De Marco, Brost meet in finals at Texas Junior Match Play

MAGNOLIA — Knox Barnard of Waxahachie headlined the first day of match play at the inaugural Texas Junior Match Play at High Meadow Ranch Golf Club, knocking off the No. 1 and No. 9 seeds to punch his ticket to the semifinals as the No. 16 seed.

The Bracket: Match play arrived Wednesday morning and the change in atmosphere was immediate — competitors locked in and ready to go head-to-head in the most anticipated portion of the inaugural event.

In the Boys Division, Barnard wasted no time making his presence known, stunning stroke play medalist and No. 1 seed Elliot Cope of Spicewood 2 & 1 to open the day. Adrian Bowers of Pearland eliminated Qasym Dar of Houston 2 up, while Sonny Sciantarelli of Austin edged Evan Rohde of Houston 1 up. Landon Hilario of Garland defeated Logan Houl of Diboll 2 & 1, and Tripp Depoy of The Woodlands dispatched Luke Oliver of Dallas 4 & 2. In one of the morning’s most dramatic matches, Krish Shah and Micah Stewart went 19 holes before Shah emerged victorious. Edward Lehner turned in arguably the most dominant performance of the round, carding a 30 on the front nine on his way to a 7 & 6 victory over Ayden Hubbard. In the final Boys Division morning match, Jake Knobler of Sugar Land held off Payne Stebbins of Magnolia 1 up.

In the Girls Division, stroke play medalist and No. 1 seed Stephanie De Marco of Southlake defeated Madelyn Conley of Pinehurst 4 & 3. Katelyn Davis of Kingwood took down Madeline Buckley of Magnolia 2 up, while Izzy Brost of Highland Village rolled to a 5 & 4 victory over Krysta Loftin of Pearland. Katherine Janda of Friendswood closed out the morning quarterfinals with a 3 & 1 win over Natalie Nwoko of Austin.

In the afternoon, Barnard and Bowers delivered a wire-to-wire battle that came down to the final hole, with Barnard winning 1 up on No. 18 to book the first semifinal spot. Lehner was next to advance, defeating Knobler 4 & 3. Depoy punched his ticket with a 2 & 1 win over Shah, and Hilario rounded out the Boys Division semifinal field with a 2 up victory over Sciantarelli.

On the girl’s side, Brost became the first player to advance to the championship match, defeating Janda 5 & 3. She will be joined by De Marco, who defeated Davis 3 & 1 to set up a highly anticipated No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in Thursday’s championship match.

Weather: Wednesday brought a mix of sunshine and storms to High Meadow Ranch. Temperatures started in the high 70s before climbing into the high 80s by 11 a.m. and peaking at 94 degrees in the midafternoon. Play was suspended at 4:38 p.m. due to lightning as a storm moved up from the south, with competitors resuming at 5:30 p.m. When play picked back up, winds of 10 mph with gusts reaching 15 mph presented a new challenge for those still needing to complete their matches.

Host Course: High Meadow Ranch Golf Club, located in Magnolia just northwest of Houston, opened in 1999 and has established itself as one of the premier public golf facilities in the Greater Houston area. The course was designed by former PGA Tour professional David Ogrin alongside golf course architect Tim Nugent, taking advantage of the property’s rolling terrain, towering pines, hardwood forests and natural ravines to create a memorable championship layout.

Unlike a traditional 18-hole routing, High Meadow Ranch features three distinctive six-hole loops — the Forest Loop, Pine Barrens Loop and Signature Loop — allowing for a unique playing experience. The course has earned recognition as one of Houston’s top public golf destinations thanks to its challenging design, excellent conditioning and picturesque setting within the High Meadow Ranch community.

Player of the Year Points: 1,000 points  in the 2026 Player of the Year Points Race presented by Huntington Bank are up for grabs this weekend at the inaugural Texas Junior Match Play. Points are awarded at each tournament to the top half of each division.

Next Up: Matches for the final day of match play have been released and can be found here. To view results from Wednesday’s matches, click here. The Boys Division semifinal matches get underway Thursday at 7:30 a.m. and 7:38 a.m., followed by the Girls Division championship match at 7:46 a.m.