A two team race emerged in the Greater Cleveland Conference in 2023 as the Medina Bees and Strongsville Mustangs battled for conference supremacy. Medina was able to hold off Strongsville as they both won the conference and qualified for the District Tournament. The Bees, under new coach Laura Stauffenger, will have a good amount of work to do in order to repeat as they lost a once in a generation group of four seniors last year. Strongsville will also be trying to overcome a big loss, senior Natalie Kostalnick, who led the Mustangs for four years. That will leave Hannah Lee as the top player for Strongsville. If these two teams cannot hold their perennial positions at the top of the conference, it could leave room for the Brunswick Blue Devils to take control. Brunswick returns a young base of players and will have one of the biggest impact freshmen in Northeast Ohio, Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble. Shaker Heights will lose superstar Emily Lamb and will need some of their returning players to step up and show a good deal of improvement. Mentor is a team that could always contend because of shear numbers, although they do not have the star power at the top of the lineup. Cleveland Heights will have a new coach and will be in building mode.

Impact Players

Sydney Bass (SR) Strongsville
Jessica Buzinski (JR) Brunswick
Corinne Christeon (JR) Medina
Morgan Deeringer (SR) Medina
Hannah Lee (SR) Strongsville
Sarah Morris (SR) Mentor
Rylee Roth (SO) Brunswick
Santina Wilson (SR) Shaker Heights

Freshmen to Watch

Ashley Bittner (Mentor)
Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble (Brunswick)
Lily Zimmerman (Medina)

Brunswick Blue Devils

Head Coach- Chad Thompson
Last Year’s Results- 8th at Springvale Sectional, 3rd in the GCC
Coach’s Comments- We are extremely proud of the work that some of our players have put into this offseason so far. We have a total of 6 kids in our program that are signed up for summer tournaments. Jess Buzinski will be a junior and brings two years of varsity golf experience to the table. She made tremendous improvements in her sophomore season, dropping her career low (83) by over ten shots. Rylee Roth will be a sophomore, and returns after a fantastic freshman season. She has worked hard to improve throughout the winter and just recently posted her career low (86) on the NOPGA Tour. We will also add a very good junior player to our lineup this season with incoming freshman Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble. She has been playing competitive golf on the AJGA, Golfweek, NOPGA, and US Kids Tours since she could walk, and we are extremely excited for her to be a part of our program. These three will make up the core of our lineup, with Teigan Dryer (10th) and Autumn Muslusky (10th) being added into the mix. The expectations for our program will be higher this season. We expect to compete in the GCC and hope to win our first team conference championship in school history. We also think we will be much more competitive at the Sectional Tournament, and have the goal of making it to Districts as a team for the first time in school history. Brunswick would like to thank all the teams in NE Ohio that believe in the direction of our program and have invited us to their events! We are fortunate to be able to strengthen our schedule every year, and look forward to seeing how we stack up against all of the great teams in our area!

Cleveland Heights Tigers

Head Coach- TBA
Last Year’s Results- DNS at Fox Den Sectional

Medina Bees

Head Coach- Laura Stauffenger
Last Year’s Results- 3rd at Springvale Sectional, 12th at Brookledge District, Record: 6-2, Greater Cleveland Conference Champions

Mentor Cardinals

Head Coach- James Hrusovsky
Last Year’s Results- 11th at Old Avalon Sectional, Finished 4th in the conference.
Coach’s Comments- We are going to be a young group this year but Seniors, Sarah Morris and Genna Zagar will bring a lot of experience to the group. The girls have put in a lot of work this winter, spring and summer. I am excited to see what they bring to the course this fall!

Shaker Heights Raiders

Head Coach- Joe Welsch
Last Year’s Results- 9th at Fox Den Sectional, 6-5 in 9-hole matches. Emily Lamb qualified for Districts as an individual.
Coach’s Comments- We have been improving and made great strides from start to finish last year. We went from shooting a 496 at our first tournament to a 388 at Sectionals-Fox Den for a 9th/15 finish. Losing a 3 time district qualifier in Emily Lamb is difficult to replace, but we have many girls ready to make tremendous growth. Senior Gracie Turner, who shot a 93 at Sectionals last year and Addie Prude (SO) will be players to watch this upcoming season.

Strongsville Mustangs

Head Coach- Kevin Weir
Last Year’s Results- 4th at Springvale Sectional, 10th at Brookledge District, 2nd in the GCC
Coach’s Comments- We lost two key members to graduation last year from our squad, but have a handful of seniors who look to build off the momentum from the 2023 season.