Boys golf: Avon comes up one shot shy of making state, but Eagles senior Nolan King qualifies as an individual

HINCKLEY TWP. — For the second year in a row, Avon left the Division I district tournament at Pine Hills Golf Club with the same feeling — disappointment. But for vastly different reasons. Last season the Eagles were disappointed in their performance after finishing 18th of 20 teams. Monday they shaved 37 strokes off their score and had a berth at next week's state tournament within sight only to come up one heartbreaking stroke short. Led by seniors Nolan King and Jack Gerborg, Avon shot a 311 and was on the verge of securing the fourth and final state spot only to watch Walsh Jesuit, the final team to post its score, come in with 310. "I feel awful that we missed by a stroke," Avon coach Jeffrey Stevens said. "It's tough when the team doesn't make it, but I'm very proud to make it this far. I look at some of the teams on that board and for us to be up there with them is pretty amazing." It wasn't all disappointment for the Eagles though. King is headed to Ohio State University's Scarlet Course for the state tournament as the third individual qualifier after shooting a 2-over-par 73. "I had a great day," King said. "I started off solid and faded a little bit, but all over it was a good day. It's kind of disappointing to lose by one by a team, but we had a huge improvement." King bounced back from a slow start with three straight birdies on Nos. 5-7, then shot even on the back. "It's awesome," Stevens said of King's qualifying. "He hasn't played well the last couple of tournaments, but I think he was due. He wanted to prove something and he did that today." Gerborg shot a 74 and just missed joining King at state when Aurora's Max Devins parred the 426-yard 18th hole to win a playoff that lasted two holes. After going 6-over through the first seven holes, Gerborg started to bounce back with a birdie on the 426-yard 18th before making the turn to the front side. He then birdied the first, second and fifth holes on his way to shooting 2-under on his second nine. "I made some mistakes early on, but I was able to fight back at the end of the back nine and into the front nine," Gerborg said. "I wish I had some of those early mistakes back, but there's nothing I can do now." Amherst, which won the Grey Hawk sectional, lost a fifth-person tiebreaker to Highland for 12th place after shooting 321. Austin Bray and sophomore Ryan Yoder each shot 76 to lead the Comets, finishing two strokes out of the playoff for the final individual state berth. St. Ignatius, last year's state runner-up, topped reigning state champion Archbishop Hoban 281-286 thanks in large part to a pair of Lorain County residents. Junior Connor Malicki, an Avon resident, and sophomore Bradley Chill Jr., who lives in Columbia Station, each shot even-par 71. "It feels amazing," Malicki said. "It doesn't stop here and we have to go out there and compete to try and win the state tournament. We've got a chip on our shoulders." The Wildcats shot 3 under as a team to set a Pine Hills district record. "It feels really good (to break the record)," Chill said. "We're really proud of ourselves and did really good as a team." Green finished in third place with a 306 to nab the other team berth. Boardman's Ryan Sam shot even for the day to earn the first individual qualifier spot and University School's Chris Bridge was the second qualifier with a 72. As for Avon, its huge district improvement felt good, just not good enough. "It was a pretty good turnaround and that was the goal to get back here and hopefully have a shot at going to state," Stevens said. "It's unfortunate that it didn't quite work out." Contact John Urchek at ctsports@chroniclet.com. Team standings (top 4 teams to state tournament): 1. St. Ignatius 281, 2. Archbishop Hoban 286, 3. Green 306, 4. Walsh Jesuit 310, 5. Avon 311, 6. Hudson 314, 7. University School 314, 8. Jackson 316, 9. Medina 317, 10. Stow 317, 11. Aurora 320, 12. Highland 321, 13. Amherst 321, 14. Shaker Heights 324, 15. Hoover 329, 16. Westlake 330, 17. Strongsville 330, 18. Boardman 333, 19. Cloverleaf 336, 20. Geneva 347 Individual qualifiers: 1. Ryan Sam (B) 71, 2. Chris Bridge (US) 72, 3. Nolan King (Av) 73, 4. Max Devins (Au) 74 AVON (311): Nolan King 73, Jack Gerborg 74, Brenton Dill 84, Hunter McCourt 80, Tyler Christy 82AMHERST (321): Ryan Yoder 76, Austin Bray 76, Landen Bray 80, Prince Tran 89, Joey Kramer 91