Photo submitted to Times Observer From right, Warren’s first District 10 boys golf champion, Nate Sandberg (2014), now coaches the second D10 boys golf champion, Braddock Damore. Damore won the Class 3A title by three strokes on Tuesday at The Country Club of Meadville.

MEADVILLE — In the words of WWE superstar John Cena, “The champ is here.” In the case of Warren senior Braddock Damore, the champ is “finally” here.

It would be unfair to call the District 10 3A boys golf championship a formality even with Damore the classification’s top golfer all season. But on Tuesday he showed what champions are made of on the 35th and next-to-last hole of the two-day tournament at The Country Club of Meadville.

“Standing on the 35th hole tee box, I was one-up on the Prep kid and two-up on (teammate) Brady (Berdine) and I hit a great approach to 4 feet and made the putt while the Prep kid made a bogey, which ended up putting me up three with one hole to go,” said Damore, who shot an 18-hole 72 on Monday and 75 on Tuesday for a 36-hole 147. “I would say that the 35th hole of the tournament really secured my victory.”

Cathedral Prep’s Cooper Wierzchowski was runner-up with a two-day 150 — three strokes back. He also advances to states as the top two from the 3A tournament move on to the PIAA Championships Oct. 16-17 at The Blue Course in State College. Warren’s Berdine was third, one stroke behind Wierzchowski and four off the leader.

“It feels awesome to finally make it to states and win districts and hopefully we can win this Thursday so we can go try to contend for the state title as an individual and team,” said Damore.

On Monday, Damore, Berdine and the Warren Dragons won their first-ever D10 3A team title. Warren, also the Region 6 champion, defeated second-place Prep 314-323. The Dragons next travel to DuBois on Thursday to take on District 9 champion Bradford and District 6 champ State College in the PIAA 3A Sub-Regional at Treasure Lake Silver Course.

Interestingly, Treasure Lake was Warren head coach Nate Sandberg’s home course when he played for Clarion University. As a high school senior in 2014, Sandberg shot a two-round 149 to become Warren’s first individual D10 boys golf champ.

“To be the first district champion from Warren was an amazing feeling, but to be the coach of the second district champion has a different amount of significance,” said Sandberg on Tuesday. “I am so proud of Braddock, Brady, and the rest of the team for all of the hard work they’ve put in this season. We are looking forward to the team sub-regional this Thursday and will prepare for states as best as we can.”

The son of an area golf pro, Damore has really improved since he was a high school freshman in his first season of competitive golf. Two-and-a-half years later, he finished third in the Pennsylvania Boys Junior Amateur Championship and became fully exempt on the American Junior Golf Association Tour, qualifying for nationals next month in Louisiana. He was fifth in the D10 tournament as a sophomore and sixth as a first-team all-region and all-district junior. Now, he’s the champion.

His rise hasn’t been without adversity, with Tuesday as a perfect example.

“Both of the two days started off going south as I had a very rough start (Tuesday and Monday), but I ended up getting the game back on track for the back nine both days,” said Damore. “My putting was very weak for the two days, but I think what helped me push through was my mental game and the experience I have playing in tournaments.”

Damore, being recruited by Division I, II, and III college programs, was excited to win D10, “but definitely more of a relief,” he said. “I think what made it such a relief is because of how bad the round today was and I still managed to pull through with the win. … You go into the tournament as the favorite and you have to try and back that up. Also, with never making it to states and it being my senior year, the pressure was definitely there, but whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I think today alone has proven that my mental game is very strong.”