Avon High golfer Jake Avery finished tied for sixth at the recent New England high school golf championships at Bretwood Golf Course in Keene, N.H., with a 74. Avery finished behind New England champion Mark Turner of St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Mass., with a 70 and four other players with a 73.
Avery is the first Avon boy to play in the New England championship in golf. He was the third golfer from Connecticut in the field behind Portland’s Nick Piersall and Xavier’s Chris Fosdick, who each finished with a 72.
Avery qualified for the New England championships with his third place finish at the recent CIAC Division II championships at Timberline in Berlin. Avery shot a three-over-par 75 to finish third in the field. The top three finishers in Division I, II, III and IV earned trips to the New England tournament.
Avon (15-3, 6-0 CCC Central White) finished fourth in the Division II tournament with a score of 319, led by Avery with two birdies and 12 pars. Joel Barlow’s Michael Brown and Bethel’s Spencer Olson tied for the tournament championship with 74.
Avery’s third place finish was the best finish by an Avon golfer at a CIAC meet since Jon Molchan finished in a three-way for second place at the 2001 Division III tournament with an 76.
At this year’s tournament, Avon teammate Tyler Hahn finished tied for ninth with a seven-over-par 79. Ryan Gorman had two birdies and an 80 while Peter Gerosa (85) and Jack Schmittlein (86) rounded out the top five for the Falcons.
Joel Barlow won the Division II title with a 313 followed by Berlin (317) and Notre Dame-West Haven (317) and the Falcons with a 319.
Avon did finish one stroke behind Simsbury at the CCC championship meet at Stanley Golf Course in New Britain. The Trojans prevailed, 300-301 in a reversal of what happened at the Avon Invitational in last April. At that event, the Falcons slipped past Simsbury by one stroke, 300-301.
At the CCC championships, Hahn finished tied for third place with a 71. Avery and Gorman each shot a 72 to finish in the top 10.
Avon won the CCC Central White title with a perfect 6-0 record in competition with Farmington, Northwest Catholic and Windsor.
The Falcons set a new nine-hole team record with a score of 142 in a dual meet victory over Hall at Blue Fox Run in Avon in late May, erasing the previous record of 147, set earlier this year in a win over Farmington at Blue Fox and in 2011 and 2013.
Avery shot a nine-hole school record 32 in the win over Hall while Gorman tied the old record with a 33. Hahn had a 37 while Dominic Lofredo shot a 40. Marcus Husted (2013) and Cameron Ricco (2011) previously shot a 33 for the Falcons at Blue Fox.
Before Avery, two girls represented Avon at the New England championship meet. Marissa Grillo participated in 2012 and 2013 while Lauren Carlson played in 2007. Grillo was in a four-way tie for first place in 2013 after 18 holes and finished fourth after a playoff.
Witzgall leads Canton
CANTON – The Warriors had a growing season this spring. Ian Witzgall was the top golfer for the Warriors, qualifying to compete in the CIAC Division IV tournament. Witzgall finished tied for 27th place with an 84 at the state meet.
At the NCCC Tournament at Blackledge in Hebron, Witzgall led Canton with a ninth place finish, shooting an 81. Canton finished eighth overall in the tournament with a 389. Suffield won the tournament and the league championship with a 302.
Witzgall was a bright spot for Canton (2-10-1, 2-10-1 NCCC) earning medalist honors in six dual meets. His best dual meet score of the season was a 35 against Windsor Locks at Canton’s home course at Tower Ridge in Simsbury. He was named to the All-NCCC team.
2016 NCCC Tournament at Blackledge, Hebron
Team results: 1. Suffield 302, 2. Ellington 325, 3. Granby 328, 4. Enfield 336, 5. Coventry 349, 6. Somers 351, 7. East Granby 365, 8. Canton 389, 9. Stafford 391, 10. SMSA 397, 11. Bolton 401, 12. Classical 425, 13. Windsor Locks 427
Individual results; 1. Alex Tarbox, Ellington 73, 2. Sam Roy, Enfield and Matt Stafford, Suffield 74, 4. Austin Rupp, Suffield 75, 5. Tom Durkin, Suffield 76
League championship (teams get one point for each NCCC dual meet win and a half point for every team they beat at the league tournament). 1. Suffield 18, 2. Ellington 15½, 3. Granby 14, 4. Enfield 13½, 5. Coventry 12, 6. Somers 11½, 7. East Granby 11, 8. Stafford 5, 9. Hartford Classical 3½, 10. Bolton 3, 11. SMSA 2½, 12. Canton and Windsor Locks 2
2016 NCCC dual meet standings
NCCC Overall
Suffield 12-0 14-0
Ellington 10-2 13-4
Granby 9-3 11-3
Enfield 9-3 11-4
Coventry 8-4 9-7
Somers 8-4 10-4
East Granby 8-4 8-6
Classical 3-9 3-11
Stafford 3-9 3-12
W. Locks 2-10 2-13
Bolton 2-10 2-12
SMSA 1-10-1 4-11-1
Canton 1-10-1 2-10-1
GIRLS GOLF
Avon wins six matches
AVON – In a new league this spring, the Avon High girls golf team won six matches with victories over East Hartford, New Britain, Canton and Hall.
Katie O’Brien earned medalist honors in a win over East Hartford and a win over Hall. She had a 46 at Blue Fox against Hall. Teammate Jenny Logan had a 46 to earn medalist honors in the season finale as the Falcons played well in a three-team meet. Northwest Catholic beat the Falcons, 202-208. Avon beat Canton, which had a 245.
Avon finished with a record of 6-15 overall and 1-9 in the CCC Central division under third-year head coach Eric Hoffman.
Young Canton team shows improvement
CANTON – A young Canton High team hit the links this spring and continued to improve but they couldn’t bring home a win. The Warriors dropped nearly 20 strokes from their first meet of the season in April to their final matches in May.
Canton shot a season-low 240 in a three-team meet with Simsbury (188) and East Granby/Suffield (202) at Simsbury Farms in Simsbury. Canton, which plays an independent schedule, finished 0-19. Maggie Treacy was named the team MVP and Julie Ericson won the coach’s award.
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 30 years.


High School
2025 NCCC Winter Tournaments

High School
2025 CCC Winter Tournaments

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