I worked my first shift at Oglebay just a few weeks ago. On my first day, I honestly did not know what to expect. As someone who is not outgoing, I found it tough to settle in, and to put it lightly, I was very confused about what to do. That was until Andrew showed up. He helped the other new employees and me, who were struggling to find our feet. The leadership he showed then is the same leadership he has shown throughout his high school career, in The Park Press, and, more specifically, on the golf team.
Wheeling Park High School boys golf team head coach, Don Headly, goes in-depth on Andrew’s character and what he meant to the team.
“He’s such a really good kid. He’s always team first, helping all the other players on the team, and he’s going to be greatly missed; there’s no doubt about it. He’s been a great leader as a senior. There were a couple of seniors we had this year, Andrew and Will Koegler, and they both stepped up and took over what we had to do and led the team. Andrew was very instrumental in that, so he’s done a fabulous job. He’s always practiced hard, always been 100% committed to the game of golf, and he’ll continue that on through his college career, too,” said Coach Don Headley.
Andrew was a four-year member of the Wheeling Park High School golf team, a member of the 2022 state championship team, and was the 2025 Larry Martin Sportsman of the Year by the West Virginia Golf Association. Andrew has been golfing since the age of six, and has fallen in love with everything about the sport. From the architecture of golf courses to the mechanics of his swing, he has played on some of the most premier golf courses in the world, such as Pebble Beach in Pebble Beach, California, Whistling Straits in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, and The Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
Through all the memorable moments playing golf at Wheeling Park High School, Andrew discusses two of his favorite memories from the last four years.
“I won the state championship on the team in 2022, my freshman year. On top of that, last year, my junior year, we were fourth or fifth in our region. We thought we were a whole lot better, but we still didn’t really think we would make a state tournament, and if we did, it would be Will and me as individuals. Morgantown beat us at OVAC’s by 40, but we turned around and beat them at regionals to make the state tournament. The night we beat them, University also beat them, so neither of us had beaten them [Morgantown] all year, and Morgantown was one of the favorites to win the state tournament, and they weren’t even going to play in it,” said Andrew.
After graduation, Andrew plans to play golf at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and while he hasn’t declared a major yet, he thinks it will do business administration.
Golf isn’t the only sport that Andrew has a passion for, as if you’ve looked around at a Wheeling Park sporting event over the last four years, you’ve probably seen him somewhere in the crowd. He has attended an estimated 66(!) games in football, boys’ and girls’ basketball, volleyball, and baseball, but hopes to add to this number by attending a softball game or tennis match before he graduates in the next month. This commitment, especially to the basketball teams, caught the eye of boys’ head coach, Michael Jebbia, who even gave out some free equipment to Andrew as a token of being there for the team.
Not only has Andrew shown up to all of those sporting events throughout his high school career, but he also went down to Morgantown to support his friends on the speech and debate team, where they brought home their 46th consecutive state title.
In the classroom, Andrew has been a consistent student, and a prime example of this consistency can be seen in his writing in The Park Press. Andrew has been in The Park Press for all four years since its inception in the 2022-2023 school year, where he has been writing thorough articles on topics ranging from sports to teachers, and even what is going on at Wheeling Park High School. The current Editor in Chief is one of the longest tenured students in the program, and has grown to love many aspects of the journalism program.
“I love to see what JoceLynn [McFarland] comes up with on the print every month, design-wise. I love to read everyone’s articles and get to edit them. The people that I’ve met through the class are probably one of my favorite parts as well. I would have never guessed that my freshman year, by senior year, I’d be friends with so many members of the speech and debate team. Some of those friendships were made through the Press,” said senior Andrew.
With the seniors’ last day on May 22nd, Andrew hopes to make the most of the last few weeks of his high school life before he walks across the stage on May 31st.
“[For the last month of high school] I will spend as much time as I can with friends. I’ve always enjoyed school more than most, but this year it seems like more than ever. I don’t like getting up at 6 a.m. every day, but I’m excited to get out of bed every day and come to school. I’ve gotten to know so many people through this building, and so many friends through this building. It’ll be kind of hard leaving this building because it has honestly changed my life so much. Freshman year, I would have never expected to know so many people by this time in senior year. Where I’m going, there’s no one from here, so I will enjoy the last month in class with friends that I’ve known from elementary school through middle school and high school,” said senior Andrew.
From The Park Press and me, we wish Andrew the best of luck at Earlham and whatever the future may hold for him! Your support for this school and The Park Press will be missed, but we can’t wait to see all the many things you accomplish after high school!
