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Junior Match Play Recap

July 19, 2016

Boys 16-18

The Boys 16-18 division hit their first tee shots at Oceanside Country Club in Ormond Beach on Monday, ready to play two rounds of stroke play to determine who would advance to the Round of 32 Match Play. After posting two scores in red numbers (68-70--138), Erik Souchak, of Sarasota, would enter match play as the number one seed. Two strokes behind Souchak, finished Cole Castro, of Homestead, who posted rounds of 72-68--140 to become the second seed. The third seed is Ocala resident, Seth Wright, who posted consistent rounds of 71 for a 142 total. 2015 runner-up, Colin Kresl, will play Seth in the first round of match play as the 30th seed. The cut to the top 32 seeds was made at 155 (+11).

Round of 32
Match play began Tuesday after the cut was made to the low 32 seeds. Number one seed, Erik Souchak, advanced to the Round of 16 with a two and one win over number 32 seed, Gaorong Wang.  Cole Connor, 31st seed, proved to be a tough competitor by defeating number two seed, Cole Castro, two and one, to move on to the next round. The only match to go one extra hole to determine the winner was between Sam Rogers, 12th seed, and Brett Geric, 21st seed. Geric prevailed on the 19th hole to play the Round of 16 on Wednesday morning.

Round of 16 & Quarterfinals
The number one seed, Erik Souchak, was eliminated after the Round of 16 by Louis DelFabro, number 16 seed. DelFabro won the Round of 16 one-up, but was defeated by Davis Hingtgen, two and one, in the Quarterfinals. Hingtgen will face Ryan Rozic, number 13 seed, in the Semifinals. Rozic defeated Nicholas Staffieri, number four seed, and Zack Justice, number five seed, to advance to the Semifinals. Connor Campbell continued to win his matches reaching the Semifinals where he would play against Linus Samuelsson. Campbell, who started the match play as the 31st seed, advanced through each of his matches and won his Quarterfinal match against Griffin Pickett seven and five. Linus Samuelsson beat the number three seed, Seth Wright, in the Quartefinals, two and one, to reach the second to last match!

Stroke Play Results  

Boys 13-15

Sugar Mill Country Club in New Smyrna Beach hosted the Boys 13-15 division and Girls 13-18 for two rounds of stroke play and Round of 16 Match Play. Finishing as the first seed was Jake Beber-Frankel, of Miami, who shot impressive rounds of 68-71 for a five under-par total, 139. Five strokes back from playing as the first seed, was Jason Duff, of Elkton, with rounds of 71-73—144. The cut to the top 16 players was made at eight over-par, 152. Six players were in a playoff for for five spots at 152 which resulted in Will Davis, Marc Kaneko-Fujii, Joshua Perna, Austin Cherichella and Aidan Kramer finding their way into match play.

Round of 16
After playing the second round of stroke play, the low 16 seeds teed it up for their first match on Tuesday afternoon. Number one seed, Jake Beber-Frankel, and number two seed, Jason Duff, both advanced to the Quarterfinal matches. Jake displayed great shot control, hitting all 15 greens in regulation to lead him to his five and three win. Marc Kaneko-Fuji, 14th seed, overcame number three seed, Fletcher Wunderlich, with a two and one victory to advance.

Quarterfinal
The one and two seed continued to make strides to the finals after winning their second matches. Beber-Frankel hit the first nine greens in regulation and advanced to the Semifinals with a four and three win over Thomas Salanito, number nine seed. He would face the number four seed, Davis Lee, in the Semifinals. Jason Duff, number two seed, carded three birdies in his match to achieve a five and three victory over Tiaan Mattiace. Jude Kim, number 11 seed, defeated Marc Kaneko-Fujii, three and two, to play in the Semifinals against Duff. 

Semifinal
The number two seed, Jason Duff, defeated Jude Kim on the 18th hole to finish one up in his Semifinal match. Jason was down throughout the round and won three of the last four holes to advance to the Finals! Duff will face number one seed, Jake Beber-Frankel, who defeated Davis Lee three and two in the Semifinals. Jake ended his third match on the 16th hole after making a ten-foot putt for birdie versus Davis' two-putt par. The Finals are set with the number one and two seed going head to head to determine the Champion. 

Stroke Play Results

Girls 13-18

In the girls’ division, two-time FJT winner in 2016, Ariel (SiQin) Yu would enter match play as the first seed. Yu, of Bradenton, carded a low round of 68 on Monday and even par on Tuesday for a 140 two-round total. Jenny Kim, of Heathrow, finished on stroke behind as the second seed (70-71—141). Young FJT standout and second place finisher in the 2016 Girls’ Junior Championship, Alexa Pano, claimed the third seed into match play. The top 16 was cut at nine over-par, 153, with Casey Weidenfeld capturing the 16th seed after a playoff with Sarah Noonan. 

Round of 16 & Quarterfinals
In the first round of matches the lower seeded girls all advanced to the Quarterfinals! Ariel Yu, number one seed, continued to dominate her matches and advanced to the Semifinals after defeating Macy Somoskey, six and five. She would face Siyan Chen, number five seed, in the Semifinals. Chen defeated the number four seed, Karoline Tuttle, in her Quarterfinal match, three and two. An exciting Semifinal match was determined after the second and third seed won their second match. Alexa Pano, number three seed, advanced after capturing a four and three victory over Claire Albrecht. Jenny Kim, number two seed, won her second match one-up over Chloe Schiavone to face Pano in the Semifinals.

Semifinals
In the first Semifinals match, number five seed, Siyan Chen won one up on the 18th hole to advance to the Finals. Chen defeated Ariel Yu, number one seed, with a par on the last hole after Ariel failed to get up and down. The second Semifinal match between Jenny Kim and Alexa Pano came down to the 18th hole. Pano was down one coming into the 17th hole but got the match back to even after Kim faltered to a three putt bogey against Pano's par. Another short game battle won the match for Pano on the 18th hole. Jenny failed to get up and down from a green side bunker, lipping out her par putt on the low side of the hole, while Pano two putted for a par. Pano and Chen will compete in the Final match on Thursday morning. 

Stroke Play Results