Boys golf: Avon finishes second at Midview Invitational, but ahead of SWC rivals

COLUMBIA STATION — Sometimes second place is just as good as first. Though Avon finished runner-up in Tuesday's Midview Invitational at Columbia Hills Golf Club, the Eagles walked away feeling on top of the world after topping the other six Southwestern Conference teams in the 15-team field. While all 15 teams competed for the tournament championship, the event holds extra meaning for the SWC teams, as it is one of three tournaments, combined with the league's dual-meet results, that factor into awarding the conference title. Avon shot 307, seven strokes behind first-place Westlake (300), but 10 strokes better than the nearest SWC foe, Amherst, which carded 317. Eagles junior Ethan Olszowy ended the day with a 3-over 74, finishing two shots behind medalist Matthew Brown, a Westlake senior. Olszowy was the top finisher from a Lorain County or SWC school. "This is huge. I am so happy we won. I don't really care about Westlake. We wanted to beat the other Southwestern Conference teams," Olszowy said. "Our coach is happy, (teammate Zach) Snyder is happy. We're all happy, it's awesome." Synder shot 82 for the Eagles. Avon also got scores of 76 from Jacob Arnold and 77 from Cameron Ocepek, while Samuel Griffiths and Jack Hecei each shot 80. "My round started pretty shaky, through three holes I was 4-over," Arnold said. "I haven't been hitting the ball that great the past couple of days, but once I advanced in the round I finally felt I hit a rhythm." Arnold said the team came in relaxed and ready to perform in the event, which will count for 30 percent of the final SWC standings. "On the bus on the way here we were able to loosen our nerves and have some fun. We were mentally prepared to have a good round," Arnold said. "I felt like we were more connected today. We needed this round, it felt great." Westlake's Peyton Wolf and Cooper Albers tied for the second-best round of the day with rounds of 73. The top Lorain County golfers who weren't wearing an Avon shirt were Amherst seniors Jordan Miller and Alex Kissane, who finished ninth and 11th out of 90 golfers with scores of 77 and 78. Midview senior Sam McCulley was near the top of the leaderboard much of the day but tailed off late to finish with a 7-over 78, which led the host Middies. "Everything was going all right until the last four holes, then I got tired," McCulley said. "Other than that, my putting was good. This is a tough course but I handled that pretty well. Normally, I was 100 (yards) in from the green every time. I just need to keep a good head on my shoulders and build upon today." Avon Lake and Olmsted Falls each finished with team scores of 320 to finish fourth and fifth overall and tied for third among SWC teams. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Team results: Westlake 300, Avon 307, Amherst 317, Avon Lake 320, Olmsted Falls 320, Berea-Midpark 323, Buckeye 326, North Ridgeville 330, Keystone 330, Tallmadge 330, Bay 333, Midview 335, Strongsville 339, North Olmsted 356, Wellington 395 Medalist: Matthew Brown, Westlake, 72 Individual Results: Westlake (300): Matthew Brown 72, Peyton Wolf 73, Cooper Albers 73, Blake Jensen 82, Ethan Thompson 83, Cole Artman 88. Avon (307): Ethan Olszowy 74, Jacob Arnold 76, Cameron Ocepek 77, Samuel Griffiths 80, Jack Hecei 80, Zack Snyder 82. Amherst (317): Jordon Miller 77, Alek Kissane 78, Mason Kroesen 79, Landon Wolf 82, Ben Taylor 84, Jaxson Yoder 85. Avon Lake (320): Maximos Prohaska 78, Kollin Nilson 79, Tyler Fenton 80, Chase Cartwright 83, Kooper Nilson 84, Benjamin Santo 85. Olmsted Falls (320): Connor Lehmann 76, Quade Hess 78, Cole Odon 83, Cameron Bond 83, Ryan Henderson 84, Logan Korek 84. Berea-Midpark (323): Thomas Harrington 79, Oliver Marcelo 80, Luke Higgins 82, Luke Nedoma 82, Gavin Wagner 83, Caden Davis 88. Buckeye (326): Luca Violi 76, Blaise Bir 81, Michael Valus 84, Benjamin Lange 85, Andy Kost 87, Grace Palermo 105. North Ridgeville (330): Logan Ponting 80, Ethan Crevda 81, Joshua Behlke 83, Matthew Luca 86, Mason Limpert 87, Teddy Greenfield 90. Keystone (330): Quinn Otto 80, Ryan Younglas 81, Brady Scchacht 83, Reed Grams 86, Liam Goran 86, Austin Duta 90. Tallmadge (330): Jesse Ambrose 78, Andrew Byron 81, Mario Case 82, Jake Leonard 89, Ryan Beattie 92, Tommy Huth 93. Bay (333): Travis Ropelewski 76, Matthew Mileti 83, Emmitt Naughton 84, Benjamin Wagner 90, Trevor Ormsby 93, Ryan Skryp 93. Midview (335): Sam McCulley 78, Patrick Dolin 80, Jonathan Klooz 87, Lucas Hendershot 90, Zach Rubin 99, Kellen Desimone 101. Strongsville (339): Aidan Luber 82, Nicholas Colagiovanni 84, Luke Trzebuckowski 84, Paxton Karabaic 89, Bryson Parrott 92, Cole McCarthy 104. North Olmsted (356): Caleb Gilchrist 87, Jake Perkins 89, A.J. Ryant 90, Kody Schneid 90, Mason Anders 96, Brady Lane 100. Wellington (395): Zach Kehl 92, James Wacker 97, Colson West 99, Luke Sword 107, Nathan Gereke 109, Caleb Hamer 118.