The 18th hole at Butler Country Club was good to Ben Gjebre yesterday. He played it twice -- once to give him a shot at the WPIAL championship and once to win the title.

Gjebre, a senior at Latrobe High School, beat Central Catholic senior Corey Wagner in the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the WPIAL crown on a cold and windy day.

"This is something that you kind of dream of, winning the championship in a playoff. It's kind of surreal," Gjebre said. "Winning in a playoff makes it a little better. It kind of adds more drama."

Gjebre forced the drama when he birdied the par-4, 397-yard No. 18 to tie Wagner. Gjebre and Wagner shot 73 in regulation, which was pretty good on a day with less than ideal weather conditions. Strong winds, especially in the morning, made it tough for many to post low scores, but 16 players still shot in the 70s.

Wagner was talking with a newspaper reporter when he learned Gjebre had tied him. The two started the sudden-death playoff on the par-4, 408-yard first hole. Both players parred, but Wagner had to make a 10-foot putt to stay even with Gjebre.

The two then went to No. 18. Gjebre, a left-hander, pulled his drive slightly right, 131 yards from the hole. Being left-handed helped in this case as Gjebre had to hit a pitching wedge around some trees and onto the green.

"I work my shots left to right, so I wasn't too worried," he said.

After Gjebre made the green on his second shot, Wagner hit an 8-iron just short of the green. Gjebre putted to within 5 feet while Wagner ran a pitch to 3 feet. Gjebre sank his putt, but Wagner's was a little hard and lipped out.

"I'd probably rather lose it being under the trees or something like that, rather than lose it that way," Wagner said of the missed putt. "I actually had the same putt to finish the round and I made it. I tried to ram it in the back [on the playoff hole], but pulled it a little."

Gjebre acknowledged he was a little surprised to win the title. This was the first year he made it to the championship round and wasn't really thinking about finishing first.

"I came in thinking to just shoot 80 and move on [to the PIAA semifinal round]," Gjebre said. "I wasn't thinking too much about winning.

"I drove the ball really well and putted well. Those are the two most important things you can do."

Sixty-two years ago, another Latrobe golfer won his second WPIAL title in a row. In 1947, a Latrobe senior named Arnold Palmer won the championship.

So, how coincidental it was that Gjebre gave Latrobe another title yesterday while Palmer's grandson, Will Wears, finished in a tie for 11th with a 78. Wears is only a freshman at Latrobe and moved from North Carolina to Latrobe only this summer.

It was a day for notable grandsons as Wagner is the grandson of well-known Pittsburgh golf figure Frank Fuhrer.

Also, North Hills junior Tyler Bergman finished 21st with an 81 and qualified for the PIAA semifinal round. Bergman is the grandson of retired NFL official Gerard Bergman.

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