WESSON – Led by freshman match medalist Freddy Janneck, theMadison St. Joseph Bruins came roaring back Wednesday in the secondround of the Class 2A State Golf Tournament at the Wolf Hollow GolfClub. They erased a 5-stroke deficit, beat defending state championLoyd Star by 11 strokes and claimed the championship.

The Bruins posted a 2-round total of 633, improving on Tuesday’sfirst round team total by 9 strokes. Loyd Star (644), playing onits home course, stumbled in the second round. The Hornets went 12strokes above their first round score of 316.

“We are a little discouraged right now but we will be back,”said Loyd Star coach Ricky Myers. He loses only one senior in JodyBritt who shot 81-84–165. Sophomore Blake Windham shot 74-78–152and finished third in the medalist race, claiming all-statetournament honors for a second straight year.

“All you can do is ask the kids to play hard,” said Myers. “Thepros have bad days and we had one today.”

Loyd Star had defeated St. Joe for the division tournamentchampionship two weeks ago at Wolf Hollow. The Hornets also hadbeaten St. Joe in the Natchez Invitational.

“Give St. Joe credit,” said Myers. “They have a good team. Theyplay smart golf and Janneck is tremendous at making shots aroundthe green.”

Janneck tied Todd Smith (75-76–151) of Gulfport St. John formedalist honors and won a pressure-packed 2-hole playoff. Bothplayers parred the par-5 first hole. On No. 2, Janneck salvaged abogey while Smith double bogeyed.

“I had a good feeling about this tournament,” said Janneck,whose home course is Whisper Lake in Madison.

St. Joe senior Michael Lefoldt earned all-state honors and saidhard work rewarded his team. “We came a long way over the years andfinally pulled through.”

Teammate John Shirley, one of two seniors on the team, agreed.”We have played every day since district (tournament). They(Hornets) beat us at Natchez and in the district. We beat them atColonial (Country Club) and here.”

St. Joe head coach Russell Boshers said, “We knew Loyd Star wasthe team to beat. This is their home course.

“I’m very proud of our team. We started out in January andpracticed three or four times a week. They are a very dedicatedgroup.”

St. John (647) finished 14 strokes back and placed third. TheEagles claimed 2 all-staters in Smith and Kevin Enroth(83-74–157). Enroth’s 2-over par second round was the best scoreof the day on the hilly layout.

Tyler Sparks (76-81–157) of Belmont made the all-state team,winning a playoff with Lefoldt. Sparks, a freshman, eagled thepar-5 playoff hole. He hit driver, 8-iron to set up an eaglechip.

The Bruce Trojans (657) finished fourth and Belmont’s Cardinals(658) were one stroke back. The Clarkdale Bulldogs were sixth,Baldwin’s Bearcats seventh and Ackerman’s Indians eighth andlast.

Leland Hinton of Wesson was among six golfers competing asindividuals. Hinton shot 83-85–168.