Boys golf: Avon uses home-course advantage to win LCAAA tournament, take second with 'B' team

AVON — Few teams know Bob-O-Link Golf Course as well as Avon, which used that to its full advantage Friday in cruising to a win in the Lorain County Athletic Administrators Association tournament. Wyatt Austin led the way with a 3-over 74 as Avon shot 304 to finish 11 strokes ahead of Avon Lake. Avon's mastery of the par-71 course was evident in the fact that its "B" team actually posted the second-best score of the day with a 314. "B" team member Zack Synder matched Austin with a 74. "Knowing it's my home course I feel like I kind of have to defend it a little bit and play well," Austin said. "It was a beautiful day and I just came out and had fun. My swing was good and my driver was very good to me today." Fun was the word Avon coach Jeff Stevens focused on to describe the Eagles' performance after they picked up their second invitational win of the week. They also won Monday at the Comet Invitational. "Today was nice," Stevens said. "It seems like the kids had fun today. It was a special day. It was nice to win. I expect us to do well here. Some of our younger players played just as well or better than our top players so that was nice to see." Tim Mai had a 76 for Avon while Tommy Urbancic and Ethan Olszowry both shot 77. Christian Lee also posted a 77 while playing for the "B" team. "I was kind of wondering how we were going to do this year after losing three seniors but we've been putting up good results," Stevens said. It was another solid day for the Shoremen, as well. Kollin Nilson's took medalist honors with a 2-over 73 andr Grady Pellegrini was one of six players to shoot 77. "My wedges weren't doing too well the past couple days," Nilson said. "I went to the range and found my swing. I was throwing darts out there today." Chase Cartwright shot an 82 for the Shoremen and Kooper Nilson, Kollin's brother, shot an 83 as they edged North Ridgeville by a stroke for second among varsity teams. The Rangers had three golfers break 80 — Kyle Urban with a 74 and Michael Schulte and Joshua Behlke with 79s. "I had a lot of pars today," Urban said. "I made some bogeys but I came right back with birdies. I had a stretch of three bad holes but after that it was mostly pars. "The course was in pretty good condition. The greens were quick and they got quicker as the day got hotter. My game has gotten better over the week. I started with an 86 and I've gotten progressively better. It's really helped to build my confidence." For the six Southwestern Conference and three Lorain County League schools in the field, Friday was the final tuneup before league plays starts Monday with both conferences hosting 18-hole previews. "We've been playing a lot of golf, we've only had one day off this week," Austin said. "We're going to head into Monday with a full head of steam and see how we do." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. TEAM RESULTS: Avon 304, Avon "B" 314, Avon Lake 315, North Ridgeville 316, Midview 320, Amherst 332, Vermilion 338, Keystone 339, North Ridgeville "B" 355, Elyria Catholic 359, Columbia 375, Open Door 384, Oberlin 414, Elyria 418 MEDALIST: Kollin Nilson, Avon Lake, 73 TOP INDIVIDUALS: Wyatt Austin, Avon, 74; Kyle Urban, North Ridgeville, 74; Zack Synder, Avon "B", 74; Tim Mai, Avon, 76 AVON (304): Wyatt Austin 74, Tim Mai 76, Tommy Urbancic 77, Ethan Olszowy 77, Jack Hecei 78, Cooper Lodge 81 AVON "B" (314): Zack Snyder 74, Christian Lee 77, Jacob Arnold 79, Cameron Ocepek 84, Emmett Weaver 90, Robby Sykora 94 AVON LAKE (315): Kollin Nilson 73, Grady Pellegrini 77, Chase Cartwright 82, Kooper Nilson 83, Mark Behrend 87, Will Schnabel 92 NORTH RIDGEVILLE (316): Kyle Urban 74, Michael Schulte 79, Joshua Behlke 79, Ethan Crevda 84, Nick Forristal 84, Jakob Holland 95 MIDVIEW (320): Ryan Kemer 77, Wyatt Frank 77, Sam McCulley 79, Jon Klooz 87, Ethan Taylor 88, Chase Harper 95 AMHERST (332): Jaxson Yoder 79, Landon Wolf 81, Jordan Miller 84, Ben Taylor 88, Camden Simo 91, Devin Juristy 92 VERMILION (338): Julian Hamman 78, Noah Penton 81, Anthony Ozmun 88, Severin Kretchmar 91, Will Matheson 93, Adam Gerber 95 KEYSTONE (339): Ryan Younglas 82, Brody O'Boyle 84, Austin Duta 85, Brady Schacht 88, Liam Goran 92, Reed Grams 98 NORTH RIDGEVILLE "B" (355): Mason Limpert 82, Matthew Luca 86, James Kingery 86, Camden Troyer 101, Teddy Greenfield 102, Brady Hlavacas 106 ELYRIA CATHOLIC (359): Alex Meecha 84, Brace Dillinger 87, Sean Howell 94, Tyler Suhie 94, Joshua Antastasiadis 99, Troy Degenaard 116 COLUMBIA (375): Noah Scharf 86, Jake Herhuth 94, Logan North 95, Alex Henry 100, Avery Goodman 107, Kohl Colorito 117 OPEN DOOR (384): Evan Reed 82, Will Giesbrecht 83, Titus Sooy 108, Abigail Hopkins 111, Timothy Sooy 113 OBERLIN (414): Jackson Cikalo 95, Chris Hanmer 103, Reed Emerich 107, Colbey Wnoroski 109, Daylon Mason 117, Liam Steggall 127 ELYRIA (418): Max Blewett 89, Ryan Chavalia 101, Naylan Boddy 105, Christian Jenkins 123 BLACK RIVER (NO TEAM SCORE): Charlotte Falsone 98, Hunter Mate 130