HURON — Kyle Lottman was worried.
Wouldn’t you be?
The Elyria junior bogeyed his final four holes at Wednesday’s Division I sectional golf tournament in wet and windy conditions at Thunderbird Hills North to go from safely in next week’s district tournament to squarely on the bubble.
“I figured I’d be the last one to get cut or something,” said Lottman, whose 82 included 10 bogeys and eight pars.
“Kind of ugly,” he said.
Once all the scores had been posted, that “ugly” 82 looked downright beautiful to Lottman.
Instead of being the last one cut, he was the last one in, grabbing the fifth and final qualifying spot for next Thursday’s district tournament at Red Hawk Run in Findlay.
He’ll have plenty of area players making the trip with him. Avon Lake and Amherst finished second and third, respectively, to advance as teams, and Midview’s Louis Elbert (78) and Westlake’s David Goldense (80) were the top individual qualifiers.
The top five teams and top five individuals not on qualifying teams advanced. Ashland blew the field away, firing a 300, 23 shots better than the Shoremen. Fifth man Marc Matteson led the way for Ashland with a 1-over 73, but two other players shot 74 and the team’s fourth scorer came in with a 79.
Amherst had 328, followed by Lexington and Bowling Green with 330. Westlake was sixth, just one spot and three shots short of advancing.
The Shoremen might have been the biggest surprise, turning around what had been, by their standards, somewhat of a down regular season in which they finished third in the Southwestern Conference behind Westlake and Amherst.
“I’m pretty happy,” Shoremen coach Amy Manco said. “I didn’t think we’d be able to finish second in this tournament.”
Senior C.J. Blankenship, who qualified for his fourth trip to district, led the way with a 76 that included three birdies, one after he drove the green on the 301-yard, par-4 sixth hole.
“This was the first time all year I’ve felt confident putting,” said Blankenship, who said he used fewer than 30 putts in his round.
Collin Holmes shot a solid 79 for the Shoremen, but it was the fourth and fifth players – Patrick Haas and Andrew Lombardi – who really came through, firing matching 84s.
“Those were big scores for us,” Manco said, noting that Lombardi is a freshman and Haas, although a senior, is in his first season on varsity.
Amherst coach Aaron Millet also pointed to the play of his fourth and fifth players as a big reason the Comets are moving on.
While always steady Matt Schneider paced the Comets with a 78, Paul Srnis and Matt Jones struggled a bit with 86 and 87, respectively. So when David Flynn, the No. 4 player, and Adam Kalivoda, the No. 5, came in with 82s, Millet was ecstatic.
“They saved the day for us,” Amherst coach Aaron Millet said. “Those two guys really stepped up, especially on the back nine. Conditions were hard. It was cold and rainy and windy.”
Millet had another reason to be happy for his team.
“They’re all seniors,” he said. “It’s a nice treat for them.”
Elbert, a junior, is making his first trip to district after missing by two shots last year. Wednesday he easily advanced despite shooting what he called an “average” round.
“I missed a couple of short birdie putts,” said Elbert, who did get one birdie at the par-4 fourth.
As for Lottman, Elyria coach Jim Kistler believes his lone qualifier benefited from the Pioneers’ trip to districts last year as a team.
“He’s the only player returning from sectionals last year,” Kistler said. “Experience helped him. Some other kids were in decent position for nine holes, but the pressure got them. I’m very happy with his performance under difficult conditions.”
Contact Kevin Aprile at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
 

Firelands’ Northeim is district medalist
RAVENNA — Andrew Northeim of Firelands will be going to the Division II state championship next weekend as a district medalist.
Northeim shot a 3-over-par 73 at Windmill Lakes on Wednesday, one stroke ahead of Chris Vanckunas of Canton Central Catholic. Northeim shot even-par 35 on the front nine and a 3-over 38 on the back side.
Northeim will be the only area golfer headed to the Division II championship, which begins
Oct. 10 at The Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course. Minerva won the team championship with 313. Other teams qualifying for the tournament are University School (317), Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (322) and Chagrin Falls (323).
Firelands tied fellow West Shore Conference member Bay at 333, good for sixth place. Elyria Catholic shot 345.
Mike Opsitnik of Avon just missed a trip to the championship. Dumke fired a 78, a stroke behind Grant Weaver of Waynedale. The top four scores from golfers on non-qualifying teams go to state as individuals.
Among other local golfers qualifying for the district as individuals, Keystone’s Bryan Yeo carded an 82 and Aaron Dumke of Wellington shot an 89. 

TEAM SCORES
Minerva 313, University School 317, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy 322, Chagrin Falls 323, Canton Central Catholic 327, Bay 333, Firelands 333, Lake Catholic 340, Waterloo 342, Orange 344, Cardinal Mooney 344, Elyria Catholic 345, Ursuline 345, Waynedale 350, Lakeview 353, Salem 366.
BAY: Chad Veres 81, Jess Hunger 82, Ryan Taricska 82, John Urwin 88, Jack Eifel 93.
FIRELANDS: Andrew Northeim 73, Matt Gregory 84, Gabe Battistelli 88, Josh Kaiser 88, Vince Vitale 91.
ELYRIA CATHOLIC: Ryan Polic 81, Colin Coughlin 86, A.J. Novak 88, Doug Baluh 90, Matt Spencer 90.

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