Orange kicked off the postseason with a sectional championship on Tuesday.
The Lions finished the Division II Forest Hills Sectional with 334 strokes, six fewer than second-place Keystone. Beachwood finished third with 345 strokes and will join the Lions at next week’s district tournament.
Beachwood’s James O’Neill won medalist honors with a tournament-low 71. Teammate Matt Blumenthal was second with a 76. Drew Riley (96) and Shane Young (102) rounded out the Beachwood scoring. Gabe Connor also competed for the Bison and finished the day with a 103.
Ajay Desphande led the Lions with an 80. Jackson Fellinger (81), Jack Stover (83), and Dillon Fellinger (90) also scored for Orange.
Lutheran West’s Ashton Sopko also punched his ticket to the district tournament by finishing as one of the top three golfers not on a qualifying team. Sopko shot an 83 to finish tied for eighth. Lutheran West placed fifth as a team.
TEAM SCORES
1. Orange* 334 (Jack Stover 83, Jackson Fellinger 81, Ajay Desphande 80, Dillon Fellinger 90, Truman Williams 96); 2. Keystone* 340 (Jake Morgan 81, Ian Morgan 77, Tyler Crowell 89, Jack Senghas 93, Grant Hartley 99); 3. Beachwood* 345 (James ONeill 71, Matt Blumenthal 76, Gabe Connor 103, Shane Young 102, Drew Riley 96); 4. CVCA 348; 5. Luth. West 371; 6. Woodridge 379; 7. Firelands 391; 8. Northwestern 394; 9. Fairview 414; 10. Holy Name 415; 11. Black River 451; 12. Elyria Cath. 0;
Individual Scores: * Indicates qualifying individual
1. James ONeill(Beachwood) 71; 2. Matt Blumenthal(Beachwood) 76, Aiden Cannone*(CVCA) 76; 4. Ian Morgan(Keystone) 77; 5. Ajay Desphande(Orange) 80; 6. Jake Morgan(Keystone) 81, Jackson Fellinger(Orange) 81; 8. Ashton Sopko*(Luth. West) 83, Joe Buchholz*(Northwestern) 83, Jack Stover(Orange) 83; 11. Max Schneckenburger(Woodridge) 85; 12. Josh Williams(CVCA) 86; 13. Tyler Crowell(Keystone) 89; 14. Jayden Morrison(Firelands) 90, Dillon Fellinger(Orange) 90; 16. Jay Bucciarelli(CVCA) 91, Ryan Mahaffey(Elyria Cath.) 91, Joey Abraham(Holy Name) 91; 19. Nathan Moore(Black River) 93, Jack Senghas(Keystone) 93, Easton Thomas(Northwestern) 93; 22. D.J. Robinson(Luth. West) 94, Will Schmeltzer(Woodridge) 94; 24. Gabe Butler(CVCA) 95, Tyson Crandall(Fairview) 95, Abe Mastellone(Firelands) 95, Eric Dill(Luth. West) 95; 28. Drew Riley(Beachwood) 96, Luke Walton(Northwestern) 96, Truman Williams(Orange) 96; 31. Alex Schneckenburger(Woodridge) 97; 32. Grayson Szivan(Firelands) 98; 33. Grant Hartley(Keystone) 99, Zack Keller(Luth. West) 99; 35. Shane Young(Beachwood) 102; 36. Gabe Connor(Beachwood) 103, Brandon Zimmerman(Fairview) 103, James Lehrer(Woodridge) 103; 39. Jack Anderson(Fairview) 106, Jack Kelley(Holy Name) 106, Kaeden Cyc(Woodridge) 106; 42. Harrison Kaselak(CVCA) 108, Cohen Overstreet(Firelands) 108, Jordan Lebron(Holy Name) 108; 45. Graham Patton(Fairview) 110, Dan Cardenas(Holy Name) 110; 47. Sam Zambataro(Elyria Cath.) 113; 48. Ethan Foster(Black River) 116; 49. Lenny Ramirez(Black River) 117, Matt Laspisa(Holy Name) 117; 51. Reece Chanay(Northwestern) 122; 52. Tristan Miller(Northwestern) 124; 53. Cody Gardner(Black River) 125, J.J. Hughes(Luth. West) 125; 55. Nick Dunfee(Firelands) 130; 56. Brace Dillinger(Elyria Cath.) 132; 57. Nicholas Kostecki(Black River) 137; 58. James Helton(Fairview) 156; 59. Lex Grimes(Elyria Cath.) DNS, Isabella Barb(Elyria Cath.) DNS;
