Boys golf: Olmsted Falls wins Southwestern Conference title on tiebreaker; Amherst's Landen Bray takes individual honors

LAGRANGE — The Southwestern Conference race was so close it literally came down to one stroke. Avon and Olmsted Falls played to a tie Thursday at the Southwestern Conference championship tournament at Grey Hawk Golf Club with both teams shooting 334. Because Olmsted Falls came into the day as the leader in the standings based on its performance in the midseason Midview Invitational, the Bulldogs walked away with their first conference title in 23 years. "We knew coming in it was tight between us and Olmsted Falls so we had to play good today," Eagles junior Hunter McCourt said. "We were up and down all day but we knew we had to pull together in the end. "Every year this team builds a really close bond. We know each other's strengths, we work on our games with each other and we have a strong team-first attitude that has really helped us." Avon relied on its consistency with three golfers — McCourt, Brenton Dill and Justice Hargett — all shooting 82, while Jack Cherrstrom rounded out the scorecard with an 88. "The conditions today were brutal and the scores today reflect that," Dill said. "There was a lot of wind pushing your ball everywhere. It was hard to hit greens. Today we had to show how tough we are mentally." Meanwhile, Southwestern Conference MVP Ben Scheeff led Olmsted Falls with a 79, while Dylan Sowers was two strokes behind him with an 81. On a day when the golfers faced cold, windy conditions unlike anything they'd experienced earlier this season, scores were generally higher than expected. Amherst junior Landen Bray earned medalist honors with a 4-over-par 76. "I didn't hit very many greens today but my chipping and putting were absolutely amazing," Bray said. "It was a tough day, I just managed to put something together." The Comets finished fourth with 345, but Bray thinks Amherst will be ready to defend its sectional championship when it returns to Grey Hawk on Oct. 3. "We all came out today and played our butts off," Bray said. "We came out with the mentality of trying to play well and seeing what happened. We put together a third-place finish (final conference standings) and we're going to keep working and come out even stronger at sectionals." Midview had one of its best team outings of the year, finishing one shot away from making it a three-way tournament tie with 335. Senior Bryan Stone tied Scheeff with a 79, the second-best round of the day, but just like the team standings, Scheeff earned the MVP based on the fact he was the leader coming into the final tournament. The Middies also got an 80 from Steven Allen and an 84 from Drew DiFranco. Scheeff and Stone were joined on the All-SWC first team by Sowers, McCourt, Dill and Amherst's Ryan Yoder, the 2021 league MVP. At the beginning of the year, Avon coach Jeff Stevens talked about his Eagles being a young team. Although they fell one stroke short of winning a fourth consecutive league title, they definitely grew up over the past two months. "It doesn't matter how good of a golfer you are, you have to be able to handle the conditions like they were today and not let it bother you," Stevens said. "I think we did that today. Hopefully we don't have these conditions at sectionals, but if we do we'll be ready for it." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. TEAM RESULTS: Avon 334, Olmsted Falls 334, Midview 335, Amherst 345, Avon Lake 358, Berea-Midpark 367, North Ridgeville 369, Elyria 455. MEDALIST: Landon Bray (Amherst) 76 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS OLMSTED FALLS (334): Ben Scheeff 79, Dylan Sowers 81, Cole Odon 86, Peyton Katitus 88, Rowan Seymour 96, Jake Platner 99 AVON (334): Brenton Dill 82, Hunter McCourt 82, Justice Hargett 82, Jack Cherrstrom 88, Zane Austin 89, Tommy Urbancic 95 MIDVIEW (335): Bryan Stone 79, Steven Allen 80, Drew DiFranco 84, Dustin Knipper 92, Ethan Taylor 98, Ethan Taylor 100 AMHERST (345): Landon Bray 76, Prince Tran 84, Ryan Yoder 84, Devin Pritt 101, Mitchell Diehl 102, Alek Kissane 104 AVON LAKE (358): Kyle Ritter 86, Ryan Harbour 89, Nolan Clancy 91, Cole Cartwright 92, Nick Hurd 92, Nathan Allemeier 93 BEREA-MIDPARK (367): Hunter Shrefler 89, Nick Hoff 90, Mason Cook 91, Andrew Gregar 97, Landon Krek 99, Luke Kosakowski 102 NORTH RIDGEVILLE (369): Kyle Urban 90, Sam Forristal 91, Jake Boynar 93, Joe Mealey 95, Michael Ochall 98, Nicholas Mealey 106 ELYRIA (455): Zach Chavalia 108, Andrew Peacock 113, Ryan Chavalia 114, Max Blewett 120, Naylan Boddy 131. SWC MVP — Ben Scheeff (Olmsted Falls) ALL-SWC FIRST TEAM: Bryan Stone (Midview), Dylan Sowers (Midview), Hunter McCourt (Avon), Brenton Dill (Avon), Ryan Yoder (Amherst) ALL-SWC SECOND TEAM: Justice Hargett (Avon), Steven Allen (Midview), Jack Cherrstrom (Avon), Landen Bray (Amherst), Prince Tran (Amherst), Sam Murray (Avon Lake).