COLUMBIA STATION — Finishing birdie, birdie, Andrew Northheim shot a season-low 73 Tuesday afternoon at Mallard Creek Golf Club to spark Firelands High to a second-place finish in the Division II sectional golf tournament. The low four teams along with the four low individuals on non-qualifying teams advanced to next Wednesday’s district tournament at Windmill Lakes in Ravenna, just one step away from earning spots in the state tournament Oct. 10-11 in Columbus.
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy shot 300 to win Tuesday’s sectional, five shots better than the Falcons. Elyria Catholic took third at 314 and Bay was fourth at 322.
Senior Mike Opsitnick of Avon led the individual qualifiers with an even-par 72, which made him medalist on the warm, sunny afternoon. Keystone’s Bryan Yeo shot a 75 (39-36) to also qualify, as did Wellington’s Aaron Dumke, who won a two-hole playoff with Benedictine’s Alex Myrick for  third.
Dumke, Myrick, David Gentry of Black River and Brandon Shannon of Woodridge all shot 78. Gentry and Shannon were ousted with pars on the first playoff hole, while Dumke made birdie on both extra holes to claim the third spot.
For Elyria Catholic, it was the 10th time in the last 12 years the Panthers qualified for district action.
Junior Colin Coughlin, who was second at last year’s sectional with a 75, shot a season-low 73 Tuesday to pace Elyria Catholic.
Northeim credited a hot putter for his round.
“My putting was really good today,” he said. “I only had one three-putt green.”
Norheim rolled in a 25-foot putt for birdie on 17. His other birdies were at 12 and 18.
“My drives were mostly all straight and even when I missed the fairway I wasn’t too far off,” he said.
    Opsitnick has really been on a roll since making a major change in his swing midseason. He also altered his putting, going to a more steady and consistent stroke. Just last week he was co-medalist at the West Shore Conference tourney with a 75.
     “I played really well today,” he said. “Mainly I didn’t miss any short putts, the kind I’ve been missing a lot during the season. A 6-foot putt should be the easiest shot in golf but it hasn’t been for me until lately. I’ve been practicing a lot on putting, sometimes going an hour and a half on the putting green.”
Opsitnick started fast Tuesday, making birdies on the first and fourth holes.
“That really helped,” he said. “My only bad hole was a double bogey on the fifth when I lost concentration and three-putted. But that woke me up and I parred out the rest of the round.”
     Coughlin, despite his season-low score, was a bit disappointed because he believed it could have been better.
“I couldn’t drop any 10-12 footers when I had shots at birdies,” he said. “But I was hitting well off the tee, making every fairway.”
     Firelands coach Joe Miller was pleased, but not surprised his team qualified to district for the second straight year.
“I thought all along we had a good chance to do it,” he said. “Both Josh Kaiser and Gabe Battistelli shot about five strokes under their average today, which were key factors in our 305 finish. I had figured we’d be about 310. I think with four veterans from last year we have a shot at doing much better in the district than we did last year.”
     Elyria Catholic coach Tom Porter was also pleased with his team’s performance.
“These guys have been steady all season,” he said.
On Coughlin’s 73, Porter said: “He doesn’t hit it long, but is very accurate. He’s a very good ball striker.”
     Looking ahead to the district, where EC has never made it through to state, Porter laughed: “That monkey on our back is getting heavy.”
Contact Jerry Rombach at 329-7137 or ctsports@chroniclet.com .

Qualifying teams

Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy 300 (Alex Mosteller 37-36—73, Kyle Gerycz 35-38—73, Jacob Forythe 38-38—76, Kyle Varrone 41-37—78 )
Firelands 305 (Andrew Northheim 38-35—73, Matt Gregory 40-36—76, Josh Kaiser 38-38—76, Gabe Battistelli 40-40—80)
Elyria Catholic 314 (Colin Coughlin 37-36—73, Ryan Polk 38-38—76, Doug Baluh 37-41—80, A.J. Novak 41-44—85)
Bay 322 (Jack Eifel 40-39—79, Chaz Veres 43-37—80, Brian Tarieska 40-41—81, Jess Hunger 44-38—82, John Urwin 43-41—84)

Other team scores

Brooklyn 328, Wellington 330, Avon 331, Vermilion 333, Loudonville 333, Benedictine 334, Buckeye 336, Keystone 342, Black River 342, Woodridge 354, Fairview 369, Holy Name 371

Qualifying individuals

1. Mike Opsitnick (Avon), 72; 2. Brian Yeo (Keystone), 75; 3. Aaron Dumke (Wellington), 78*; 4. Alex Myrick, 78*
* won playoff

Westlake boys win SWC title

  HINCKLEY — Westlake’s boys totaled 324 strokes to win the Southwestern Conference boys championship at Pine Hills.
Matt Kreider shot a 78 to lead the Demons to their 14-stroke advantage over runner-up Amherst. Brecksville’s Mike Witmer shot a 75 to take medalist honors.
Avon Lake (340), Brecksville (349), Olmsted Falls (352), Midpark (365), North Olmsted (371) and Berea (404) rounded out the team scores.
Amherst’s Matt Schneider and Reilly Bates of the Shoremen shot 79s to tie for the third-best individual score.

WESTLAKE (324): Matt Kreider 78, Dave Goldense 81, Dave Weishar 81, Chris Nader 84
AMHERST (338): Matt Schneider 79, David Flynn 86, Adam Kalivoda 86, Paul Srnis 87
AVON LAKE (340): Reilly Bates 79, C.J. Blankenship 84, Collin Holmes 86, Lombardi 91
BRECKSVILLE (349): Mike Witmer 75, Herbst 88, Daniel 93, Barlak 93
OLMSTED FALLS (352): Pat Butterfield 84, Cory Daugherty 88, Lucas Rhome 88, Eric Chaney 92
MIDPARK (365): Starr 84, Garrett 91, Trzebuckowski 92, Cerny 98
NORTH OLMSTED (371): Ryan Conway 87, Jesse Gross 93, Joe Fornwalt 94, Bigeck and Dan McBride 97
BEREA (404): Tom Siloy 88, Pulling 102, Kevin Siloy 107, Scafaria 107

Polgar leads Demon girls

MEDINA — Westlake’s Aimee Polgar shot an 84 to lead the Demons to the Southwestern Conference girls team championship at Bunker Hill.
The Demons totaled 369 strokes, 29 better than runner-up Olmsted Falls. Avon Lake was third with 400 and Brecksville fourth with 406. North Olmsted (411), Berea (491), Midpark (492) and Amherst (495) rounded out the team scores.
Nicole Cantrell of Olmsted Falls was the runner-up in individual scores with an 85. Carly Babinec of North Olmsted (90), Kelly Limpert of North Olmsted (93), Allison Gray of Westlake (93) and Gianna Pro of Avon Lake (94) rounded out the top six individuals.

Elyria third at NOC tourney

RAVENNA — Tyler Ward shot a 78 to lead Elyria to a third-place finish in the Valley Division portion of the Northeast Ohio Conference tournament at Windmill Lakes Golf Club.
The Pioneers totaled 325, four behind first-place Brunswick and one behind second-place Medina.
Ward’s score put him in a four-way tie for second.
Strongsville (327), North Royalton (341) and Lakewood (354) rounded out team scores for the Valley Division.
Kyle Lottman (80), Brandon Grunda (82) and Adam Haywood (85) were the other Elyria scorers, while A.J. Weidus of Brunswick shot a 76 for Valley Division medalist honors.

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