metrics. It's about presence. Students who are actually in the room. Conversation that happens face to face instead of alongside a running parallel track on a screen. Social dynamics that arrive in the morning shaped by sleep and the previous day rather than by what was said in a group chat at midnight. Lunch that looks like students talking to each other.

They describe noticeably fewer incidents that trace back to social media -- the screenshot that circulated, the comment thread that metastasized, the conflict that followed two students into first period because it started on their phones at 2 AM. These incidents don't disappear in phone-free schools. But they're significantly less frequent, and they don't arrive with the same momentum they carry when students have been stewing over a notification for the last six hours.

The research that supports these observations has been building for years. The accumulated data on adolescent phone use, sleep disruption, anxiety, attention, and in-person social skill development has been consistent across studies. Jonathan Haidt and others have synthesized it accessibly enough that it's moved into mainstream policy conversation, but the teachers have been watching the effects in classrooms for longer than the policy conversation has been loud.

What's notable now is that the schools that implemented structural solutions early are generating real-world observational data. And the teachers in those schools are not ambivalent about what they're seeing.

Is your school phone-free? What has actually changed since the policy went in?

05/19/2026

Enjoy the St. Joe Senior Walk Through (Class of 2026). Watch as the Seniors take one last stroll through the halls of St. Lawrence. Try not to cry! 😭😭 (The more you share this, the greater the joy!)

04/16/2026

National Honor Society Members and Inductees. Congratulations to all!