Independence’s Tyler Wilson didn’t waste time worrying about the 92 he shot last week at the Chagrin Valley Conference preseason tournament.
Instead, he quickly put that disappointing round behind him and opened this week with a solid 78 at the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy invitational on Monday and on Tuesday he shot 75 to finish second at the Berkshire tournament.
“He had a rough day last week at the CVC preseason tournament. That was his worst score probably since his freshman year,” said Independence coach Mark Echstenkamper. “He really bounced back and has been working through some things with his swing and mentally working through some things and the last two days he played really well.”
Wilson’s recovery and the consistent play of Nick Brunsman helped the Blue Devils to strong finishes in both events this week. Brunsman shot a 76 at CVCA, the third best score at the event, and 75 at Berkshire. Independence finished tied for 10th out of 18 teams at CVCA and was third at Berkshire.
“We definitely are improving,” Echstenkamper said. “We were one of the smallest schools at the CVCA tournament and out of 18 teams we finished (10th). We shot a 349 on a pretty tough course, which I was happy with. At Berkshire we improved on our score again. Our goal is obviously the CVC but we want to see what we can do in the state tournament.”
A likely drop to Division III has Echstenkamper excited about his team’s potential in the post-season, especially with Wilson and Brunsman playing as well as he knows they can.
“Get those two going and you get a third and fourth scorer consistently and we’re in business,” he said. “Nick is really playing well. He’s lighting it up.”
Joey Zamborsky shot an 89 at Berkshire while Andrew Teriberry carded a 101 and Joe Rydsynski and Ryan Zygmunt both finished at 102.
“Rydsynski is getting better. He’s improving each time he goes out,” Echstenkamper said. “The other two, Teribbery and Zygmunt are sophomores, and they’re improving every time they go out. They just need to improve a little faster is all.”
The Blue Devils return to action on Friday when they travel to the Cardinal Invitational.
