Boys golf: Consistent Avon Lake advances to district; Midview's Bryan Stone and Avon's Hunter McCourt also qualify

LAGRANGE — Avon Lake returned to its early-season form at just the right time. The Shoremen had four scores in the 80s, led by a pair of 82s from juniors Nolan Clancy and Cole Cartwright, to finish third with a 335 at Monday's Division I sectional tournament at Grey Hawk Golf Club. They were the only Lorain County team to advance to the district tournament.Two area individuals made it — Avon's Hunter McCourt with an 80 and Midview's Bryan Stone, who shot an 81 then birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Bay's Ian Williams for the final qualifying spot. Stone, a senior who fell one stroke shy of qualifying for district in 2020, was among the first golfers to finish, forcing him to wait to see if his score would hold up. "It was very stressful watching the leaderboard update and update," Stone said. "To be honest as soon as I got done I thought I had no chance." Rocky River won the team title with a 328, while Strongsville's Dean Upholzer shot 75 to take individual h onors and lead the Mistangs to second. Westlake also qualified. All four individual qualifiers came from the Southwestern Conference. Olmsted Falls' Dylan Sowers led the way with a 77 and teammate Ben Scheeff had 80. "I started off pretty hot," Cartwright said. "I had four birdies but I also left a few strokes out there. I was hitting greens when I needed to. With all the different guys stepping up this year that helped us a lot mentally. We knew when one guy falls we have someone else who comes out and replaces him. "I'm proud of the season we've had and I'm proud of myself and all of my teammates. This is the first time in many years Avon Lake has went to districts as a team." Avon Lake, which advanced to districts for the first time since 2017, also got an 84 from Ryan Harbour, an 87 from Sam Murray and a 90 from Kyle Ritter, which broke a tie witht Westlake and gave the Shoremen the third-place finish. "We didn't shoot anything great but we shot consistent across the board," Avon Lake coach Matt Perry said. "These guys play with a lot of heart. They really like to play the game of golf and they didn't want their season to end." Clancy and Cartwright improved nine and 10 strokes, respectively, from their rounds in the SWC Tournament, which was also at Grey Hawk less than two weeks ago. "I think the weather played a big fact today," Clancy said. "Last week at the SWC it was super windy, the conditions were terrible. Today was a beautiful, sunny day so that helped our games a lot. It feels good to be district qualifiers. I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish today." For McCourt, it was a bittersweet achievement since the Eagles, who finished second at the SWC Tournament, were expected to qualify for districts as a team. Avon finished sixth instead with a 341. "I'm happy I played well enough to make it out but it's still really disappointing knowing that all of my teammates season's are done," McCourt said. "I started off really well but the conditions got harder on the back nine and I really didn't finished well at all." McCourt shot 37 on the front nine and 43 on the back. With a ticket to Pine Hills, the site of the district tournament, firmly in hand, Stone was able to appreciate his accomplishment. "I can't explain how happy I am," Stone said. "My only thought coming into today was play well enough to get out. I've waited four years for this. This has been my main goals for four years and here we are. I've had a couple of playoffs in my high school career but I can tell you this one is the most special because I knew if I didn't win I was through with high school golf." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Team results (top four teams advance to district tournament): Rocky River 328, Strongsville 328, Avon Lake 335, Westlake 335, St. Edward 336, Avon 341, Olmsted Falls 345, Amherst 355, Bay 361, North Ridgeville 365, Padua 376, Midview 384, Berea-Midpark 393, North Olmsted 401, Lakewood 401. Medalist: Dean Upholzer (Strongsville), 75 Individual qualifiers (top four finishers not on a qualifying team): Dylan Sowers (Olmsted Falls), 77; Hunter McCourt (Avon), 80; Ben Scheeff (Olmsted Falls), 80; Bryan Stone (Midview), 81**Won one-hole playoff for final qualifying position. Rocky River (328): Luke Dietrich 83, Nick Tianello 79, Dan Capka 85, Owen Toole 87, Wes Bennett 81 Strongsville (328): Dean Upholzer 75, Daniel Lee 80, Vinnie Borros 85, Harrison LaBahn 88, Connor Engestrom 99 Avon Lake (335): Ryan Harbour 84, Kyle Ritter 90, Cole Cartwright 82, Sam Murray 87, Nolan Clancy 82 Westlake (335): Chris Brown 83, Sion Park 80, Michael Ambrosino 91, Michael Labenz 83, Mitchell England 89 St. Edward (336): Jack Myslenski 85, Ivan Liu 82, Luke Godlewski 93, Tommy Patton 84, JOhn Hammond 85 Avon (341): Hunter McCourt 80, Brenton Dill 84, Justice Hargett 98, Jack Cherrstrom 83, Zane Austin 94 Olmsted Falls (345): Ben Scheeff 80, Dylan Sowers 77, Cole Odon 92, Peyton Katitus 96, Jacob Platner 96 Amherst (355): Ryan Yoder 90, Landen Bray 87, Prince Tran 82, Alek Kissane 96, Devin Pritt 96 Bay (361): Zach Rose 91, Andrew Chesterfield 95, Josh Hammond 94, Will Clements 98, Ian Williams 81 North Ridgeville (365): Sam Forristal 88, Kyle Urban 86, Mike Ochall 91, Joe Mealey 104, Nick Mealey 100 Padua (376): Lucas Palange 84, Ryan Jankowski 108, Matt Hopkins 96, Nolan Reilly 94, Mason Martina 102 Midview (384): Bryan Stone 81, Steven Allen 91, Drew DiFranco 112, Dustin Knipper 122, Ethan Taylor 100 Berea-Midpark (393): Mason Cook 94, Andrew Greger 96, Nick Hoff 114, L.J. Krek 105, Hunter Shrefler 98 North Olmsted (401): Brandon Cerney 92, Jacob Schneid 97, Trent Donovan 107, Dylan Giraldo 106, Evan Grief 106 Lakewood (401): Jack Derethik 104,. Aidan Smith 106, Logan Ellis 91, Justin Lacquement 100, Tyler Volcansek 110 Elyria: Zachary Chavalia 98, Ryan Chavalia 124