OAKLAND — After playing 30 holes Wednesday morning – which came after playing 33 holes Tuesday – Jack Wyman loaded his clubs into the trunk of his car and called it a day.

Was he going to stick around Waterville Country Club to see who he’d play in the Match Play Invitational championship match Thursday morning?

Nope.

“I’m going home. I’m going to bed. I’m tired, man,” said Wyman, the top seed and reigning Maine Amateur champ. “It’s mental warfare. That’s all it is. It’s a completely different game than stroke play. You’re kind of playing against yourself and trying to figure out how deep you can dig.”

Wyman continued his dominant summer, cruising to a 7-and-6 victory over Craig Chapman in the semifinals. Wyman will meet No. 2 seed Sam Grindle in the final at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

Grindle, who defeated No. 3 seed Joe Baker 3-and-2 in the semifinals, placed second to Wyman in the Maine Amateur at Brunswick Golf Club in July.

“I’ve played a lot with Jack in the last five or six years. I’ve played with him a bunch. He’s a good guy. Should be a fun one,” Grindle said.

Wyman’s match against Chapman was close through six holes. Wyman went 1-up on the third hole, then won six consecutive holes – seven through 12.

“Going into it, I knew he was the hottest player in Maine,” Chapman said. “After a long week of grinding, it was very tough out there. He’s a great player. I think early on, it got a little loose and I just couldn’t find it.”

While Wyman bogeyed the par-4, 320-yard hole seventh hole, Chapman made double bogey. Wyman then birdied three of the next five holes, clinching the match with a birdie on 12.

“I just kind of grooved it out. I figured out something that was working for me. After that, the putts were just dropping,” Wyman said.

For Wyman, it was the first match since the opening round that did not go down to the final hole. Earlier Wednesday, Wyman advanced with a 1-up win over Lance Bernier. Wyman was 3-up after eight holes, but Bernier clawed back to tie it with a birdie on 16. Wyman’s birdie on 18 gave him the victory.

In the round of 16 on Tuesday, Wyman knocked out Mike O’Brien with a birdie on 18.

“Me and Lance play in the weekend events in the MSGA, so we play every week. I knew he was going to grind it out until the end,” Wyman said.

“He made a great run. He was 2 under, I think, on the back, and I was just lucky to make a birdie on 18.”

Grindle was 2-down against Baker after three holes but won Nos. 4 and 6 to square the match. He then pulled ahead with a par on 7 and won 14 and 15 to go 3-up. He halved No. 16 to clinch the match.

“Match play, you never feel like you really have control, especially when my biggest lead was 2-up until the final few holes there,” Grindle said. “It never felt like it was under control. He played solid golf, but he made a couple mistakes. Neither one of us played very well coming in, but I was able to get it done.”

Grindle advanced to the semifinals with a 3-and-2 win over Andrew Slattery, the 2015 Match Play winner. Chapman beat Tim Desmarais by a 3-and-2 margin, and Baker advanced with a 2-up win over Will Kannegieser, last year’s runner-up.

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