Photo by Cody Tomer Brooke’s Ryan Bilby earned his second straight West Virginia Class AAA state golf title Wednesday.

WHEELING — Brooke senior Ryan Bilby cemented his legacy on Wednesday.

After taking a one shot lead after Day 1 of the West Virginia High School State Golf Championship, Bilby did what champions do best — finish.

The defending state champion carded a 72 on Day 2 to wrap up his second straight Class AAA state title with a two-day score of 149 (7-over par) at a windy Oglebay Jones Course.

Bilby looked locked in as droves of fans, friends and family looked on as he embarked on his historic moment.

“My sophomore year, I didn’t make it here,” Bilby said.

“It was like the comeback, winning it the next two years after not making it. Hopefully that’s what I’m remembered by — these two years. It’s awesome.”

Down the stretch, Bilby’s best friend and strongest competitor, Wheeling Park’s Noah Seivertson, was sitting at 1-over par for the day, which would have tied Bilby. However, the Brooke standout pulled away to earn the crown by four shots over Seivertson.

On the 18th and final hole, as Bilby waited for the group ahead to finish, he thought about his career and took in the moment.

“Standing on the 18th tee, I thought ‘it’s me and Noah at the top of the leaderboard on the last hole of our senior year,'” Bilby said with a smile.

Bilby came inches from chipping in for birdie on 18 as fans let out a roar and when he completed his round and his high school career, Brooke coach Ron Ujcich Jr. was there to greet him with a hug.

“It’s incredible. I’m just very proud of him,” an emotional Ujcich said. “Looking back 10-15 years from now is something that he can be very proud of. I’ve been here long enough and seen some great golfers like Thadd Obecny, Cole Hand, Dylan Wojcik. You can throw a ton of names out there and he’s right there with them.

“This is so well deserved. All the work he’s put in, the tournaments he’s traveled to, what his parents (Christy and Glenn) have done for him just to put him in this position, all the guys involved and his friends being out on the course. Then, all the older guys in the valley that have taken him to golf with them — going back-to-back –not many people get a chance to do that. I’m going to miss him but it’s a great day.”

Bilby extended his lead with birdies on holes 5, 6 and 14, while playing with an injured wrist he suffered Tuesday.

“It was iffy,” Bilby said of his wrist. “I tried to punch a shot on 13 and I jabbed it in the ground and it felt pretty bad but other than that it was OK, just a little sore.”

Bilby has golfed many rounds with members of the Wheeling Park team, which also won the team state title, and Park coach Don Headley thinks very highly of him.

“He’s a Park guy in disguise,” Headley said with a laugh. “He’s the reason why James and Noah and the rest of our kids are so good because we play so much golf with him that he makes our kids better because they want to beat him. It didn’t happen this year. Noah almost had him but he is definitely the reason why James, Noah, Gavin and the rest of our crew played well this year.”

In Bilby’s career, he has racked up two state titles, three OVAC titles, three regional titles, all-state and All-OVAC honors as a freshman and most importantly represented his school, the Ohio Valley and the state of West Virginia with class and greatness.