COVENTRY TOWNSHIP — It has been widely speculated for some time that River View’s Gavin Gress was wise beyond his birth certificate.
Monday he proved it.
Gress, a freshman, followed up a 3-over-par 75 on the first day of the Division II state tournament with another in the second on the North Course at Firestone Country Club. That was good enough for a fourth-place finish and first-team All-Ohio honors.
He trailed only co-champions Finley Bartlett, of Cincinnati Wyoming, and Kettering Alter’s Matthew Kreusch, who shot 140, and Alter’s T.J. Kreusch, who shot 148.
More: The MVL showed its clout at the Division II boys district golf tourney at EagleSticks.
More: Day 1 of the Division II state golf tournament is complete. Here is how the locals fared.
He now has a chance to be a rare four-time All-Ohioan.
“He had a good ball-striking day,” said his coach and father, Chad Gress. “He had no penalty strokes either day, which is big here with all of the water and everything.”
After a mostly serene Sunday, a combination of raw temperatures, spitting rain and afternoon winds rolled through early Monday and made for an arduous challenge on an already difficult course.
Even those factors didn’t slow down the greens, where even a dead-eye putter like Gress had his struggles. He had four three-putts over the two days and one each on his final two holes on Monday.
“And that cost him third place,” Chad Gress added. “He just never quite got the reads on them and it’s an adjustment coming up here. But he really hung in there both days.”
Gavin admitted the day was bittersweet. While pleased with a top five finish in a field featuring the best players in the division, he couldn’t help but think it could have been better.
“It comes down to I hit the ball really well in this tournament and there were a couple of shots I just wish I could have back,” Gavin said. “This course will (frustrate you). I hit a lot of good shots in this tournament and four or five just turned out terrible. It was just judgement calls because of the wind and stuff. It was a really tough test.”
Gress hopes to have company next year. He and Caleb Kline, who narrowly missed qualifying for the state as an individual, are due to return, while a talented eighth grade class will contribute immediately as freshmen.
One is Gavin’s brother Colton who, like Gavin, has starred on the junior circuit. He was the youngest player in event history to win the Zanesville District Golf Association Junior Amateur in July.
Chad Gress didn’t hide from the the future expectations. He said the plan is to enter larger tournaments next season against top Division I teams to see where the team stands.
“I told them ‘state title or bust’ next year because Caleb will be a senior and we’ll have four scores in the 70s, for sure, and maybe a couple in the 60s,” Chad Gress said. “That is our chance. We will be in the hunt. We’re going to get in some Division I tournaments just to see.”
John Glenn closes strong
The Muskies’ 327 on Monday tied for the third-best score in the field and had them on pace to crack the top five overall before fading on the final three holes.
They still managed a seventh-place finish of 12 teams with a two-day total of 664, as senior Noah Dever shot another 77 to finish at 154 and place ninth and junior C.J. Dolan fired a 75 that moved him into a tie for 15th.
Cooper Briggs followed his 88 with an 87 and was tied for 54th, J.T. Orecchio shot 88 and tied for 58th and Hayden Gensor added 90 and closed in 68th. All five players shot better scores than Day 1, when front nine struggles (the back nine on the course), caused them problems.
They finished only five shots back of fifth-place St. Clairsville and three behind sixth-place Columbus Academy. Kettering Alter, behind Matthew Kreusch’s 6-under 66 on Monday, shot 290 and won the title by 26 shots over Toledo Ottaway Hills.
“We battled the wind and the rain, and they’re kind of a gritty bunch anyway, so the weather kind of helped us jump some spots and get back in it a little bit,” John Glenn coach Chad Orecchio said. “We just kind of faltered there at the end a little bit, which is a little disappointing. But we had a good day, 327 is pretty good on this golf course.”
Orecchio wasn’t surprised at Dolan’s bounce-back from an 83 in much more serene conditions.
“Noah and C.J. played well and set the table,” Chad Orecchio said. “(Dolan) is battle tested. These kids have been through the Central District in Division I and I think that helped. I am proud of Noah, he has had a great career.”
Indeed, that 2023 district at Apple Valley — when arguably Orecchio’s best team in his tenure was stuck in Division I by a minimal margin — left indelible marks on guys like Dever and Dolan.
It was the ultimate heartbreak for Dolan, who was on pace to qualify in the state’s most difficult field entering the final hole before running into trouble.
It drove him to the point where he kept a screenshot of a photo from the event on his cellular phone to serve as a reminder. He was on pace for one of his best career rounds on Monday, sitting at 1-under through 11 holes, before playing the final two par 3s at 4-over.
Nonetheless, he left Summit County with an All-Ohio plaque for his efforts. His day included an eagle on the 18th, his ninth of the day.
“It seemed the common theme both days were that the par-3s weren’t good enough,” Dever said. “I was 10-over for the tournament and 8-over on the par-3s. I just could never get a good yardage. Everything I hit as going long. … I didn’t play bad, I just didn’t feel like I played like myself, There were shots I didn’t execute.”
The reigning MVL Player of the Year will make his college choice next week, he said.
“I’m looking forward to new opportunities,” Dever said. “I’m glad it ended the way it did. It has been a fun journey. If you would have told me I would have finished All-Ohio after yesterday’s round I would have been fine.”
sblackbu@gannett.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Gavin Gress, John Glenn close strong at D-II state golf tourney
