In 38 years as a New Hampshire Golf Association State Amateur competitor, Bob Mielcarz has seen just about everything. But before Thursday afternoon, the nine-time champion had never been involved in a match that went seven extra holes, he said.

Unfortunately, the 62-year-old printing salesman lost an epic round-of-16 battle at Concord Country Club, ending a spirited bid on his home course for a 10th State Am title. With a par on the 25th hole, Steve Lane defeated Mielcarz, 1 up, in what Mielcarz said will be his final State Am match.

A Nashua middle-school teacher who plays out of Green Meadow in Hudson, Lane advanced to Friday morning's quarterfinals, in which he will meet Lake Sunapee's D.J. Lantz. Before ousting Mielcarz, the 43-year-old Wilton resident defeated Concord's Fletcher Sokul, 3 and 2, on Thursday morning.

In Friday's other quarterfinal matches, defending champion Jim Cilley of Canterbury Woods will face Nashua's Ryan Brogan; Atkinson's Joe Leavitt will face Laconia's Chris Houston; and Newport's Matthew Killam will face The Overlook's Ryan Friel.

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Lantz, 23, advanced with lopsided victories over Souhegan Woods' Chase Dembisky (7 and 6) and Concord's Will McLaughlin (6 and 5). Cilley, 31, beat Crotched Mountain's Joshua Chamberlain (3 and 2) and Candia Woods' Kevin Ferendo (6 and 4), while Brogan, 28, outlasted Hanover's Tyler Silver and Intervale's Sean Lacey by 2-and-1 margins.

Leavitt, 18, defeated Abenaqui's Billy Forcier (4 and 2) and Manchester's Ryan Tombs (3 and 2), while fellow 18-year-old Houston beat Keene's Ryan Fuller and Bald Peak's Chase Lovett-Woodsum by 5-and-4 margins. Killam, 17, outlasted Pease's Colin Barnea (4 and 3) and Manchester's Scott Underhill (5 and 4), while Friel, 31, downed Stonebridge's Jim Reid (4 and 3) and Pine Grove Springs' Charles Konkowski (1 up).

Lane and Mielcarz provided the big show on Thursday, with the gallery swelling as their extended Sweet 16 showdown wore on. Playing in sneakers, as is his habit, Lane was 2 up early before Mielcarz fought back and grabbed a 1-up lead with a par on No. 15. Needing only to halve the last hole to win the match, however, the tournament medalist and resident Methuselah uncharacteristically hit his pitching-wedge approach from the left rough over the 18th green.

“When I hit it and the ball was in the air, I thought it was a perfect second shot,” Mielcarz said. “When it landed and went over the green, I was shocked. I just can't imagine how I hit a wedge that far, unless it was just a little adrenaline rush or something.”

The shot left Mielcarz with a downhill chip from a dicey lie, and he fluffed his third shot well short of the hole.

“I didn't want to try to hit a shot that was going to run, because I thought I would run it way by,” he explained. “So then I tried to hit something where I would get the club underneath it, and the club went clean right under it, and the ball just went nowhere.”

Although Mielcarz nearly holed his lengthy par putt, Lane two-putted from 30 feet, and his par sent the match to overtime. After the pair traded pars on Nos. 19 and 20, Lane had a golden opportunity to win on the 21st but left a 12-foot birdie putt woefully short.

After the duo parred Nos. 22 and 23, Mielcarz seized an advantage on the 24th when his fairway approach found the middle of the green on Concord's second hole, a brutish par-4 of 460 yards. Lane, meanwhile, missed the green short left, and after grazing the cup with his chip had a 10-footer left for par.

Having conceded Mielcarz's par, Lane used experience to his benefit.

“That's the fourth time we'd played the hole in the last eight hours,” he said. “I had the putt earlier in the day, and I missed it on the high side right.”

This time, however, he drained the right-to-left breaker to stay alive.

The drama finally concluded on the 25th after Mielcarz hooked his tee shot on Concord's 300-yard, par-4 third hole into a fairway bunker, prompting him to pitch out short of the green. After conceding Lane's par, Mielcarz's last-gasp 15-footer for a halve missed right.

The atmosphere surrounding Lane's marathon victory reminded him of a Saturday eight years ago, when he lost to Derek MacAllister in the State Am final at Laconia.

“I'll remember this one for a long time, I guarantee you that,” he said. “It had the state finals feeling in '04.”

And despite losing, Mielcarz acknowledged that he was pleased with his State Am swan song.

“I would have loved to have gotten to the quarterfinals,” he said. “That was kind of my personal goal. But I guess getting to the round of 16 with seven extra holes, and being medalist – which was kind of a little bonus, I never believed that would happen – that's probably a good tournament to end my career on.”

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Mike Cullity may be reached at mcullity@unionleader.com.