Golf fans were not disappointed by the epic race that saw Strongsville win the Greater Cleveland Conference championship in 2024. The Mustangs battled with the Brunswick Blue Devils the entire season and ended up winning the conference in the final tournament. Brunswick won the first two league tournaments and it looked like the transition of power had been complete. But Strongsville had other ideas, winning the third league tournament by two strokes and hanging on to win the final tournament, getting help from Medina, who finished in second place, which gave the Mustangs the overall title. 2025 could be a much different story, however, as Strongsville loses most of their top scorers and Brunswick brings back their entire lineup plus one of the top incoming freshmen in the area, Emma Gonzalez-Ribble, sister of sophomore Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble. With senior Jess Buzinski and junior Rylee Roth providing quality scores to fill out the lineup, Brunswick will enter the season with very lofty goals. Strongsville will return junior Kanishka Badri but will have to rely on newcomers to help them compete. Medina will be a team to keep an eye on as they will have a lineup dominated by four seniors, including Corinne Christeon and Lily Zimmerman, both legacy players for the Bees. Mentor will have a solid base to the roster and most players returning beyond 2025 while Shaker Heights will need to find a way to compete without the star power they have had the past few years.

Impact Players

Kanishka Badri (JR) Strongsville
Jessica Buzinski (SR) Brunswick
Corinne Christeon (SR) Medina
Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble (SO) Brunswick
Nina Mahony (SR) Mentor
Addie Prude (JR) Shaker Heights
Rylee Roth (JR) Brunswick
Lily Zimmerman (SR) Medina

Freshmen to Watch

Bri Behrend (Brunswick)
Morgan Bell-Allen (Shaker Heights)
Emma Gonzalez-Ribble (Brunswick)
Honor Hlavna (Medina)
Jordyn Minor (Shaker Heights)

Brunswick Blue Devils

Head Coach- Chad Thompson
Last Year’s Results- 3rd at Big Met Sectional, 11th at Brookledge District
Coach’s Comments- Brunswick is excited about the opportunity in front of us this golf season. We have extremely high expectations for our kids and our program these next few years. A lot of our varsity players are working hard during this summer to make sure they are ready to compete in 2025. We return all players except one graduating senior. Our varsity team will consist of mostly underclassmen this season and will be led by Jess Buzinski (12th), Rylee Roth (11th), Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble (10th), and Emma Gonzalez-Ribble (9th). After breaking every school record in 2024, we are hoping to achieve the same goal this season. 2024 was the first time Brunswick qualified for the district tournament, and we are hoping 2025 becomes the first time we qualify for states! We are excited to have added more tournaments to this year’s schedules and would like to thank the teams that have extended invitations to their events! Go Blue!

Medina Bees

Head Coach- Laura Stauffenger
Last Year’s Results- 7th at Big Met Sectional
Coach’s Comments- Medina girls golf is looking forward to adding to our roster this year and continuing to grow our program. We have some incoming players who are dedicated to the game. We also have returning seniors who are looking forward to a great season.

Mentor Cardinals

Head Coach- James Hrusovsky
Last Year’s Results- 14th at Old Avalon Sectional, the team finished under 500 overall, GCC finished 4th
Coach’s Comments- We have a good amount of girls returning in the program and we will need to see how the lineup shakes out early in the season.

Shaker Heights Raiders

Head Coach- Joe Welsch
Last Year’s Results- 12th at Fox Den Sectional with a 424, finished 5-6 in regular season matches, low tournament score of 398 at Fox Den GC and a low 9-hole match score of 189 at Airport Greens.
Coach’s Comments- We don’t have a ton of experience on our team, but we do have a growing team! Our team has increased in numbers each of the last 4 seasons. We are continuing to learn and improve to maximize our ability. Our 3 returning players (Camryn Dozier, Addie Prude, Stella Wilson) could make big strides as they all have improved each year since starting as freshman. Junior Addie Prude has all the potential to reach the district tournament this year if she can play quality golf at the right time.

Strongsville Mustangs

Head Coach- Kevin Weir
Last Year’s Results- 6th at Springvale Sectional, Finished 1st place in the GCC
Coach’s Comments- With only 1 returning varsity player from the GCC champs (3 out of last 4 years) this year we are looking for the junior class to step up and fill the roles of the departed seniors. We are young but with a great leader in Kanishka Badri.

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.

The Greater Cleveland Conference will look a little different in 2023 after Solon departs to the Suburban League while Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights join after leaving the Lake Erie League. Strongsville should be the heavy favorite to win the conference behind Natalie Kostalnick and Hannah Lee, two very strong players who could dominate the league tournaments. Medina brings in a very balanced team with a lot of depth while Brunswick is starting to produce a young core of players. Brunswick will also see new coaches Chad Thompson and Colin Smith bring some energy into their program. Shaker Heights is an interesting team to watch with some potential. Mentor will need to find a way to replace graduated senior Bella Lundi. Cleveland Heights is still working on establishing a program identity under coach Fiona Connor and will look to take a step forward in a new, more competitive conference.

Impact Players

Sydney Bass (JR) Strongsville
McKenzie Berg (SR) Brunswick
Olivia Bostelman (SR) Mentor
Taylor Bostelman (SR) Mentor
Stella Burns (SR) Medina
Jessica Buzinski (SO) Brunswick
Camille Christeon (SR) Medina
Lydia Dorman (SR) Medina
Kendall Grau (SR) Strongsville
Layla Jackson (SR) Cleveland Heights
Natalie Kostalnick (SR) Strongsville
Emily Lamb (SR) Shaker Heights
Hannah Lee (JR) Strongsville
Aislinn Leffel (SR) Brunswick
Anna Macino (SR) Medina

Freshmen to Watch

Teigan Dryer (Brunswick)
Addie Prude (Shaker Heights)
Rylee Roth (Brunswick)
Stella Wilson (Shaker Heights)

Brunswick Blue Devils

Head Coach- Chad Thompson and Colin Smith
Last Year’s Results- 8th at Springvale Sectional, Individual qualifier Aislinn Leffel shot 86. Aislinn shot 123 at the Brookledge District.
Coach Comments- We are extremely excited about the progress our three varsity returners are making this offseason. What is even more encouraging is the work that our underclass players are putting in. They are setting the tone for our future success as a program and we are excited to see them all progress this upcoming season. We have been fortunate to be able to challenge ourselves from a scheduling standpoint as well, increasing the opportunities that we get to play against the best competition in Northeast Ohio. We are looking forward to competing some of the new tournaments we have been invited to this season, and are appreciative of those coaches that have included our girls in their events.

Cleveland Heights Tigers

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

Medina Bees

Head Coach- Mickey McGrath
Last Year’s Results- 3rd at Springvale Sectional, 11th at Districts, 2nd in GCC Conference
Coach Comments- 4 Varsity Returning Seniors, 3 upcoming underclassmen all looking to winning conference and qualifying for Districts.

Mentor Cardinals

Head Coach- James Hrusovsky
Last Year’s Results- 9th at Old Avalon Sectional
Coach Comments- I look forward to seeing our girls improve on their personal success and experience from last year. Also, excited to see who is going to step up and fill out our varsity roster.

Shaker Heights Raiders

Head Coach- Joe Welsch
Last Year’s Results- 12th at Fox Den Sectional, 4-4 and won the LEL, Emily Lamb made it to Districts as an Individual.
Coach Comments- “Us vs Us”. Emily Lamb finished first out of the individuals at the Sectional Tournament to advance to Districts. If things go her way, she could find herself in the mix again to make the next step to States. We had 3 out of 5 girls shoot their best round of the year at Sectionals, so we have a lot to be excited about and a lot to build from.

Strongsville Mustangs

Head Coach- Kevin Weir
Last Year’s Results- 2nd at Springvale Sectional, 9th at Districts, Varsity went 5-1 in 9 hole matches. Won the GCC for the 2nd year in a row by sweeping all 3 18 hole tournaments. Won the Lady Rider AM Flight Tournament and the Lady Explorer AM Flight Tournament.
Coach Comments- The girls are eager to try for a third consecutive GCC Title, but know filling the void by the 3 seniors who left last year will be no easy task, but they are up for the challenge.