Nash Yogurtian of Gilbert defeated a 16-player field in the Boys Championship division to win the 2026 Arizona Junior Match Play Championship, contested at Estancia Club July 30-31.
As the No. 2 seed, Yogurtian advanced to the finals with wins of 5 and 4, 4 and 2, and 3 and 2. He met Sam Meltzer of Paradise Valley, who reached the title match with wins of 4 and 2, 3 and 2, and 1 up over Ty Gould in the semifinals.
The title match went down to the wire. After a split decision through eight holes, Yogurtian took a 1-up lead on the par-5 9th with a birdie. He stretched his lead to as many as 2 up before Meltzer clawed back, squaring the match through 16 holes. Yogurtian answered with a birdie of his own on the par-5 17th to capitalize on an ill-timed double bogey from Meltzer, then closed it out with a clean par on 18 to win, 2 up.
In the Girls Championship division, the top 16 players in the season-long Player of the Year points race earned invitations. Ashley Shaw, fresh off her First Tee National Championship title, earned her place in the title match with wins of 3 and 2, 3 and 2, and a 19-hole battle over No. 3 seed Malone Wall of Scottsdale in the semifinal.
On the other side of the bracket, Mischa Wang of Scottsdale advanced to the finals with wins of 2 and 1, 1 up, and 2 and 1.
In the final, Shaw took an early 2-up lead through the first four holes. The match settled into a stretch of halved holes through the middle of the front nine before Shaw rattled off three birdies and just one bogey over the final 10 holes. She widened her lead to 4 up through 15 holes to close out the match, 4 and 3, marking her first JGAA victory since the 2024 Warren Schutte Invitational at Wigwam.
